Persistence: Building Liquid Staking and Re-staking Infrastructure for the Cosmos Ecosystem

Persistence is one of the application chains in the Cosmos ecosystem that first enabled IBC, CosmWasm, and liquid staking modules. By deeply cultivating POS and liquid staking related products, it has built a complete liquid staking and re-staking architecture for the Cosmos ecosystem.

In December 2023, the Cosmos community voted to allocate 600,000 ATOM to pSTAKE for liquid staking growth and to share 15% of the liquid staking revenue with Cosmos Hub. This decision highlights the important position of Persistence in the Cosmos ecosystem.

Persistence Ecosystem Overview

According to official data, the total locked value of the Persistence ecosystem is ( TVL ) reaching 14.78 million USD, with an IBC trading volume of 15 million USD in the past 30 days and an average transaction cost of less than 0.005 USD. The Map of Zones shows that Persistence has established 121 channels with 44 other zones in the Interchain network, demonstrating its high interconnectivity.

74.7% of the $XPRT tokens are in stake, with an annualized staking yield of 16.7%. The high staking rate indicates strong security and participation in the network. Persistence is composed of 6 nodes and 100 validators, working together to maintain the decentralization and security of the network.

In the past 24 hours, the IBC trading volume of Persistence reached $260,800, with a total of 4,955 transactions, of which 616 were IBC transactions. There were 932 active addresses, with 86 active IBC addresses. The IBC inflow continues to exceed the outflow, reflecting that an increasing amount of value is flowing into Persistence and participating in stake.

Technical Advantages

Persistence supports the CosmWasm framework, allowing developers to write secure and interoperable smart contracts using the Rust language. DApps developed based on CosmWasm can achieve cross-chain operations through IBC, providing convenient, secure, and efficient technical support for liquid staking.

Persistence connects 54 Cosmos application chains through IBC, enabling trustless communication, transfer, staking, and liquid staking of tokens. Utilizing Interchain Accounts (ICA) technology, Persistence has also implemented ICA Liquid Staking, enhancing the efficiency and flexibility of staking and liquid staking.

liquid staking

In the Cosmos ecosystem, liquid staking involves two roles: validators and delegators. Validators run hardware and blockchain applications based on the Cosmos SDK, reaching consensus with other validators to propose and verify new blocks. Delegators stake by selecting validator nodes.

If a validator exhibits improper behavior, such as being persistently offline, the staked deposits of delegators will be reduced by 0.1%. Severe violations, such as double signing, may result in a 5% reduction of the staked deposits. This mechanism prevents malicious behavior and maintains network efficiency and security through economic incentives and potential penalties.

pSTAKE staking platform

pSTAKE provides a simple staking process for the Cosmos ecosystem. Users only need to select the staking token and the chain they are on to complete the staking. After staking, users receive the corresponding staking rights tokens, such as stkATOM for staking ATOM.

The main features of pSTAKE include:

1. Automatic Compound Interest: The staking rewards are automatically reinvested, reflected as an increase in the stkATOM/ATOM ratio.

2. Flexible Unstaking: Users can choose to wait 21-25 days or pay a 1% fee to unstake immediately.

3. Multi-Asset Support: Currently supports staking for tokens such as ATOM, OSMO, DYDX, STARS, and HUAHUA.

4. Cross-chain operations: Transfer assets to Persistence through IBC, and then call the liquid staking module to complete the stake.

5. Low Gas Fees: Although a small amount of $XPRT is required as Gas, the fees are extremely low.

stake derivatives

The Persistence ecosystem has developed various stk asset derivatives, such as directly exchanging stkATOM and ATOM in a DEX without needing to unstake or pay additional fees. stk assets can also be combined with native assets to provide liquidity and earn higher returns. For example, the expected annualized yield for the stkDYDX + DYDX combination in Dexter can reach as high as 45.82%.

$XPRT stake

As an independent blockchain, Persistence also requires staking to enhance network security. Users can conveniently stake $XPRT in the official Persistence platform or Keplr wallet and choose a validator node for delegation.

stake security guarantee

Persistence and pSTAKE are both open-source programs, with continuous contributions from 72 developers. In addition, Persistence collaborates with several well-known security organizations, such as Halborn, PeckShield, and Certora, to provide comprehensive security support for staking and liquid staking.

Re-staking Innovation

Persistence is building a re-staking infrastructure for the Cosmos ecosystem, allowing users to deposit liquid staking tokens ( such as stkATOM, stTIA, etc., ) into Persistence for re-staking, protecting more chains and earning additional rewards.

Re-staking Alliance

Based on the Alliance module, Persistence has developed a liquid staking module that supports staking requests for multiple assets. Members of the liquid staking alliance share staking rewards, distributed according to asset reward weights. For example, the weight of $XPRT is 1, while the weights of other assets are determined by governance. This mechanism forms a cross-chain community of interests, helping to enhance the security and decentralization of the Cosmos ecosystem.

Re-staking income source

After the re-staked tokens are locked, the system mints the native token ($XPRT) proportionally and stakes it to the validators. The staking rewards obtained are redistributed to the stakers of various assets, further strengthening the security and liquidity of the Cosmos ecosystem.

Summary

Persistence is gradually deepening its influence in the Cosmos ecosystem through innovative liquid staking and re-staking solutions. The economic alliance established for re-stakers not only enhances mutual security guarantees but also improves the decentralization of the Cosmos ecosystem, bringing higher security, asset liquidity, and participation to the entire ecosystem.