Chainlink Opens LINK v0.2 Staking To Public, But Almost No One Can Get In

Chainlink has enabled general access with certain limitations to its v0.2 community pool. 

Blockchain-based oracle service Chainlink announced Monday that it has now enabled general access to its community staking pool for v0.2 staking. Launched in late November, the community pool allows users to lock LINK for a variable rate reward of 4.3%.

However, opening general access does not mean LINK holders who missed the Early Access phase can now automatically stake the token.

Instead, as Chainlink noted in its announcement, new users can only “stake LINK whenever an existing stake completes a withdrawal and pool space becomes available.”

#Chainlink Staking v0.2 has officially entered General Access.

With the community pool having been filled during Early Access, anyone can stake LINK whenever an existing staker completes a withdrawal and pool space becomes available.https://t.co/Gdt5FiQmOR

— Chainlink (@chainlink) December 11, 2023

The Chainlink v0.2 community pool was immediately filled within hours after launch. The 40,875,000 LINK allocation for the pool was met by users who instantly migrated from v0.1 to the new pool. Additionally, other LINK holders who met certain criteria and had Early Access staked in the pool to complete the allocation.

Hence, users must now wait for early stakers to unstake LINK for an opportunity. Even in the event that an existing staker wants to exist their position, the LINK v0.2 contract enforces a 28-day unbonding period and an additional seven-day period for users to completely claim their locked access.

With Chainlink Early Access opening on December 7, users must wait until at least January 11 for a chance to join the LINK community staking pool. The above also assumes that a staker enabled withdrawal on the same day they originally staked, underlining the difficulty for new community members seeking access to the LINK pool.

LINK Attempts Recovery After Broader Market Correction

The LINK staking program aims to provide more favorable economics for the asset, with roughly 8% of the overall supply now locked by stakers. With a lower circulating supply, LINK potentially has a better chance of delivering better returns across various market conditions.

Over the past 24 hours, the token has rebounded alongside the rest of the crypto market after a slight correction. LINK dropped from $16.15 to $14.35 following the move but has since recovered to around $14.96 at the time of writing.