Chainlink SRB

Learn how Chainlink staking rewards are calculated. LINKSRB formula covers emission-rate-based APR from the Reward Vault across Community and Node Operator staking pools.

LINKSRB is a benchmark representing the mean, annualized staking rate across all active Chainlink staking pools.

LINKSRB is calculated and published by Staking Rewards via the Chainlink Profile and Data API.

TL;DR: Chainlink Staking v0.2 distributes LINK rewards via a Reward Vault that emits tokens at fixed rates across three buckets: community base, operator base, and operator delegated. The asset-level reward rate is the total annual emission divided by total staked LINK across both pools.

$$LINKSRB = (e_{cb} + e_{ob} + e_{od}) * t_y / (st_{c} + st_{o})$$

Formula key	Metric name	Description
ecb	Community Base Emission	LINK tokens emitted per second to the Community Staking Pool from the Reward Vault.
eob	Operator Base Emission	LINK tokens emitted per second to Node Operators as base rewards.
eod	Operator Delegated Emission	LINK tokens emitted per second to Node Operators as delegation rewards (funded by community staker delegation fee).
stc	Community Staked Tokens	Total LINK staked in the Community Staking Pool.
sto	Operator Staked Tokens	Total LINK staked in the Node Operator Staking Pool.
$t_y$	Year Constant	31,536,000 seconds (365 days)

• LINKSRB takes into account all accumulated rewards, whether they have been claimed or remain unclaimed.

• LINKSRB operates on a non-compounded basis, meaning it excludes returns generated from the reinvestment of rewards.

• Chainlink Staking v0.2 operates on Ethereum mainnet with two distinct pools: a Community Staking Pool (cap: 40,875,000 LINK) and a Node Operator Staking Pool (cap: 4,125,000 LINK).

• Emission rates are fixed per reward period and configured in the Reward Vault contract. When a reward period ends, the rate drops to zero until a new period is funded.

Slashing

Chainlink Staking v0.2 implements slashing as part of its oracle service security model. Stakers can be slashed if a feed goes down and is not recovered within the alerting window. LINKSRB does not factor in the possibility of slashing occurrences.

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Chainlink Community Staking Rewards Rate: LINKSRB(c)

The community staker reward rate is derived from the community base emission bucket only:

$$LINKSRB(c) = e_{cb} * t_y / st_{c}$$

Community stakers also pay a delegation fee (currently 4%) that is redirected to node operators via the operator delegated emission bucket. This fee is already excluded from the community base emission.

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Chainlink Node Operator Staking Rewards Rate: LINKSRB(v)

Node operator reward rates include both base and delegated emission buckets:

$$LINKSRB(v) = (e_{ob} + e_{od}) * t_y / st_{o}$$

Formula Key	Metric name	Description
eob	Operator Base Emission	LINK emitted per second as base operator rewards.
eod	Operator Delegated Emission	LINK emitted per second as delegation rewards from community stakers.
sto	Operator Staked Tokens	Total LINK staked across all node operators.

All registered node operators share the same reward rate since emissions are distributed proportionally to their stake. The operator commission (delegation rate) is uniform at 4% (400 basis points), set at the protocol level via the Reward Vault contract.

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Inflation Rate

$$i = 0$$

Inflation Rate Behaviour

LINK is a fixed-supply ERC-20 token with a total supply of 1,000,000,000 LINK. There is no minting mechanism and no inflation. Staking rewards are distributed from a pre-funded Reward Vault, not from newly minted tokens.

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Real Reward Rate: LINKSRB^R

$$LINKSRB^R = (1 + LINKSRB) / (1 + i) - 1$$

Since LINK has zero inflation, the real reward rate equals the nominal reward rate:

$$LINKSRB^R = LINKSRB$$

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Observation Period:

1. The LINKSRB is determined based on the current emission rates from the Reward Vault contract and total staked tokens in both pools at the point of evaluation.

2. This data is then annualized for a comprehensive year-long projection.

Calculation

The calculation happens every 6 hours and is immediately published via Data API.

Limitations

1. LINKSRB employs a 365-day convention for annualizing staking rates. This convention remains consistent and does not accommodate adjustments for leap years.

2. Reward periods are time-bounded. When the current reward period ends, emission rates drop to zero until a new period is funded by the protocol. LINKSRB reflects the current emission state and does not predict future reward periods.

3. LINKSRB does not account for the individual staker ramp-up multiplier (rewards linearly increase over 90 days per staker). The benchmark assumes the aggregate steady-state rate.

4. The number of unique community staking wallets is not available from the smart contracts and is not currently tracked.

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Other Metrics

Metric	Description
Staked Tokens	Total LINK staked across Community and Node Operator pools
Self Staked Tokens	Total LINK staked by node operators in the Operator Pool
Total Validators	Number of registered node operators
Active Validators	Number of active node operators (same as total; all registered operators are active)
Benchmark Commission	Protocol-level delegation rate (4%), uniform across all operators

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Data Sources:

• Chainlink Staking v0.2 smart contracts on Ethereum mainnet (Community Pool, Operator Pool, Reward Vault) via Ethereum JSON-RPC

• CoinGecko (price, circulating supply)

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References:

• https://chain.link/economics/staking

• https://blog.chain.link/chainlink-staking-v0-2-overview/

• https://docs.chain.link/chainlink-staking/overview

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📚 Learn more about LINK Staking

📊 Calculate your LINK Staking Rewards

⚙️ Access historic Chainlink Staking Data via API

Last updated on 04/14/2026