What is Berachain?
Berachain is a DeFi-focused, high-performance Layer 1, EVM-compatible blockchain that is introducing a novel consensus mechanism through ‘Proof of Liquidity’, or ‘PoL’, in short. The underlying PoL mechanism leverages the Polaris framework and the CometBFT consensus engine, which showcases Berachain’s emphasis on its modular design.
We also published an introduction to Berachain which you can see here.
Tri-Token Model
Berachain operates with 3 distinct tokens all having a purpose of their own to fulfil. These tokens are:
- BERA: This is the native token of the protocol used for paying transactions (TXs) and acting as a gas token.
- BGT: The native Governance Token. BGT is rewarded for providing liquidity or doing on-chain actions on Berachain. It is not swappable or purchasable but can be burned 1:1 for BERA tokens. BGT is then delegated to Validators.
- HONEY: The native stablecoin of the Berachain Ecosystem. Aiming to be pegged to the dollar ($1).
The BGT token
This staking guide focuses on BGT, how to make the most of it, and how to support your favourite validators on the network to create your desired flywheel.
According to the official Berachain docs, “$BGT is non-transferable and can only be acquired by providing liquidity in PoL-eligible assets (e.g., liquidity on Bex).”
Additionally, more examples are provided in the same doc “Depositing liquidity in the native Bex for an LP pair that is earning $BGT emissions, Borrowing $HONEY on Bend, Providing $HONEY in the bHONEY vault for Berps”
What can you do with the $BGT token? Vote on Governance Proposals, Delegate to a Validator that will return maximum incentives (Protocols would provide Incentives to Validators to attract $BGT), Burning the BGT token for BERA.
How do you start your journey to obtain BGT?
Firstly, you would need to obtain BERA tokens to start using the Protocol. Luckily, we have a Faucet that allows you to claim BERA tokens. A guide on that can be found here.
You can visit the faucet by following the link here
Once you have dripped tokens to your wallet address, the process of delegating your BGT to a validator can begin.
This is a multi-step process but we promise it is fun and makes you interact with the many interesting features that Berachain offers – Let’s begin!
Step 1: Go to https://bartio.bex.berachain.com/ to swap your newly dripped BERA tokens into tokens that can go into a pool to start earning you BGT rewards.
There are many examples of pools where you may be able to deposit your LP tokens. The image below shows only a snippet of all the available pools and token pairings.
For this guide, we will showcase depositing into the HONEY-WBERA Pool meaning that a swap from BERA into HONEY and WBERA must occur.
The process is straightforward if you have done a DeFi swap before. On https://bartio.bex.berachain.com/swap, select how much BERA you wish to swap over to HONEY.
Please remember that you should only swap at least half of your BERA tokens. This is to ensure that you have enough for the other asset to deposit equally into the pool and secondly, to pay for TX fees (gas).
After clicking Preview, a screen presents two very professional bears engaging in a swap deal. You can then click on Swap to get the Metamask pop-up to approve the transaction.
Step 2: Depositing into a Pool to start earning BGT
As mentioned in the previous step, we will use the HONEY-WBERA Pool as an example for this guide. The steps are the same for all pools.
Once you put the desired amount in, click on ‘Preview’ and then Add the Liquidity by confirming the TX on your Metamask.
Once the Liquidity is added you will have the option to ‘Deposit’ your LP Tokens into the gauge vault to start earning BGT as can be seen below.
Step 3: Depositing LP Tokens into a Gauge
The below screenshots showcase how the Gauge page would look like. We will be depositing 2.69 HONEY-WBERA Receipt tokens into the gauge. Click on ‘Approve Infinite’ or HONEY-WBERA LP to deposit the tokens.
Once deposited, you will soon be able to see the Unclaimed Rewards start to go up.
Step 4: Claiming BGT
One can claim Rewards from the following page https://bartio.station.berachain.com/rewards – This page would contain all of your active vaults or places where you are accruing BGT. As mentioned earlier, there are multiple ways of earning BGT not only just depositing into a Pool.
Delegating your BGT to Simply Staking
Once you have claimed your BGT from the various streams you might have, you can now begin the process of Delegating that BGT to your favourite validator and one that potentially offers you the most incentives in the long run.
Step 1: Locate your favourite validator from the list at https://bartio.station.berachain.com/validators
For this guide, we are going with our Simply Staking Validator which is hosted out of our Tier 3 Datacenter in Malta to offer optimal uptime and security.
Step 2: View your selected Validators details
Once you select a Validator you wish to Delegate to, you can proceed to the next step by clicking on the ‘Delegate +’ button.
Step 3: Delegate the desired amount of BGT. When ready, click on ‘Queue Boost’ to begin the process.
Step 4: Wait for the Delegation Queue to reach 0 and Confirm your Delegation.
What is ‘Queue Boost’? This puts your delegation into a queue which takes a couple of hours.
Once that time has elapsed, as shown below, you can ‘Confirm’ your stake and delegate to Simply Staking. Make sure to sign the TX and that’s that!
Moving Funds to a Ledger Wallet
If you ever wish to unstake your Bera and store it securely, you can easily transfer your assets to a Ledger wallet. Simply follow the unstaking process and move your tokens to Ledger for safe offline storage!
(Terms & Conditions Apply)
Why Choose Simply Staking?
We are a Blockchain Services Provider who operates Validators and Nodes on 30+ Networks with over $1 Billion in Assets Staked. Our journey started in 2018, with Simply entering the Cosmos Hub Testnets, and now have expanded our operations to most major ecosystems including networks such as LIDO, Polygon, EigenLayer, Oasis Network, Cosmos Hub, Polkadot, and many more, all while being an Oracle Operator on Chainlink.
We offer additional services such as Nodes-As-A-Service, RPCs, Blockchain Development work, Tooling, Governance Services as well as Blockchain Consultancy Services.
More Information on our offerings can be found on our website.
