This document aims to clarify details of the Beta Staker Program and explain the relationships between the various addresses used in TIP-067 part 1 and TIP-067 part 2.
During the delegation process, no actual token transfer will take place. The stake will be created for the beta staker using the supplied staking provider address. Threshold will also authorize the three applications at this time.
Random Beacon: cryptographic application generating verifiable randomness, bundled with tBTC. Random Beacon requires to be authorized to use the stake, which Threshold will complete
Bond/Register: Threshold staking allows for granular control over how a stake is used and deployed. This comes with a certain level of complexity. Events must occur in a specific sequence for things to go smoothly.
Stake created -> Authorize Applications -> Map/Register operators
DKG (Distributed Key Generation) ritual: event that generates a new tBTC wallet and distributes “seats” to beta staker operators. DKG is a resource intensive process.
ETH address that is the legal owner of the Threshold (T) tokens. In this context (TIP-067), stake ownership is not transferred, the tokens are staked via smart contract (delegated) to the staking provider address. This delegation is reversible at the discretion of the stake owner, subject to the conditions of the respective smart contract. The staking owner retains full control over the tokens.
ETH address that T tokens are delegated to, commonly abbreviated as SP. Can be a hardware wallet, as a best practice should be, but doesn’t have to be.
ETH address used by the respective Threshold application, must be a software wallet generated by geth or similar with a keystore file stored on the machine that houses the node. Must be unique for tBTC and TACo. Generally abbreviated as OP.
The payment address can be any ETH address chosen by the TIP-067 participant, hardware or software. This address is NOT governed by any smart contract. When we drafted TIP-067, we thought it would make things simpler to suggest the payment address and staking provider address be the same.
The staking provider cannot be changed under the terms of TIP-067 (part 1 or 2). The reason is that it would take 6 months to unstake during which time no rewards are earned, which are the source of compensation under this program.
The operator addresses cannot be changed once registered to the staking provider. This is related to the design of the smart contracts, which only accept one operator per application per staking provider.