Persistence: From Liquid Staking to the Innovation of Re-staking in the Cosmos Ecosystem

Persistence is one of the application chains in the Cosmos ecosystem that was among the first to enable IBC, CosmWasm, and the liquid staking module (LSM). By continuously deepening POS and products related to liquid staking, it has built a complete liquid staking and re-staking architecture for the Cosmos ecosystem.

On December 5, 2023, the Cosmos community voted to allocate 600,000 ATOM to pSTAKE for the development of liquid staking services. pSTAKE shares 15% of the liquid staking revenue with Cosmos Hub.

Persistence Ecosystem Overview

According to official data, the total locked value of the Persistence ecosystem ( TVL ) reached 14.78 million USD, with an IBC trading volume of 15 million USD in the last 30 days and an average transaction cost of less than 0.005 USD.

Data shows that Persistence has established 121 channels with 44 other zones in the Interchain network, demonstrating a high degree of interconnectivity. 74.7% of the network token $XPRT is staked, with an annualized return of 16.7%. This reflects a high level of security and participation in the network.

The infrastructure of Persistence consists of 6 nodes and 100 validators, working together to ensure the decentralization and security of the network.

In the last 24 hours, the IBC trading volume of Persistence reached $260,800, with 4,955 transactions, including 616 IBC trades. There were 932 active addresses, with 86 IBC active addresses. IBC inflows continue to exceed outflows, indicating that an increasing amount of value is flowing into Persistence and participating in stake.

Technical Support

Persistence supports the CosmWasm framework, allowing developers to write secure and interoperable smart contracts using the Rust language. DApps developed based on CosmWasm can run across chains via IBC, achieving cross-chain interoperability for applications, and providing convenient, secure, and efficient technical support for liquid staking.

Persistence connects 54 Cosmos application chains through IBC, enabling trustless communication, transfer, staking, and liquid staking of tokens, laying the ecological foundation for staking and liquid staking in the Cosmos ecosystem.

Using Interchain Accounts (ICA) to achieve ICA Liquid Staking allows an account on one chain to perform operations on another chain, enhancing the efficiency and flexibility of staking and restaking.

Cosmos Ecosystem Staking and Network Security

The liquid staking in the Cosmos ecosystem includes two roles: validators and delegators. Delegators can choose the validator node to delegate to when staking. Validators are responsible for running hardware and blockchain applications based on the Cosmos SDK, reaching consensus with other validators, and proposing and validating new blocks on the chain.

If a validator exhibits negative behavior, their delegators will face corresponding penalties. If the validator goes offline unexpectedly or maliciously, the delegator's stake will be reduced by 0.1%. In cases of extreme malicious behavior ( such as double signing ), the stake will be reduced by 5%.

This mechanism prevents malicious behavior through economic incentives and penalties, as validators and delegators work together to maintain network efficiency and security while earning token rewards.

pSTAKE staking platform

pSTAKE provides a simplified staking process for the Cosmos ecosystem. Users only need to select the token to stake and the chain they are on to participate in staking. After staking is completed, the pSTAKE protocol issues the corresponding staking rights tokens to the user's wallet, such as stkATOM for staking ATOM.

automatic compound interest

Taking stkATOM as an example, users' daily staking rewards (ATOM) will automatically enter staking, continuing to earn rewards. This means that each stkATOM corresponds to an increase in staked ATOM, allowing users to receive more ATOM when they unstake. Users' staking rewards are reflected in the increase of the stkATOM/ATOM ratio.

Unstake

Users need to wait 21-25 days to cancel the stake; they can also pay a 1% fee to immediately release the stake. When retrieving the stake, the corresponding stk assets will be destroyed.

stake derivatives

Persistence and the Cosmos ecosystem have launched more stk asset derivative products. Users can directly exchange stkATOM for ATOM on the DEX without the need to unstake or pay additional fees. stk assets can also be added to liquidity on the DEX alongside native assets to earn higher yields.

$XPRT stake

As an independent blockchain, Persistence also requires staking to enhance network security. Users can conveniently stake $XPRT in the official Persistence platform or through the Keplr wallet.

stake security guarantee

Persistence and pSTAKE are both open-source programs, which is an important guarantee of security. The pSTAKE program has 72 developers involved, with the most recent code submission being two days ago.

Persistence and pSTAKE collaborate with multiple security institutions to provide comprehensive support for the security of staking and liquid staking, including well-known blockchain security audit firms, global security research consulting companies, smart contract security audit firms, DeFi vulnerability bounty platforms, and more.

Re-staking Innovation

Persistence is building a Restaking infrastructure in Cosmos, allowing users to restake liquid staking tokens ( such as stkATOM, stTIA, and stkDYDX) into Persistence to secure additional chains and earn extra rewards.

Re-stake Alliance

The re-staking module of Persistence is developed based on the Alliance module, allowing assets to be staked from one blockchain to another, creating a mutually beneficial relationship. Stakers of different assets share rewards according to their reward weight, forming a community of interests, which helps enhance the security and decentralization of the Cosmos ecosystem.

Re-staking income sources

The tokens that users stake again are locked and, in proportion, native tokens ($XPRT) are minted into the staking module. These $XPRT are staked to validators, and the earnings are distributed to various stakers, further strengthening the security and liquidity of the Cosmos ecosystem.

Summary

Persistence provides an effective and secure economic infrastructure for liquid staking and re-staking within the Cosmos ecosystem, gradually deepening its influence in the Cosmos ecosystem. Through innovative re-staking solutions, Persistence has established an economic alliance for re-stakers, forming a cross-chain community of shared interests, enhancing mutual security guarantees, and increasing the decentralization of the Cosmos ecosystem chains within the re-staking alliance.