🟡Zama SRB
Learn how Zama staking rewards are calculated. ZAMASRB formula covers the on-chain emission rates of the KMS and Coprocessor staking pools, annualized and divided by total staked tokens.
ZAMASRB is a benchmark representing the mean, annualized staking rate across all active Zama Protocol operators.
ZAMASRB is calculated and published by Staking Rewards via the Zama Profile and Data API.
TL;DR: Zama is a cross-chain confidentiality protocol powered by Fully Homomorphic Encryption (FHE), live on Ethereum mainnet. ZAMA is staked by KMS node operators and FHE coprocessor operators, with holders delegating into per-operator vaults. Staking rewards come from minted token emissions (~5% of supply per year), split 60% to the KMS pool and 40% to the Coprocessor pool, while 100% of protocol fees are burned. The reward rate is derived from the per-second emission rates of both staking pools, annualized and divided by total staked tokens.
rr_k
KMS Emission Rate
The per-second ZAMA emission rate of the KMS staking pool, read from the on-chain rewardRate() function of the KMS ProtocolStaking contract
rr_c
Coprocessor Emission Rate
The per-second ZAMA emission rate of the Coprocessor staking pool, read from the on-chain rewardRate() function of the Coprocessor ProtocolStaking contract
t_y
Year Constant
31,536,000 seconds (365 days), used to annualize the per-second emission rates
ts
Total Staked
The total amount of ZAMA staked across both role pools, read from the on-chain totalSupply() function of the KMS and Coprocessor ProtocolStaking contracts
Non-compounded: ZAMASRB excludes returns from reinvestment of rewards, presenting the base annualized rate.
Emission-Funded Rewards: Staking rewards are minted according to a yearly emission schedule (initially ~5% of total supply per year, adjustable by governance). Protocol fees (decryption, proof verification, bridging) are not distributed to stakers — they are 100% burned, creating a burn-and-mint economy.
Blended Across Role Pools: Emissions are split between the KMS pool (60%) and the Coprocessor pool (40%). ZAMASRB blends both pools into a single protocol-wide rate.
All Rewards Counted: Includes both claimed and unclaimed staking rewards.
Zama Staking Model
Zama is a cross-chain confidentiality protocol powered by Fully Homomorphic Encryption (FHE). It integrates on top of existing public blockchains (starting with Ethereum) rather than introducing a new Layer 1. All ZAMA staking happens on Ethereum mainnet.
Here's how the staking model works:
Delegated PoS: Two operator roles secure the protocol — KMS node operators (threshold key management and decryption) and FHE coprocessor operators (encrypted computation). Operators stake ZAMA, and token holders delegate to the operator of their choice via per-operator staking vaults, receiving transferable liquid shares (stZAMA).
Emission Split: Minted staking emissions are split 60% to the KMS pool and 40% to the Coprocessor pool.
Square-Root Stake Weighting: Within each role pool, rewards are distributed pro-rata to the square root of each operator's stake, incentivizing stake decentralization across operators.
Commission: Operators charge a commission on delegator rewards, capped at 20% by the protocol.
Operator Set: Operators are elected by governance. The genesis set consists of 18 operators (13 KMS and 5 coprocessor operators).
Unbonding: Unstaking is subject to a 7-day cooldown period, read from the on-chain unstakeCooldownPeriod() function.
Operator-Level SRB: ZAMASRB(v)
E_r
Role Pool Annual Emission
The annualized ZAMA emission of the operator's role pool (KMS or Coprocessor)
w_v
Operator Weight
The square root of the operator's total stake, read from the on-chain weight() function
W_r
Total Role Weight
The sum of all operator weights in the role pool, read from the on-chain totalStakedWeight() function
s_v
Operator Stake
The total amount of ZAMA staked with the operator (self-staked plus delegated)
c
Commission
The operator's commission rate, representing the percentage of delegator rewards retained by the operator (capped at 20%)
Because rewards are weighted by the square root of stake, operators with less stake yield a higher reward rate per staked token, all else being equal.
Observation Period
Determined based on the latest on-chain state of the staking contracts (emission rates and staked balances) at the point of evaluation.
Annualized by projecting the instantaneous per-second emission rates over a full year (31,536,000 seconds) for a comprehensive year-long projection.
Calculation Frequency
The calculation happens every 2 hours and is immediately published via Data API.
Slashing
Slashing is designed in the Zama Protocol but is not currently implemented on mainnet. ZAMASRB does not factor in the possibility of slashing occurrences.
ZAMA Real Reward Rate: ZAMASRB^R
The real reward rate calculates the ZAMASRB adjusted for inflation in the network.
ir
Inflation Rate
The annual rate at which the ZAMA supply increases, calculated as the annualized emission of both staking pools divided by the total token supply
Inflation Rate Behaviour
ZAMA staking rewards are funded by minted emissions, initially set at ~5% of total supply per year and adjustable by protocol governance. Staking Rewards derives the inflation rate directly on-chain as the annualized emission of the KMS and Coprocessor pools divided by the total ZAMA supply. At the same time, 100% of protocol fees (decryption, ZK proof verification, and bridging fees) are burned, which offsets emissions as protocol usage grows — Zama follows a burn-and-mint token economy, so net supply growth can fall below the gross emission rate.
Other Zama metrics calculated by Staking Rewards:
Staked Tokens
The total number of ZAMA tokens staked across the KMS and Coprocessor staking pools, read from the on-chain totalSupply() functions.
Delegated Tokens
The number of ZAMA tokens held in the per-operator staking vaults. Operator self-bond and delegator deposits are fungible within the vaults, so the full vault balance is reported as delegated.
Staking Ratio
The percentage of the ZAMA supply that is staked across both role pools.
Inflation Rate
The annualized emission of both staking pools divided by the total ZAMA supply.
Commission
The fee each operator retains on delegator rewards, read from the on-chain fee configuration of the operator's rewarder contract (capped at 20%).
Active Operators
The number of governance-elected operators securing the protocol (currently 18: 13 KMS and 5 coprocessor operators).
Data Sources:
Staking Rewards from on-chain Zama ProtocolStaking contracts (KMS:
0xe9b176CCaA8840DC3b3567bb83e2cD2a6c36F4Ab, Coprocessor:0x7147485b892158f2B875f7aC5Ea48A9937C66AE8) via Ethereum RPCCoinGecko for ZAMA price and supply data
References:
📚 Learn more about ZAMA Staking
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