Nimiq PoS Migration Starts!

NOTE: In the interest of delivering the migration within the time frame presented, the phases and their deadlines are of CRITICAL importance, so please work well within them!

The day has come. As Nimiq PoS quickly approaches Release Candidate status, we can now announce the dates for Nimiq PoS migration. The selected block height for the start of the Activation Phase is block 3456000, approximately translating to 7 AM UTC, November 19, 2024. Keep in mind that the exact time will shift slightly due to the nature of Proof-of-Work blockchains.

Things are getting real, and now more than ever, it is important for the Nimiq Community to stay informed and understand how to participate in the upcoming migration phases. Here are the approximate dates for the three phases, kicking off with the first, the “Validator Registration” Phase, which lasts no more than 23 days, followed by the second, the “Pre-Staking Phase” which lasts no more than 34 days, and culminating in the third, the “Activation Phase”:

Phase 1: Validator Registration
Starts: September 12
Ends: October 6
Phase 2: Pre-Staking
Starts: October 7
Ends: November 10
Phase 3: Activation
Starts: November 19, ~7 AM UTC
Ends: When 80% of the pre-staked NIM signals readiness. After 24 hours from the start, the activation resets for a new candidate transition block and activation attempt.

Participate in the Validator Registration Phase

Many of our community members interested in participating have already been involved in testing, or are currently running a validator or validator pool in the PoS testnet. For those looking to learn more, we recently hosted a Twitter Space with community-managed pools, which you can find here.

For those already running a validator, the documentation for participating in the Registration phase can be found here. If you have questions, feel free to join the discussion in the Nimiq Forum, Telegram, or Discord, where community developers and Team Nimiq members are happy to help.

We encourage the community to spread the word and invite any tech-savvy friends who might be interested in running a validator. To incentivize the availability of a variety of Validator Pools, Community Developers running a Validator Pool will receive extra rewards. Please keep in mind that only validators who registered during the Validator Registration Phase will be eligible for the migration. By participating as Validator in the migration you are making history and will earn the very first staking rewards issued by the protocol. Others will have to wait until after the migration to join the network.

The Validator Registration Phase is the opening of this transition. In this phase, we will establish the very first validator list for the Nimiq PoS chain. This is your chance to be one of the first validators. We invite everyone interested to register between Thursday, September 12, and Sunday, October 6. All you need to do is follow the instructions provided here. After October 6, no more validator registrations will be accepted and can result in a loss of funds!

Plans for the Pre-Staking Phase

The Pre-Staking Phase is crucial for the migration’s success. The more NIM staked, the healthier the PoS network will be when the migration occurs. We are planning an incentive campaign to reward early supporters who participate in Pre-Staking. More information will be provided in the coming weeks. Until Pre-Staking, we urge the community to focus on validator registration and ensure that as many validators as possible are registered before the deadline of October 6th.

Activation Phase

The Activation Phase marks the last of the three-phase transition process and is the one that finalizes the migration. On Tuesday November 19, the community will have the first opportunity to migrate the existing PoW chain to the new PoS protocol. The final decision rests with the registered validators of the Nimiq PoS network. The migration will take place as soon as 80% of the total stake gathered during the Registration and Pre-Staking phases signals readiness.

The design process for the Activation Phase has been updated slightly since the previous blog post. The improvements ensure a smoother and more efficient transition to PoS. We will share a detailed blog post closer to the Activation Phase to explain these adjustments, guide you through the process, and update the previous blog post for consistency.

Frequently Asked Questions

As we prepare for the transition to Proof-of-Stake, we have put together answers to some questions to help guide you through this process:

Does every Nimiq user need to run the migration tools to transition to PoS? No, the migration is only required for those who want to benefit from and make history by being among the first validators or operating nodes at the start of PoS. Regular users don't need to take any action.

I own a Nimiq Wallet and hold NIM. Do I need to participate in the migration? While all NIM holders are encouraged to participate in the migration and pre-stake to support the network, participation is not mandatory. If you choose not to participate, your wallet and transaction history will remain unaffected and automatically be transferred after the Activation Phase.

Can I log into my Nimiq Wallet with the same Login File after the transition? Yes, your local private keys remain untouched by this process, and you can log in with the same Login File and credentials after the transition.

Do I need to be a miner to register as a validator? No, anyone can register as a validator, regardless of whether they are a miner or not.

What happens if the activation doesn’t collect 80% of readiness in the first activation window? A new activation window will open every 24 hours if 80% readiness is not reached during an activation window. This process will repeat until the readiness threshold is achieved.

What happens if I don’t join the Pre-Staking Phase? If you miss pre-staking to a validator, you can still participate once the PoS chain is live and delegate stake to a validator.

For more detailed answers and additional questions about the migration, please visit our Migration FAQ.

The Migration Process to Nimiq Proof-of-Stake Begins This Week

The migration process follows a specific sequence of phases, starting with Validator Registration this week and followed by the Pre-Staking Phase. The Activation Phase only takes place once both preceding phases are complete. To ensure a smooth transition and allow ample time for everyone in the community to participate, we have organized timeframes that are carefully planned backwards from the activation date of November 19. Based on this schedule, the migration process starts this week with the Validator Registration phase.

We can’t emphasize enough how important it is to get a diverse amount of quality validators registered over the next month. Time is limited, and the stakes – pun intended – have never been higher. We want to end this blog post by thanking all the community developers and contributors who have been part of this journey.

As the time approaches, we will release more blog posts covering the Pre-Staking and Activation phases, so stay tuned!