docs/general/staking.md

Staking

Since its inception, the TORN token is used by Tornado Cash users for governance. Its main utility is to allow the suggestion of proposals & voting both in-chain (through locked TORN for governance proposals) and off-chain (on Snapshot).

Since the execution of Tornado Cash 10th governance proposal, TORN token has gained one other useful utility. Indeed, with the introduction of a decentralized relayer register, a staking reward has been implemented for all holders with locked TORN in the governance contract.

TORN holders can still lock their tokens into the governance contract as they used to for governance purposes. The significant difference is that they are now able to receive a portion of the fees collected by the protocol from relayers. Obviously, the proportion of the reward will be equal to the proportion of their locked TORN.

FROM WHERE THESE COLLECTED FEES COME FROM ?

The collection of these fees was made possible by the implementation of a decentralized relayer registry. In order to be listed on the protocol UI, relayers need to stake a given amount of TORN (currently set by governance at 300 TORN). The functioning of this relayer registry is more extensively explained on this forum post & on the Relayer Registry documentation page.

In a nutshell, for each withdrawal through the relayer method, the chosen relayer has to pay a fee to the protocol from the staked balance (that should still be maintained above the 300 TORN threshold). Currently, this fee has been fixed at 0.3% by the governance and can be changed at any time through an on-chain proposal & vote.

How to Stake TORN token ?

As mentioned above, the process to lock TORN tokens has remained unchanged.

• It happens here ➡️ https://tornadocash.eth.link/governance ⬅️, by clicking on Manage, then going on the Lock tab
• The governance contract need to be approved in order to allow the transfer of your tokens to the smart contract. To do so, you need to click on the Approve button
• Once the approval is confirmed, you can chose the amount of token to lock, then click on Lock
• All you have to do after that is to confirm the transaction in your wallet & wait for the confirmation to come through

How to Claim Your Staking Reward ?

Now that your TORN tokens have stayed nice & warm locked in the governance contract, you are able to claim your staking reward. How to do that? Everything is still happening here ➡️ https://tornadocash.eth.link/governance ⬅️

As soon as you log in the page, you will be able to see your staking reward at the top, just waiting for you to collect it 💰

• Click Manage -> Claim tab -> Claim button.

That's it, we're done, easy peasy lemon squeezy 😉__

__

Written by @bt11ba **** & @ayefda****