StaFi Brings Liquid Staking to NEAR Chain

Staking Finance (StaFi) recently created a proposal for NEAR liquid staking. If the proposal scales true (a highly likely scenario), then the NEAR community will enjoy the many benefits of liquid staking from one of the pioneers in the DeFi space.

Understanding NEAR Liquid Staking Solution

As always, a liquid staking solution for the NEAR chain makes it more attractive to $NEAR stakers. Access to liquidity, whenever the need arises, is one thing that comes with liquid staking – and this would be no different.

Liquid staking, on StaFi, is possibly the easiest one around. $NEAR stakers can join the fun by staking the token using the StaFi rApp. Once that’s done, the synthetic staking derivative, rNEAR is issued to the staker.

With rNEAR in your wallet, your staking reward is accounted for and you don’t lose sight of the exit liquidity in case that’s your thing.
To paint a vivid picture of the importance of NEAR liquid staking, you have to understand that staking on POS chains comes with an unstaking period. You have to wait for a certain number of days before getting your tokens. The NEAR chain is no exception. However, liquid staking solves that challenge.

What is rNEAR?

Driving the NEAR liquid staking solution is rNEAR, the staking derivative of the NEAR token. Once an investor stakes NEAR on the StaFi protocol, they are issued the rToken, rNEAR.

rNEAR isn’t just a mere receipt for staking on the StaFi protocol, it’s an interest-bearing token. That means holders continue to earn rewards from staking NEAR without being constrained by a liquidity crunch. it’s the perfect get-out-of-jail token for an investor looking to access some liquidity.

Why rNEAR?

The NEAR liquid staking solution offers several benefits to users. Here, we look at why anyone should be interested in using the liquid staking solution.
One of the reasons for rNEAR is to allow every NEAR holder to enjoy the gains of staking without the need to hold a lot of NEAR tokens. Anyone using StaFi’s NEAR liquid staking solution doesn’t have to deal with the minimum balance limitation that has kept many would-be stakers at bay.

Another benefit of the rNEAR liquid staking solution is the easy access to liquidity. Staking on the Near Chain requires waiting 52 – 65 hours, which is a lot if you need to access your funds real quick. StaFi’s rNEAR liquid staking solution eliminates that delay as you can sell off your assets anytime you want. It’s that access to liquidity that makes this solution desirable.

Unfortunately, staking on POS chains often comes with the risk of slashing and losses; this affects the Near Chain as well. This is something no investor wants to encounter, but the chances are there. rNEAR reduces this risk to the bare minimum as only the best validators get investor assets delegated. This has other benefits such as higher staking rewards compared to choosing just any validator.

Perhaps the most significant benefit of the Near liquid staking solution is how easily you can trade the rtoken. StaFi is no newbie to liquid staking, and it shows here as well. Holders of rNEAR can trade the rtoken for other assets on StaFi’s rDEX or some other supported decentralized exchange on the Near Chain.

Conclusion

As StaFi brings liquid staking to the Near Chain, we can expect investors to become more enthusiastic about staking on the chain. This buds well for all parties – investors and network alike. The potential is significant as stakeholders are taken care of. Fingers crossed the Near Chain liquid staking proposal gets the required number of votes needed to pass.

Visit StaFi's official websites below for updated information:

Website: www.stafi.io
Twitter:@Stafi_Protocol
Telegram Chat: https://t.me/stafi_protocol
Telegram Announcements: https://t.me/stafi_ann
Discord: https://discord.com/invite/jB77etn
Forum: https://commonwealth.im/stafi