Skip to content
lib.rs 53.3 KiB
Newer Older
// Copyright 2017-2019 Parity Technologies (UK) Ltd.
// This file is part of Substrate.
Gav Wood's avatar
Gav Wood committed

// Substrate is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
Gav Wood's avatar
Gav Wood committed
// it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
// the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
// (at your option) any later version.

// Substrate is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
Gav Wood's avatar
Gav Wood committed
// but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
// MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
// GNU General Public License for more details.

// You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
// along with Substrate.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
Gav Wood's avatar
Gav Wood committed

//! # Staking Module
//!
//! The Staking module is used to manage funds at stake by network maintainers.
//!
//! - [`staking::Trait`](./trait.Trait.html)
//! - [`Call`](./enum.Call.html)
//! - [`Module`](./struct.Module.html)
//!
//! ## Overview
//! The Staking module is the means by which a set of network maintainers (known as _authorities_
//! in some contexts and _validators_ in others) are chosen based upon those who voluntarily place
//! funds under deposit. Under deposit, those funds are rewarded under normal operation but are
//! held at pain of _slash_ (expropriation) should the staked maintainer be found not to be
//! discharging its duties properly.
//! ### Terminology
//! <!-- Original author of paragraph: @gavofyork -->
//!
//! - Staking: The process of locking up funds for some time, placing them at risk of slashing
//! (loss) in order to become a rewarded maintainer of the network.
//! - Validating: The process of running a node to actively maintain the network, either by
//! producing blocks or guaranteeing finality of the chain.
//! - Nominating: The process of placing staked funds behind one or more validators in order to
//! share in any reward, and punishment, they take.
//! - Stash account: The account holding an owner's funds used for staking.
//! - Controller account: The account that controls an owner's funds for staking.
//! - Era: A (whole) number of sessions, which is the period that the validator set (and each
//! validator's active nominator set) is recalculated and where rewards are paid out.
//! - Slash: The punishment of a staker by reducing its funds.
//!
//! ### Goals
//! <!-- Original author of paragraph: @gavofyork -->
//!
//! The staking system in Substrate NPoS is designed to make the following possible:
//! - Stake funds that are controlled by a cold wallet.
//! - Withdraw some, or deposit more, funds without interrupting the role of an entity.
//! - Switch between roles (nominator, validator, idle) with minimal overhead.
//!
//! ### Scenarios
//!
//! #### Staking
//!
//! Almost any interaction with the Staking module requires a process of _**bonding**_ (also known
//! as being a _staker_). To become *bonded*, a fund-holding account known as the _stash account_,
//! which holds some or all of the funds that become frozen in place as part of the staking process,
//! is paired with an active **controller** account, which issues instructions on how they shall be
//! used.
//! An account pair can become bonded using the [`bond`](./enum.Call.html#variant.bond) call.
//!
//! Stash accounts can change their associated controller using the
//! [`set_controller`](./enum.Call.html#variant.set_controller) call.
//! There are three possible roles that any staked account pair can be in: `Validator`, `Nominator`
//! and `Idle` (defined in [`StakerStatus`](./enum.StakerStatus.html)). There are three
//! corresponding instructions to change between roles, namely:
//! [`validate`](./enum.Call.html#variant.validate), [`nominate`](./enum.Call.html#variant.nominate),
//! and [`chill`](./enum.Call.html#variant.chill).
//!
//! #### Validating
//!
//! A **validator** takes the role of either validating blocks or ensuring their finality,
//! maintaining the veracity of the network. A validator should avoid both any sort of malicious
//! misbehavior and going offline. Bonded accounts that state interest in being a validator do NOT
//! get immediately chosen as a validator. Instead, they are declared as a _candidate_ and they
//! _might_ get elected at the _next era_ as a validator. The result of the election is determined
//! by nominators and their votes.
//! An account can become a validator candidate via the
//! [`validate`](./enum.Call.html#variant.validate) call.
//!
//! #### Nomination
//!
//! A **nominator** does not take any _direct_ role in maintaining the network, instead, it votes on
//! a set of validators  to be elected. Once interest in nomination is stated by an account, it
//! takes effect at the next election round. The funds in the nominator's stash account indicate the
//! _weight_ of its vote. Both the rewards and any punishment that a validator earns are shared
