Liquid staking is one of the most significant additions to the Chiliz Chain ecosystem. It gives $CHZ holders the ability to earn staking rewards while still being able to use their assets elsewhere. If you’re new to liquid staking, the following guide will walk you through the entire process.
Previously, staking $CHZ required locking your tokens into a smart contract and losing access to that liquidity until you decided to unstake. Now, thanks to liquid staking on Kayen, you can participate in $CHZ staking while retaining access to your capital.
This is achieved using a new liquid staking token called $stCHZ. This represents your staked position and can be held in your wallet, transferred, or used in supported DeFi applications while your underlying $CHZ continues to earn staking rewards. Here’s how it works.
Step 1: Connect your wallet
Visit the official Kayen liquid staking interface and connect a wallet that supports Chiliz Chain.
Before you begin, make sure you have $CHZ available in your wallet. Remember to keep a small amount of $CHZ in your wallet throughout the process to cover network transaction fees.
Once connected to Kayen, your wallet balance showing the number of $CHZ you currently hold will automatically appear within the application.
Step 2: Choose how much $CHZ to stake
Enter the amount of $CHZ you’d like to stake and approve the transaction.
The minimum deposit is just 0.01 $CHZ. If you decide to unstake, your $CHZ will be returned to you following Chiliz Chain’s standard 48-72 hour withdrawal period.
No deposit, withdrawal, or transfer fees are imposed by Kayen’s protocol when staking, although normal network transaction fees still apply. Kayen only deducts a protocol fee from staking rewards, meaning your principal (i.e. your staked $CHZ) isn’t affected.
Step 3: Confirm the transaction
Review the transaction details and approve them in your wallet.
Once the transaction is confirmed, your $CHZ will be locked into the Kayen liquid staking contract on Chiliz Chain and you will immediately receive $stCHZ in your wallet.
Note: The $stCHZ that is deposited into your wallet is calculated at the current exchange rate. This means that once the rate has risen above 1.0 $CHZ per $stCHZ, you will receive fewer $stCHZ than the $CHZ you deposited.
Your staking rewards begin accumulating automatically and there’s no need to manually claim them – they automatically compound.
Step 4: Understand your $stCHZ balance
Since you’re earning rewards by staking, you might wonder why this isn’t reflected by an increase in your $stCHZ balance. The answer is simple: your balance stays the same but its value increases over time.
For example, deposit 100 $CHZ and you will receive the corresponding value of $stCHZ – near the start of the liquid staking launch, this will likely be close to 100 $stCHZ.
Weeks later, you may still have the original $stCHZ balance in your wallet (assuming you haven’t traded it or used it to provide liquidity). However, each $stCHZ is now worth slightly more $CHZ because staking rewards have accumulated and compounded automatically.
This is known as the exchange rate, and it gradually increases as rewards are earned. Similarly, if the exchange rate has already increased when you stake, you may receive fewer $stCHZ than the number of $CHZ you deposited. This isn’t a fee – it simply reflects that each $stCHZ is already worth more than one $CHZ.
Step 5: Put your $stCHZ to work
The $stCHZ that’s been added to your wallet doesn’t just have to sit there as idle capital. You’re free to use it throughout the Chiliz Chain ecosystem. For example, you can trade $stCHZ on supported exchanges or you can provide $stCHZ-$CHZ liquidity.
Your underlying $CHZ, which is locked into Kayen’s liquid staking contract, will continue generating staking rewards throughout.
Step 6: Earn extra rewards
To celebrate the launch of liquid staking, Season 01 of Stake to Score is running from July 30 for four weeks, providing additional incentives to participate. The campaign enables $CHZ stakers on Kayen to earn points that determine their position on a weekly leaderboard.
Points are awarded for activities including:
- Liquid staking $CHZ
- Holding $stCHZ over time
- Providing liquidity to the $stCHZ/$CHZ pool
- Buying $stCHZ
- Migrating from native $CHZ staking
- Referring eligible new users
The longer you stake, the larger your loyalty multiplier becomes, rewarding long-term participation over short-term activity. The top leaderboard finishers will share a prize pool of $CHZ, with the campaign running over four weeks for a total reward pool of 350,000 $CHZ.
Step 7: Redeem your $CHZ
When you eventually decide to exit your staking position, make sure you have sufficient $stCHZ in your wallet to cover the corresponding value of $CHZ you wish to unstake.
Visit Kayen’s staking portal, connect your wallet, and select the amount of $stCHZ you wish to withdraw. Then approve the transaction in your wallet. Once approved, your $CHZ will be returned to your wallet following Chiliz Chain’s standard unstaking period (currently around 2-3 days).
When you request a withdrawal, the amount of $CHZ you will receive is locked in immediately using the current exchange rate. Your pending withdrawal no longer earns rewards during the waiting period.
A better way to stake
Liquid staking allows you to continue earning staking rewards while retaining a liquid asset – $stCHZ – that can be used across the wider Chiliz Chain ecosystem. It’s a powerful new DeFi primitive that allows you to enjoy the benefits of staking without giving up access to your capital.
The Kayen Protocol has been developed by a third-party independent from, and not affiliated with, the Chiliz Group. The Chiliz Group does not hold any stake in, control, audit, or operate the Kayen Protocol in any way. This marketing communication is for informational purposes only and does not constitute an endorsement by the Chiliz Group, financial or investment advice, or a solicitation or offer to buy or sell any crypto-assets. Terms and conditions apply.
