Staking Guide
Staking WELEPHANT tokens provides passive income from protocol activity. This guide explains how staking works and how to maximize your returns.
How Staking Works
When you stake WELEPHANT, you receive stWELEPHANT (staked WELEPHANT) tokens representing your share of the staking vault. As rewards accumulate, the value of stWELEPHANT increases relative to WELEPHANT.
Staking Rewards
Revenue Source
20% of all protocol fees are distributed to stakers. This happens automatically as the protocol's on-chain engine operates:
- The protocol collects fees from on-chain activity
- Fees are swapped to WELEPHANT on the open market
- 20% of that WELEPHANT goes to the staking vault
- Your stWELEPHANT represents a growing share of the vault
Swap fees add a second stream: 0.25% of every WELEPHANT/BNB swap is forwarded to the vault.
Reward Calculation
Your Rewards = (Your stWELEPHANT / Total stWELEPHANT) × Staking Distribution
The more protocol activity, the more rewards accumulate in the vault.
Why Stake
| Aspect | Holding | Staking |
|---|---|---|
| Risk | Token price only | Token price only - principal protected |
| Returns | Price appreciation | Price appreciation + protocol yield |
| Effort | Passive | Passive |
| Upside | Market growth | Market growth + compounding share price |
Best Strategy: Stake the Core
Many users keep a staked base position for compounding returns and hold a smaller liquid portion for flexibility.
How to Stake
Staking WELEPHANT
- Navigate to the Stake page
- Enter the amount of WELEPHANT to stake
- Approve the transaction (first time only)
- Confirm the stake transaction
- Receive stWELEPHANT tokens
Unstaking
- Navigate to the Stake page
- Enter the amount of stWELEPHANT to unstake
- Confirm the unstake transaction
- Receive WELEPHANT tokens (original + earned rewards)
Understanding stWELEPHANT
stWELEPHANT is a receipt token that:
- Represents your share of the staking vault
- Increases in WELEPHANT value over time
- Can be transferred or traded
- Is required to unstake and claim rewards
Exchange Rate
The stWELEPHANT to WELEPHANT exchange rate starts at 1:1 and increases as rewards accumulate:
Rate = Total WELEPHANT in Vault / Total stWELEPHANT Supply
Staking APY
APY depends on:
- Total protocol volume
- Your stake size relative to total staked
- Fee flow into the vault
Historical returns are visible on the Stats page.
Risks and Considerations
Smart Contract Risk
- Contracts are audited but not risk-free
- Only stake what you're comfortable with
Opportunity Cost
- Staked tokens cannot be used elsewhere while staked
- There is no lock-up, so rebalancing is always possible
No Lockup
- Unstake anytime
- No penalties for withdrawal