//! between the validator and its nominators. This rule incentivizes the nominators to NOT vote for
//! the misbehaving/offline validators as much as possible, simply because the nominators will also
//! lose funds if they vote poorly.
//!
//! An account can become a nominator via the [`nominate`](enum.Call.html#variant.nominate) call.
//!
//! #### Rewards and Slash
//!
//! The **reward and slashing** procedure is the core of the Staking module, attempting to _embrace
//! valid behavior_ while _punishing any misbehavior or lack of availability_.
//! Slashing can occur at any point in time, once misbehavior is reported. Once slashing is
//! determined, a value is deducted from the balance of the validator and all the nominators who
//! voted for this validator (values are deducted from the _stash_ account of the slashed entity).
//!
//! Similar to slashing, rewards are also shared among a validator and its associated nominators.
//! Yet, the reward funds are not always transferred to the stash account and can be configured.
//! See [Reward Calculation](#reward-calculation) for more details.
//! Finally, any of the roles above can choose to step back temporarily and just chill for a while.
//! This means that if they are a nominator, they will not be considered as voters anymore and if
//! they are validators, they will no longer be a candidate for the next election.
//! An account can step back via the [`chill`](enum.Call.html#variant.chill) call.
//! ### Dispatchable Functions
//! The dispatchable functions of the Staking module enable the steps needed for entities to accept
//! and change their role, alongside some helper functions to get/set the metadata of the module.
//! ### Public Functions
//! The Staking module contains many public storage items and (im)mutable functions.
//! ## Usage
//! ### Example: Reporting Misbehavior
//!
//! ```
//! use srml_support::{decl_module, dispatch::Result};
//! use system::ensure_signed;
//! use srml_staking::{self as staking};
//!
//! pub trait Trait: staking::Trait {}
//!
//! decl_module! {
//! 	pub struct Module<T: Trait> for enum Call where origin: T::Origin {
//!			/// Report whoever calls this function as offline once.
//! 		pub fn report_sender(origin) -> Result {
//! 			let reported = ensure_signed(origin)?;
//! 			<staking::Module<T>>::on_offline_validator(reported, 1);
//! 			Ok(())
//! 		}
//! 	}
//! }
//! # fn main() { }
//! ```
//!
//! ## Implementation Details
//!
//! ### Slot Stake
//!
//! The term [`SlotStake`](./struct.Module.html#method.slot_stake) will be used throughout this
//! section. It refers to a value calculated at the end of each era, containing the _minimum value
//! at stake among all validators._ Note that a validator's value at stake might be a combination
//! of the validator's own stake and the votes it received. See [`Exposure`](./struct.Exposure.html)
//! for more details.
//!
//! ### Reward Calculation
//!
//! Rewards are recorded **per-session** and paid **per-era**. The value of the reward for each
//! session is calculated at the end of the session based on the timeliness of the session, then
//! accumulated to be paid later. The value of the new _per-session-reward_ is calculated at the end
//! of each era by multiplying `SlotStake` and `SessionReward`  (`SessionReward` is the
//! multiplication factor, represented by a number between 0 and 1). Once a new era is triggered,
//! rewards are paid to the validators and their associated nominators.
//! The validator can declare an amount, named
//! [`validator_payment`](./struct.ValidatorPrefs.html#structfield.validator_payment), that does not
//! get shared with the nominators at each reward payout through its
//! [`ValidatorPrefs`](./struct.ValidatorPrefs.html). This value gets deducted from the total reward
//! that can be paid. The remaining portion is split among the validator and all of the nominators
//! that nominated the validator, proportional to the value staked behind this validator (_i.e._
//! dividing the [`own`](./struct.Exposure.html#structfield.own) or
//! [`others`](./struct.Exposure.html#structfield.others) by
//! [`total`](./struct.Exposure.html#structfield.total) in [`Exposure`](./struct.Exposure.html)).
//! All entities who receive a reward have the option to choose their reward destination
//! through the [`Payee`](./struct.Payee.html) storage item (see
//! [`set_payee`](enum.Call.html#variant.set_payee)), to be one of the following:
//!
//! - Controller account, (obviously) not increasing the staked value.
//! - Stash account, not increasing the staked value.
//! - Stash account, also increasing the staked value.
//!
//! ### Slashing details
//!
//! A validator can be _reported_ to be offline at any point via the public function
//! [`on_offline_validator`](enum.Call.html#variant.on_offline_validator). Each validator declares
//! how many times it can be _reported_ before it actually gets slashed via its
//! [`ValidatorPrefs::unstake_threshold`](./struct.ValidatorPrefs.html#structfield.unstake_threshold).
Loading full blame...