In today’s article, we’re having a look at Stargaze, one of the very first NFT markets to launch in the Cosmos Ecosystem. Cosmos is a network of custom interoperable blockchains, where Stargaze operates as an application-specific blockchain. Stargaze aspires to be a decentralized NFT market that is entirely owned and governed by its users.

Before we dive into Stargaze and how to stake its native asset $STARS, let’s have a brief look at what NFTs are. NFT stands for non-fungible token and refers to a digital asset that represents real-world objects such as art, music, in-game items and videos. Each of these items is bought and stored online, and they are encoded on the blockchain. Furthermore, it is important to note that NFTs are unique, which makes them collectibles. Interestingly, although NFTs have been around since 2014, they have started gaining real traction from 2017 onward. In the blockchain space it is currently one of the biggest trends to buy, sell and collect these digital artworks.

So, let’s have a look at Stargaze.

Stargaze has built the first standard in the Cosmos Ecosystem for NFTs, which is similar to the ERC-721 standard on Ethereum. ERC-721 is an open standard that describes how to build Non-Fungible Tokens on EVM (Ethereum's Virtual Machine) compatible blockchains; it is a standard interface for Non-Fungible tokens and has a set of rules which make it easy to work with NFTs on Ethereum.

Because Stargaze is IBC-compatible, NFTs minted on it could be sent to any other sovereign network in the Cosmos ecosystem that is also IBC-compatible. Stargaze is employing novel incentive mechanisms, such as staking rewards, to incentivize users to perform specific network actions.

Stargaze $STARS Token Distribution

Stargaze will start with an initial supply of 1 billion $STARS. An additional 1 billion $STARS will be issued the first year. As they are using a thirdening schedule, similar to Osmosis, the issuance for the following year will be an estimated 667 million $STARS. Stargaze is decentralized, with a genesis supply that distributes the majority of tokens to community members. The Foundation will keep a strategic reserve of tokens and will push for protocol adoption by delegating to validators, onboarding creators, and providing grants for ecosystem development.

After five years, the initial distribution will be 27.6% of the entire token supply. With this issuance schedule, Stargaze can grow and adapt its ownership to new stakeholders. Finally, tokens for seed investors, validators, founders, and advisors are locked up for 1 year, and linearly vest after that for another 6 months to 1 year.

Staking Your $STARS

To get started staking your $STARS, go to the Stargaze staking dashboard: https://stake.stargaze.zone/

Please note: in order to stake on the Stargaze platform, you need to have a Keplr Wallet funded with $STARS. If you haven’t yet, follow step 1. If you already have your Keplr wallet, continue to step 3.

Step 1 - Install the wallet extension

Go to https://wallet.keplr.app/; a pop-up will appear as soon as you enter the website. Click on the pop-up; it will lead you to the Chrome extension store. Select: “add to Chrome”. Make sure you are downloading the official app.

Once you’ve added the extension, click on it.

Step 2 - Create Your Wallet

On the Keplr web page, select “Create New Account” to start setting up your account. There is also an option to Sign in with Google. In case you already have a Keplr wallet, select “Import Existing Account”.

If you’ve selected “Create New Account”, Keplr will ask if you’d like to have a Mnemonic Seed of 12 or 24 words. Remember to store your seed phrase securely offline and never share it with anyone. If you lose your seed phrase, you will lose the assets within the wallet.

Once you’ve copied your seed phrase, fill out your account name, desired password and confirm by selecting “Next”.

Fill out your seed phrase in the right order to register, then select “Register”. That’s it! You’ve now created your Keplr wallet. Copy the address and send $STARS. You’re now ready to go!

Step 3 - Get Started With Stakin

Navigate to: https://stake.stargaze.zone/ and on the top menu, select the most right button: “Connect”.

A pop-up will request access to your Keplr Wallet, select “Approve” to continue. Your wallet address should now show-up on the top menu next to a button that lets you disconnect.

Next, on the dashboard select “Stake” in the top menu. The staking dashboard will open with all the validators on it. Scroll down to find the validator of your choice, and on the right side select “delegate”.

An in-screen pop-up will now show you the validator of your choice and the amount that you’d like to stake with them. Now, select “Delegate”.

Keplr wallet will now ask you to confirm the delegation by checking the transaction data, and fee. It’s also possible to add a memo if you’d like. Next, select “Approve” to continue staking.

If successful you should see the “Delegated Successfully” pop-up (as on the image below).

Select “Done” and that’s it! You’ve delegated your $STARS, just need to wait for the rewards to come your way. 😉😉

If you’d like to double check, on the dashboard select “staked validators”.

You should see the amount staked, commission charged, the voting power and you’ll also be able to redelegate or undelegate from the staked validators dashboard.

You can check any transactions via: https://www.mintscan.io/stargaze

And that’s all, folks!

Remember that depending on the network, there will be a locking period when you want to unstake your funds.

Stakin Dashboard

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DISCLAIMER: This is not financial advice. Staking, delegation, and cryptocurrencies involve a high degree of risk, and there is always the possibility of loss, including the failure of all staked digital assets. Additionally, delegators are at risk of slashing in case of security or liveness faults on some protocols. We advise you to do your due diligence before choosing a validator.