Polkadot’s Proposal to Slash Unstaking Time to 2 Days

Key Takeaways

1. RFC-0092 Proposal: Reduce Polkadot’s unbonding period from 28 days to 2 days.
2. Mechanism: Adjusts unstaking duration based on queue size.
3. Current Issue: 28-day unbonding period deters participation.
4. Simulation: Average unbonding time could drop to 2.67 days.
5. Impact: Enhances user convenience and liquidity, maintains security.
6. Next Step: Community vote for approval and implementation.

YEREVAN (CoinChapter.com) — Researchers at the Web3 Foundation (W3F) have introduced RFC-0092, a proposal to reduce the unbonding period for staked tokens on Polkadot from 28 days to just two days. Currently, Polkadot’s proof-of-stake (PoS) protocol enforces a 28-day waiting period for unstaking tokens. The new proposal suggests adjusting the unstaking duration based on the queue size.

“The new mechanism leads to a significantly reduced unbonding time on average, by queuing up new unbonding requests and scaling their unbonding duration relative to the size of the queue,”

stated a W3F researcher.

The W3F-proposed mechanism queues unbonding requests and adjusts the duration based on the queue size. If approved, the new system will reduce the minimum unstaking period to just two days when the queue is empty.

Polkadot’s Proposal to Slash Unstaking Time

RFC-0092 was introduced because Polkadot has one of the longest unbonding periods among proof-of-stake (PoS) protocols. Despite the high annual percentage yield (APY) offered by staking on Polkadot, the lengthy unstaking process can deter participation as users seek faster alternatives.

“The current length of the unbonding period imposes significant costs for any entity that even wants to perform basic tasks such as a reorganization/consolidation of their stashes, or updating their private key infrastructure. It also limits participation of users that have a large preference for liquidity,”

explained a W3F representative.

Polkadot’s Simulation Shows Potential of New Unbonding Mechanism

The proposed unbonding queue mechanism includes an empirical analysis to simulate the new system’s potential. The simulation indicated that the average unbonding time would drop to approximately 2.67 days while the system remains sensitive to large unbonding events without exceeding the 28-day upper limit.

The innovative RFC-0092 proposal will now move on to the next phase to be voted on by the community. Stakeholders are hopeful that the new unstaking proposal will move forward with support from the community.