Glossary

Definitions for the terms used across
this dashboard and Metal Blockchain staking.

Metal Blockchain: A public blockchain network designed for financial applications and real-world asset tokenization. Metal Blockchain uses the Avalanche consensus protocol and operates across three chains: the P-Chain (staking and validation), the C-Chain (smart contracts), and the X-Chain (asset transfers). All staking activity covered on this site takes place on the P-Chain.
METAL: The native cryptocurrency of the Metal Blockchain network. Used for staking — to secure the network and earn rewards — as well as for paying transaction fees.
nMETAL: The smallest unit of METAL, used internally by the protocol for precise calculations. One METAL equals 1,000,000,000 nMETAL (one billion). Similar in concept to how one dollar equals one hundred cents — except the ratio is much larger. All figures displayed on this site are converted from nMETAL to METAL for readability.
P-Chain: The Platform Chain. One of Metal Blockchain's three chains and the only one relevant to staking. All validators register on the P-Chain, all delegations are submitted here, and all staking rewards are settled here. Your staked METAL lives on the P-Chain for the full duration of your delegation.
Staking: Locking up METAL as a financial commitment to help secure the Metal Blockchain network, in exchange for newly minted METAL as a reward. Rather than mining, the network relies on participants who stake — either by running a validator node themselves or by delegating to one. While staked, your METAL is held under a protocol-enforced lock for the period you choose rather than handed to the validator. How the protocol releases your stake and any rewards when the period ends is described in the official Metal Blockchain documentation.
Non-Custodial: Staking on Metal Blockchain is designed to be non-custodial: BlockEmpowered never holds your METAL, and this site does not take custody of your funds at any point. You delegate from your own Metal Wallet rather than sending METAL to us. For exactly how the protocol handles delegated funds and their return, see the official Metal Blockchain documentation.

Consumption Rate: A Metal Blockchain protocol parameter that governs how quickly the not-yet-minted METAL supply is paid out as staking rewards, expressed as an annual percentage. The protocol bounds it between a minimum of 10% and a maximum of 12% per year. The consumption rate sets that floor and ceiling; where a specific delegation lands within the band depends on its duration — see Effective Rate.
Effective Rate: The specific consumption rate applied to your delegation once its duration is taken into account — the value reflected on the Delegate page. It is blended between the 10% floor and 12% ceiling according to how long you stake relative to the 365-day minting period: the longer your commitment, the closer to 12%; a short one sits nearer 10%. The remaining-supply factor is then applied on top of this rate to arrive at your estimated APR.
Minting Period: The reference time window the protocol uses when calculating rewards: 365 days. The longer your delegation relative to this window, the higher your proportional reward. A delegation lasting half the year earns roughly half what a full-year delegation would, all else equal.
APY (Annual Percentage Yield): An annual return on staked METAL that accounts for the effect of compounding — earning returns on re-delegated rewards. Metal Blockchain rewards do not compound automatically; you must manually re-delegate after each period to achieve compound returns. Because of that, the staking estimates shown on this site are expressed as APR (a simple, non-compounded annualized rate) rather than APY — so the figures never assume compounding that does not happen on its own.
APR (Annual Percentage Rate): Similar to APY but does not account for compounding. For the same underlying rate, APY will always be equal to or slightly higher than APR. When comparing staking opportunities across platforms, ensure you are comparing like-for-like: APY vs. APY, or APR vs. APR.
Gross APR: The reward percentage earned before the validator's delegation fee is deducted, expressed as a simple (non-compounded) annualized rate. A useful reference figure, but not what you actually receive. Shown on the Delegate and Compare pages.
Net APR: The reward percentage after the delegation fee is deducted, expressed as a simple (non-compounded) annualized rate. This is your actual take-home return — labeled "Effective APR" on the Delegate page and "Net APR" on Compare. When comparing validators, always compare net against net — not gross.
Delegation Fee: A percentage of your earned rewards paid to the validator in exchange for operating the node. Set before the staking period begins and fixed for its entire duration. A higher fee reduces your net APR but does not affect whether you earn rewards at all — that depends entirely on the validator's uptime.
Reward: New METAL minted by the protocol and distributed to a validator and its delegators at the end of a successful staking period, provided the 80% uptime threshold was met. Under the protocol's rules, rewards are issued to each staker's P-Chain address when the period closes. If the threshold was not met, no reward is issued.
Compounding: Earning returns on rewards you have already earned. Metal Blockchain does not compound automatically — when a period ends, your rewards are returned to your wallet but are not re-staked for you. To compound, you re-delegate your original stake plus those rewards into a new period. Over time, this can meaningfully increase your total return.
Re-delegation: Starting a fresh delegation after a previous one ends — re-committing your returned stake, optionally along with the rewards it earned, for a new period. Because Metal Blockchain does not re-stake automatically, re-delegation is the manual step behind compounding, and the cautious way to extend a commitment: start with a shorter period, see a full cycle through, then re-delegate. See Compounding.
Remaining Supply (Minting Reserve): The pool of not-yet-issued METAL that staking rewards are paid from. METAL has a hard cap of 666,666,666 coins, and new rewards are minted from the portion of that cap still left to release. As more METAL is minted over time this reserve shrinks, which is why staking rewards are designed to become gradually more scarce. The size of this reserve, relative to the current supply, directly affects the size of each reward.

