Staking MATIC aka Polygon (Things to do when ETH gas fees are low!)

Over the course of last year, I've been a little bit careless with my crypto custody and now an uncomfortable percentage sits on exchanges. Sure, the exchanges that I mostly use are pretty "safe", such as Binance, Kucoin, Coinbase and MXC... but safety is a relative word especially in the slightly lawless area of cryptocurrencies! Plus, many things seem safe until the moment that they aren't... and then there is a fast run on the assets... if you are lucky enough to have unblocked withdrawals!

The exchanges (especially Binance) have been spoiling us with easy one click Staking and interest bearing savings products, which does get many people to stay within the walled garden of the CEXs. For many people, the thought of venturing out into the raw and wild blockchains is too daunting... and personally, I don't blame them. It isn't just the obscure technical jargon and learning how things work on blockchains compared to the ordinary internet, it is also the complete responsibility for your own computer and internet security... and let us just say that that isn't really a sort of thing that most people do well!

So, back to staking MATIC... Polygon have set up a really easy staking and bridge interface at https://wallet.matic.network/ where you will need to sign a transaction for it to view your Ethereum wallet. Of course, the easiest ways to do this are Metamask or via WalletConnect. I love the Ethereum ecosystem of dApps, they are just a step more professional and cleaner than the other smart-contract platforms... everything is well-explained and laid out in an an intuitive and logical manner without lots of unnecessary marketing guff or weird irrelevant artworks.

Just a quick word of warning, as it was a little mistake that I almost fell into... MATIC staking needs to take place on the Ethereum mainnet and NOT the Polygon sidechain. I almost moved my MATIC tokens via the bridge onto Polygon... but thankfully, there is a big pop-up (for those who read these things...) that clearly stated that MATIC needs to be staked on the Ethereum mainnet!

... again, these are the little things that make a big difference to the overall user experience of a product. Sure, they didn't need to warn me... after all, crypto is all about DYOR and taking responsibility for your own mistakes... but projects also should provide some subtle guidance and not just leave everything up to the user. Especially when users aren't always going to have a 100% understanding on their first interaction! So, thank you Polygon... you guys are doing the right thing!

So, going to the staking dApp on the Ethereum mainnet. You are presented with a list possible validators that you can delegate to... I'm sure as hell not going to run my own validator! So, delegating is the way! Interestingly enough, only roughly 35% of circulating MATIC tokens are staked! That's pretty low, and good for those who want to get in a little bit earlier...

As you can see there is going to be a balance between the stake size (which will affect the number of checkpoints that the validator signs) and the fees that they charge. Although it is tempting to think that 0% fees are ALWAYS the best option, there is the case that the zero percent fee validators might not have such a good incentive to maintain that all important 100% signing metric. After all, you don't want to get slashed!

Also, looking down that list... you see the Binance has the largest or one of the largest stakes, but also takes a whopping 10% fee! That is much more than most of the other large validators, who are around 1-5%

So, after some deliberation, I settled upon two different validators. One was a medium sized, 0 percent fee validator and the other was a larger stake with a 3 percent fee. I had split my tokens to half delegation for each... and I will watch over time to see how they will pan out. Like most things on the blockchain, make your choices wisely and slowly before you commit... unbonding costs gas fees in ETH and will also lose you time as the unbonding will take a few days to complete fully.

So, I'm hoping the low gas fees are going to hold out for a few more weeks! I'm really enjoying the ability to actually do things on the Ethereum blockchain again! I've really missed the higher professionalism of the projects here!

Handy Crypto Tools

Ledger Nano S/X: Keep your crypto safe and offline with the leading hardware wallet provider. Not your keys, not your crypto!
Binance: My first choice of centralised exchange, featuring a wide variety of crypto and savings products.
Kucoin: My second choice in exchanges, many tokens listed here that you can't get on Binance!
MXC: Listings of lots of interesting tokens that are usually only available on DEXs. Avoid high gas prices! Coinbase: If you need a regulated and safe environment to trade, this is the first exchange for most newcomers! Crypto.com: Mixed feelings, but they have the BEST looking VISA debit card in existence! Seriously, it is beautiful! CoinList: Access to early investor and crowdsale of vetted and reserached projects. Cointracking: Automated or manual tracking of crypto for accounting and taxation reports.

_{Upgoats by ryivhnn
Account banner by jimramones}

_{The classical music community (Subscribe at [Steempeak](https://steempeak.com/c/hive-193961/created) and [Peakd](https://steempeak.com/c/hive-193961/created)) at #classical-music and [Discord](https://discord.gg/ppVmmgt). Follow our community accounts @classical-music and @classical-radio. Community Logo by ivan.atman}

Posted Using LeoFinance ^Beta