On February 2, Zama announced details about its network staking mechanism. According to BlockBeats, the Zama protocol uses a Delegated Proof of Stake (DPoS) system, allowing users and participants to delegate their ZAMA tokens to operators responsible for managing the infrastructure. Currently, there are 18 active operators, including 13 Key Management Service (KMS) nodes and 5 Fully Homomorphic Encryption (FHE) co-processors.
Staking rewards come from the protocol's inflation mechanism, with an annual inflation rate set at 5% of the total ZAMA supply at launch. Of these rewards, 60% are allocated to KMS operators and their delegates, while 40% go to co-processor operators and their delegates. The distribution is based on the square root of the total amount staked by each operator, meaning that delegating to smaller operators generates higher returns, thus promoting the decentralization of the network.
Operators deduct a fee before distributing rewards to delegates, with a maximum cap of 20%. The remaining rewards are distributed proportionally among all delegates. Unstaking requires a disengagement period of 7 days, although users can transfer or sell liquid staking certificates without waiting.$ZAMA
