Avalanche Rolls Out Flexible Staking for Subnet Tokens

Avalanche has successfully launched the Banff upgrade, enabling flexible staking with the native tokens of subnets starting today.

The Banff upgrade went live today on the Avalanche blockchain. This upgrade allows validators to stake and earn rewards using the native tokens of their respective subnets.

The upgrade provides subnet creators with greater customization and control over their ecosystems. Subnets are essentially custom blockchains dedicated to specific applications within the Avalanche ecosystem. Although subnets are connected to the Avalanche blockchain, they do not share resources, allowing developers to fully control their users' experiences.

Read More: Avalanche and the "Subnet Dream"

In an interview with The Block, Patrick O’Grady, Head of Engineering at Ava Labs, stated:

“Subnets are the biggest achievement for Avalanche since its launch in 2020. With the shift to flexible subnets, creators can now open staking to anyone with subnet tokens and directly reward them.”

The main difference after Banff is that if validators choose to stake a subnet’s native tokens, they can earn token rewards. However, O’Grady noted that validators will still need to stake AVAX for the upcoming cross-chain communication features.

This change will not be applied to all subnets immediately. Creators must convert their subnets into elastic subnets. This process is a one-time action and cannot be reversed in the future.

The Banff upgrade is a hard fork. Validators must upgrade to the latest version or risk being marked offline and facing reduced rewards.