Stake Weight: In the protocol's own terms, the total METAL committed to a validator — the validator's own stake and all delegated stake combined — measured in nMETAL internally. A validator's stake weight determines its proportional share of the reward pool relative to the rest of the network. Note: where this site shows "Validator Stake," it means the validator's own stake only; stake added by delegators is reported separately as "Total Delegated."
Self-Stake (Validator Stake): The METAL a validator commits from its own holdings to run its node — separate from the stake delegators add. A validator's self-stake is the basis for its delegation capacity: it can accept delegations of up to four times its own stake (see Delegation Capacity). Throughout this site, "Validator Stake" refers to this self-stake; stake added by delegators is reported separately as "Total Delegated."
Validation Period: The window of time during which a validator's node is registered and active on the network. All delegations to that node must begin and end within this window. When a validation period ends, the validator must submit a new transaction to begin a fresh one.
Delegation Period: Your individual staking window — the start and end dates you choose when submitting a delegation. Must fall entirely within the validator's active validation period. Cannot be shortened or cancelled once submitted to the blockchain.
Minimum Delegation: The smallest amount of METAL you can place in a single delegation: 25 METAL. Amounts below this cannot be submitted to the network. This is a Metal Blockchain protocol minimum, not a BlockEmpowered rule.
Minimum Delegation Duration: The shortest period for which METAL can be delegated: 14 days. A delegation must also end on or before the validator's own validation period closes, so a validator with fewer than 14 days left in its period cannot accept new delegations until it renews. This is a Metal Blockchain protocol minimum, not a BlockEmpowered rule.
Lock-Up Period: The duration during which your staked METAL cannot be moved or transferred, enforced by the Metal Blockchain protocol. It ends when your delegation period expires. For how the protocol releases your stake and any earned rewards at that point, see the official Metal Blockchain documentation.
Uptime: The percentage of time a validator's node has been observed as active and responsive by the rest of the Metal Blockchain network during its validation period. Expressed as a percentage (e.g., 99.4%). Measured continuously by the network — not self-reported by the validator.
Uptime Threshold: The minimum uptime a validator must have when a validation period closes to receive any rewards for that period: 80%. Under the protocol's rules it is assessed once, at period completion, against the period's overall uptime — not moment to moment. The outcome is designed to be binary: finish at or above 80% and the period's reward is paid; finish below it and none is. It applies equally to the validator and every delegator on its node.
Delegation Capacity: The maximum total delegated stake a validator can accept. On Metal Blockchain, a validator's total weight — its own stake plus everything delegated to it — is capped at five times its own stake, or 3,000,000 METAL, whichever is lower. In practice that means it can accept delegations of up to four times its own stake: a validator who has staked 10,000 METAL can accept up to 40,000 METAL in delegations (50,000 METAL total). The 3,000,000 METAL ceiling only becomes the binding limit for validators staking more than 600,000 METAL of their own. Once the cap is reached, new delegations cannot be added until existing ones expire.