Kava

Time factors

	Protocol time	Human readable time
Protocol time	Block	6 seconds
First reward delay	1 block	6 seconds
Reward frequency	1 block	6 seconds
Unbonding period	21 days	21 days

• The protocol has an implicit block time target of 6 seconds. However, this is not an enforced parameter and block times can fluctuate depending on network conditions.

Lifecycle

Must know before staking

Minimum stake amount	❌
Partial stake changes	✅
Partial reward withdrawal	❌
Compounding	❌
Penalty	✅	Offline - 0.01%
Slashing	✅	Equivocation - 5%

• Redelegation without unstaking. The protocol allows stakers to switch their validators without having to unstake and then stake again. The redelegation function can be used only once every 21 days.

Advanced topics

General

• Governance power delegation. By staking with a validator, stakers are delegating governance power to that validator as well. Stakers have the option to overwrite their validator’s governance vote.

Rewards

• Rewards come from newly issued tokens and transaction fees.

  • Inflation rate applied to total token supply. Inflation rate adjusts depending on the actual staking ratio to target staking ratio. The rate increases when actual staking ratio is below target staking ratio and vice-versa. The target staking ratio for Kava is 67%. 94.95% of the newly issued tokens is sent to the community pool and the rest is sent to stakers as rewards.

  • Transaction fees. 94.95% of transaction fees is sent to the community pool and the rest is sent to stakers as rewards.

• Factors that impact realized rewards.

  • Block proposer. A validator selected to propose blocks earns from 1% to 5% more rewards depending on how many other validator consensus votes have been collected.

  • Commissions.

Risks

• Penalty. A validator that fails to be online for 500 blocks out of the most recent 10,000 blocks will be considered offline. Stakers of an offline validator will be penalized and lose 0.01% of their stake. The offline validator will kicked off the active validator set and will be able to join after 10 minutes has passed.

• Slashing. A validator that attests to two different blocks will be slashed. Stakers of a slashed validator will lose 5% of their stake. The slashed validator will be indefinitely kicked off the active validator set and will need to create a new validator.

Validators

Total validator cap	✅	100
Validator requirements	❌

Resources

• Kava documentation: https://docs.kava.io/docs/intro/

• Kava explorer: https://www.mintscan.io/kava