SIP-00010: Reducing Staking Thresholds

[jack-piplabs]

number	title	authors	sponsors	created	type	status	supersedes	superseded-by	extends
00010	Reducing Staking Thresholds	Jack Chan (jack.chan@piplabs.xyz)	Ramtin Seraj (ramtin.seraj@piplabs.xyz)	2026-01-18	Standard	Draft

Summary

This proposal reduces staking thresholds by lowering the minimum stake, unstake, and redelegate amounts from 1024 IP to 32 IP, reducing the minimum reward claim threshold from 8 IP to 1 IP, and decreasing all staking operation fees from 1 IP to 0.1 IP. These changes make staking accessible to retail participants while maintaining spam protection.

Motivation

The current 1024 IP minimum stake represents a significant barrier for retail investors seeking to participate in network staking. This threshold excludes many potential participants who would otherwise contribute to network security and decentralization.

The 8 IP minimum reward distribution threshold forces smaller stakers to wait extended periods before seeing rewards in their accounts, creating a poor user experience. Additionally, the 1 IP staking operation fee disproportionately impacts smaller stakers — representing over 3% of a minimum stake under the proposed 32 IP threshold.

Lowering these thresholds democratizes staking participation, improves user experience for smaller holders, and encourages broader community engagement with the network.

Proposal

Minimum Staking Amount

Parameter	Current Value	New Value
Minimum stake amount	1024 IP	32 IP
Minimum unstake amount	1024 IP	32 IP
Minimum redelegate amount	1024 IP	32 IP

Minimum Reward Distribution Threshold

Parameter	Current Value	New Value
Auto-reward distribution threshold	8 IP	1 IP

Rewards will be automatically distributed when accumulated amount reaches 1 IP or greater. The distribution queue (32 per block) remains unchanged.

Staking Operation Fee Changes

Operation Name	Function Name	Current Value	New Value
Set Operator	setOperator	1 IP	0.1 IP
Unset Operator	unsetOperator	1 IP	0.1 IP
Set Withdrawal Address	setWithdrawalAddress	1 IP	0.1 IP
Set Rewards Address	setRewardsAddress	1 IP	0.1 IP
Update Validator Commission	updateValidatorCommission	1 IP	0.1 IP
Redelegate	redelegate	1 IP	0.1 IP
Redelegate On Behalf	redelegateOnBehalf	1 IP	0.1 IP
Unstake	unstake	1 IP	0.1 IP
Unstake On Behalf	unstakeOnBehalf	1 IP	0.1 IP
Unjail	unjail	1 IP	0.1 IP
Unjail On Behalf	unjailOnBehalf	1 IP	0.1 IP

Rationale

The 32 IP minimum aligns with common proof-of-stake precedents while remaining economically accessible. The 1 IP reward threshold ensures meaningful, regular distributions without overwhelming the queue. The 0.1 IP unstaking fee maintains spam deterrence while being proportionate to smaller stakes (~0.3% of minimum).

Drawbacks

Lower minimums may increase total delegation and reward distribution count, leading to faster state growth. However, the 32 IP threshold for staking amounts and 0.1 IP threshold for staking-related operations still provides meaningful barrier against spam, and economic costs remain prohibitive for attackers.

Alternatives Considered

• Delegator minimum = 1 IP (instead of 32 IP): Suggested in the forum as the most inclusive option and closer to typical Cosmos delegator UX. Rejected for this SIP due to accelerated state-growth and the 32 IP minimum also needs devnet benchmarking to determine a safe floor before going that low.
• Remove the minimum "top-up / additional stake" amount (allow immediate restaking of rewards): Proposed to enable continuous compounding for delegators and validators and improve validator economics. Not included in this SIP because it is a separate parameter/design change and could increase operation frequency (which is effectively a spammy behavior); we focus here on the base minimums and fee/thresholds (see original post at https://forum.story.foundation/t/proposal-discussion-reduce-the-1024-ip-staking-minimum/37190)
• Manual reward claiming at any amount (no forced threshold): Discussed as a way to let small delegators claim accumulated rewards below the auto-distribution threshold via a manual transaction. Rejected due to spam concerns — adding fees for manual claims would be impractical given the small amounts involved, yet feeless claiming could be exploited. This SIP addresses the same UX concern by reducing the auto-distribution threshold to 1 IP. Note that delegators receive all remaining unclaimed rewards upon unstaking, so no rewards are forfeited (see post reply at https://forum.story.foundation/t/proposal-discussion-reduce-the-1024-ip-staking-minimum/37190/5)
• Guardrails instead of a higher minimum (rate limits / dust floor / batching): Suggested as mitigations to support lower minimums while protecting performance (state growth, reward distribution throughput, latency). Not adopted in this SIP to keep scope limited and because these require additional implementation/testing (see post reply at https://forum.story.foundation/t/proposal-discussion-reduce-the-1024-ip-staking-minimum/37190/19)

User Impact

Retail participants gain access to staking with lower capital requirements. Smaller stakers receive more frequent reward distributions and face proportionally lower fees across all staking operations.