FAQs on Liquid Staking

How does Algorand Governance work?

In Q4 2021, the Algorand Foundation implemented decentralized governance, allowing ALGO holders to contribute to the expansion, improvement, and development of the Algorand ecosystem. ALGOs are rewarded for their contribution.

To participate in governance, the current Algorand Foundation concept necessitate users to commit their ALGO for a 3-month term. Users must vote and have their committed ALGO balance in their wallets during this time to be eligible for rewards. As a result, users’ ALGO are effectively locked and unusable if they plan to receive rewards.

What is Liquid Staking?

Liquid staking allows users to earn staking rewards without locking assets or maintaining staking infrastructure. Users can stake tokens and receive tradable liquid tokens in return. As users' funds are controlled by smart contracts, Messina.one never has direct access to users' assets.

What is Messina.one’s Liquid Staking on Algorand?

Messina.one’s Liquid Staking on Algorand is a liquid staking solution that facilitates user participation in Algorand Governance and earns rewards while enabling them to trade staked positions, as well as participate in on-chain decentralized finance with their staked assets. Messina.one’s liquid staking gives users options to:

• Stake their ALGO tokens in a decentralized and secure way

• Use their mALGO in DeFi protocols across the ecosystem

• Do all of the above simply and easily with a click of a button on the UI

How does it work?

When staking with Messina.one on Algorand, users receive mALGO tokens as soon as they stake ALGO. Messina.one will calculate the current mALGO/ALGO ratio and send the correct amount to the user. ALGO tokens are then committed to Algorand Governance to earn rewards that accrue in the ALGO pool increasing the price of mALGO over time.

What is mALGO?

mALGO is an Algorand ASA token (ID 1185173782) that represents the users’ share of the total supply of ALGO tokens inside Messina.one’s Algorand liquid staking system. It is a non-rebasable token, which means that the amount of tokens in the user’s wallet is not going to change. Overtime, the value of this token increases as the amount of ALGO tokens increases with the distribution of Algorand Governance Rewards each quarter.

What are mALGO's token details?

Token name: mALGO

Asset ID: 1185173782

Click here to view mALGO on AlgoExplorer.

When can I stake my ALGO?

Algorand Governance is a 3 month period each quarter and committing ALGOs is typically open during the first two weeks of the quarter. Messina.one’s staking window is open during this time and typically closes 24 hours before the Algorand Governance commit window closes to ensure timely participation in Algorand Governance.

ALGO cannot be staked to Messina.one outside of this staking window.

Why am I unable to stake my ALGO outside of the staking period?

At present, mALGO can only be minted during the staking period. This is due to its value being tied to the circulating supply and rewards from Algorand Governance. We are looking at how to enable users to stake mALGO outside the staking period and hope to release this feature in the near future.

What is the minimum amount that can be staked?

The minimum amount to commit is 10 ALGOs per staking transaction.

What is the maximum amount that can be staked?

There is no maximum amount that can be staked.

What about voting?

Holders of mALGO will be able to vote in Algorand Governance. A Snapshot will be taken quarterly to determine eligible voters who will be able to vote via the Messina website. Do note that voting is optional.

When can I unstake my mALGO?

Unstaking can be done at any time, just be aware that if unstaking occurs before Algorand Governance Rewards are released and added to the pool, the user unstaking will miss out on that yield. Other users will not be affected. Messina.one will calculate the mALGO/ALGO ratio at the time of unstaking and send the correct amount to the user.

When are Governance Rewards released?

Rewards are typically released within 7 days from the end of each Algorand Governance period. Algorand governance periods run every quarter so rewards are released in the first week of January, April, July and October.

What is the Rewards Fee?

Messina.one applies a 10% fee on Algorand Governance Rewards received. This fee is NOT taken from any ALGO committed by users.

Is the APR value displayed correct?

The APR shown is estimated based on the Algorand Governance Rewards pool divided by the number of eligible Governors and amount of ALGOs committed at the time of estimation. This estimation is updated periodically as Governors may become ineligible. In practice, the returns can be higher as Governors become ineligible right up till distribution of Algorand Governance Rewards.