The Silver Tier's Minimum Rises Fifteenfold

With the next esXAI emission halving approaching, staking-pool operators were calculating which reward tier they could still maintain. The foundation chose the eve of the halving to explain its parameter changes. For small-pool operators, the urgent question was whether their existing pools would still meet the threshold.

The foundation proposed raising the esXAI minimum for the silver reward tier from 30,000 to 450,000, exactly fifteenfold. Its notice gave two reasons: an economic adjustment for the halving, and earlier community feedback that the tiers were too close together to be meaningfully distinct. It also said the remaining investor tokens would soon be minted, likely triggering the next esXAI emission halving, and that the new parameters would take effect shortly after that halving. It closed with a promise that future staking changes would be more transparent, more predictable, and more attentive to community views.

Reading that promise, the narrator thought of pools with only a few dozen keys. Between 30,000 and 450,000 esXAI, their operators faced a choice about whether they could remain in the silver tier, rather than a minor adjustment. Within a day of the notice, some were calculating how long their pools could last and considering whether to warn members about a possible drop in tier. The halving had not happened, and the new threshold was not yet in force; whether those pools could gather enough esXAI was unanswered.