We are proud to announce that ClayStack is live on mainnet today. Stake your MATIC tokens on ClayStack and start receiving rewards in csMATIC, the ClayStack liquid-staked version of MATIC.
ClayStack is a novel liquid staking protocol that helps users maximize their capital efficiency while staking in major PoS networks. It does that by issuing value-accruing liquid-staked tokens, which can be further used in various DeFi protocols. Not only does this help in strengthening the security of PoS networks by incentivizing staking, but it also maximizes the potential for compounding yield.
Why We Need ClayStack
For all PoS (proof-of-stake) networks, security is paramount. Moving away from PoW (proof-of-work), PoS helps secure the network by relying on the capital that is “locked” up within the network. This is done by network participants who get rewards from network inflation for committing their capital. This has two benefits.
- A rational profit-seeking network participant can extract sustainable rewards from network inflation for as long as their capital is “locked” up.
- The PoS network remains secure as the amount of staked capital increases.
But a critical problem arises against the backdrop of the emerging DeFi ecosystem.
For any profit-seeking agent, it’s all about the “yield”. Yields from DeFi and from staking can compete with each other, which results in users diverting their capital where it’s more lucrative. This problem gets further aggravated by the illiquidity of staked assets (PoS networks don’t issue on-chain synthetic derivatives that can be used in DeFi) and the incurred opportunity cost during the unbonding period.
This is where ClayStack comes in. It unlocks the liquidity of these staked assets by issuing synthetic value-accruing liquid-staked tokens. These tokens represent the staked capital within the network and users have the freedom to use them in DeFi.
Thus, ClayStack not only helps in ensuring that users get sustainable yield (regardless of the prevailing market conditions) from network inflation in PoS networks, but it also helps them compound their yield by putting the value-accruing tokens to further use.
There are two key factors that set us apart: security and transparency.
Security
Rigorous Testnets
The three testnets Onega, Malawi, and Victoria spanned a total period of over four months and helped us ensure that the architecture is resilient.
- Onega was the first version of ClayStack, and it featured support for Polygon. The objective with the testnet was to do the initial rounds of testing and identify any major flaws in the architecture.
- Malawi was the second round of our testnet where the objective was to make further refinements to the product and help improve the design. To make the transition from Onega to Malawi fun, fair and easy for all members to participate in the testnet, we also created a game — #StraitToMalawi.
- Victoria has been a crucial testnet for us because it featured multi-chain support for both Polygon (MATIC) and The Graph (GRT), and it was also the final version before our mainnet. You can still access the testnet here.
All these testnets have helped us refine our product, identify any flaws and potential attack vectors and remove them and create an extremely resilient platform.
Audits by Chain Security
We had been conducting several internal rounds of security audits — actively hunting for and eliminating any threats when we found them.
After several rounds of internal testing, we shared our smart contracts to the leading blockchain security firm, Chain Security for their review. They found no critical-severity, high-severity, or even medium-severity bugs. As per their security engineers, “it’s very rare that they are unable to find any major security flaws”.
Capped Launch
To ensure an incredibly secure launch of our protocol, we have decided to cap the TVL at $5M, which we will remove eventually. This will not only help us test our product’s resilience in real-time on mainnet but also cement the strength of our architecture in the minds of our users.
Transparency
ClayStack promises true transparency. All the actions that we take as a protocol can be easily tracked on-chain. We have built a resilient architecture that we aim to be run by a DAO eventually.
Community
At ClayStack, the community has been at the core of everything that we do. Currently, we have a 100K+ strong community of passionate users who are deeply interested in liquid staking and the benefits it brings them. Our conversations with our members have yielded to us the significance of a protocol that helps provide them with sustainable APYs without locking up their assets and making them illiquid.
Towards a liquid staking future
At ClayStack, our objective is to:
- expand the use-case for csTokens by collaborating with several emerging DeFi protocols, and
- to deploy our liquid staking architecture on all major PoS networks.
The Victoria testnet has already helped us understand how we can deploy the architecture on The Graph. We are working to create Proof of Concept (PoCs) for other major PoS networks as well.
Liquid staking is still an under-researched space. But it has tremendous potential for the overall growth of DeFi and PoS networks. Our objective is to build a resilient architecture and lead the revolution from the front.
FAQs
What tokens does ClayStack support?
ClayStack currently features support for MATIC. We are working to introduce support for more tokens including GRT. More updates will be shared soon.
How can I stake with ClayStack?
Please access ClayStack here. Once you have connected any of the supporting wallets, you can begin staking.
Has ClayStack released their token yet?
ClayStack is yet to release its native token. We will share updates about the release on our official accounts.
What are csTokens?
The csToken is a value-accruing token that represents your staked assets. For instance, when you stake your MATIC, you will get csMATIC, whose value increases with respect to MATIC as it’s a value-accruing token. You can then use that to participate in DeFi.
To access the protocol, head to claystack.com. Follow us on Twitter to keep up with all the product updates. Join our community on Discord and Telegram.