Mining on Streamr
This information is provided for the Brubeck Network - the predecessor to the Streamr 1.0 network that's being released over Q4 2023 and Q1 2024.
Streamr 1.0 Network includes Streamr (Broker) node versions 34 and above. Streamr SDK versions 9 and above. And also any dev-tatum tagged releases.
Mining in the context of the Streamr Network means that Streamr nodes join incentivized streams and help maintain the data pipeline inside those streams in exchange for DATA tokens. The mining process is aided by a mining plugin that is included with the Streamr node.
The incentivization layer of the Streamr Network will become available in H2 2023 - the "1.0" milestone of the project.
Mining in Brubeck
The Brubeck Network is the current (H1 2023) Streamr Network that is decentralized, but without the decentralised incentivization layer. To mine, you need to do two things:
- Run a Streamr node
- Stake DATA on the Streamr node
Mining incentives for the Brubeck mainnet have been decided by the Streamr governance process here: SIP-7. Note the max stake was recently increased to 20 000 DATA tokens per node.
In Brubeck, the only incentivised streams are special ones created for this purpose. The simplified mining in Brubeck works as follows: When running the Streamr node, you are automatically subscribing to these special ‘rewards’ streams, which contain reward codes that are delivered on a random interval. When your Streamr node receives a reward code, it will then call our Rewards Backend, and based on this, we are able to verify that your node remains online and is eligible for mining rewards. Additionally, your node's DATA balance is checked - see below for more information on staking.
Staking in Brubeck
Staking happens by simply transferring DATA tokens to your node's address or beneficiary address. Your node's mining rewards are determined by its stake. Before the Rewards Backend publishes a new reward code, it takes a snapshot of DATA balances on the Polygon blockchain. When your Streamr node observes a reward code and proves its presence in the incentivized stream to the Rewards Backend, your share of the reward is determined by the DATA balance of your node, relative to the balances of other nodes that also claim the reward code.
You can stake between 0 and 20,000 DATA tokens on your node address. You can, of course, have more DATA on your node address or beneficiary address than that, but reward calculation will cap it to 20,000. For example, if the node has 40,000 DATA, can only earn rewards as if it had 20,000 DATA. In order to get the benefits from 40,000 DATA, you need to have two nodes running that each have 20,000 DATA.
At launch, staking is possible only on the Polygon Mainnet. If you have DATA token holdings on the Ethereum Mainnet or some other chain, you need to move them to the Polygon Mainnet and deposit them to the address of your Streamr node(s) or its beneficiary address. Only DATA can be used for staking. The stake needs to remain on the node’s address - if you transfer it out, the node will not accumulate rewards anymore. Rewards already claimed will not be affected.