Note: The Moonbeam Foundation has since announced an increase in total crowdloan rewards. Please refer to the Moonbeam crowdloan page for the most recent information.
As the much-anticipated Polkadot auctions draw closer, the Moonbeam Foundation is excited to release more information on the Moonbeam crowdloan. This crowdloan will help Moonbeam launch on the Polkadot network, bringing 70+ projects and integrations to the Polkadot ecosystem for the first time. Much the same way that Moonriver has become the most active parachain on Kusama, Moonbeam is expected to bring the same usage and developer activity to Polkadot through its developer-friendly, fully Ethereum-compatible protocol.
Moonbeam is expected to win one of the first five slots on the Polkadot network and we plan to do so while championing the values we see as integral to the Polkadot network: fairness, simplicity, and transparency. The Moonbeam Foundation believes in the strength of the Moonbeam network and welcomes all who share that vision to join us and be part of the historic launch of Moonbeam on Polkadot.
Moonriver is Leading the Pack on Kusama
The Moonbeam team’s vision for a multi-chain future through maximum compatibility was tested and proven by Moonbeam’s companion network, Moonriver. Just two months after balance transfers were enabled, the Moonriver network is the leading parachain when measured by:
Moonriver has helped kickstart the Kusama ecosystem, and Moonbeam is expected to do the same for Polkadot.
Why Moonbeam
Moonbeam is the leading Ethereum-compatible smart contract platform in the Polkadot ecosystem. The network will not only give protocols going multi-chain access to the Polkadot ecosystem, but will also provide the easiest development environment and the richest set of developer integrations on Polkadot. By making it easy for developers to build on Moonbeam, the network can attract and onboard new and existing applications to the Polkadot ecosystem very quickly.
Key Points of the Moonbeam Crowdloan:
- In order to achieve broad participation in the Moonbeam network, Moonbeam will use a crowdloan to fund its auction bid. This will use the crowdloan pallet built into the Polkadot Relay Chain.
- There are 100,000,000 GLMR tokens (10% of the genesis supply) allocated to reward crowdloan contributors.
- Following a successful campaign and deployment of the Moonbeam parachain on Polkadot, reward distributions will be made on-chain:
- 30% of rewards will be available to claim immediately (after EVM and transfers are enabled)
- The remaining 70% will be vesting over the course of the lease (96 weeks) on a linear block-by-block basis.
- The Moonbeam team plans to bid for all 8 lease periods of 12 weeks each, which will cover lease periods 6 through 13 (96 weeks).
- The crowdloan campaign will open sometime before the start of the first auction (slated to begin on November 11, 2021) and will end once a parachain slot is won, or at the end of the first five auctions (approx. December 16th, 2021), whichever comes first. This gives Moonbeam the flexibility to participate in all five initial auctions.
- Contributions can be made through the Moonbeam Crowdloan DApp, through participating exchanges, or through participating wallets, which will be announced shortly.
In addition to the information provided below, please visit the Moonbeam page to learn more about the network and the Moonbeam crowdloan page for more in-depth information on the crowdloan process.
Crowdloan Contributions
The first Polkadot parachain auction is scheduled to begin on November 11, 2021. While the Foundation has not yet announced when the Moonbeam crowdloan will start, it is expected to open for contributions shortly before the first auction starts.
We are focused on achieving broad participation in the crowdloan. You can contribute your DOT to the crowdloan through the DApp, through participating centralized exchanges, or through participating wallets listed on the Moonbeam website. A tutorial with step-by-step instructions on how to contribute through the DApp will be posted on the Moonbeam Foundation site shortly, but for general instructions please see below:
Contributing via the Moonbeam Crowdloan DApp
- You must obtain DOT, and your DOT must be transferable (unstaked and unbonded). This includes both staking and democracy locks. The DOT unbonding period is 28 days. See this tutorial for more information on how to unstake and unbond your DOT.
- You must also have a Moonbeam/Moonriver or Ethereum address (they are the same H160 format) where you have confirmed access to the private keys. The Moonbeam token rewards will be paid out to this address, and they cannot be retrieved if you use an address that you cannot access. Note that the rewards will be paid out on Moonbeam, not on Ethereum. See this tutorial for more information on how to create a Moonbeam address.
- You have the option to pre-register for the crowdloan, but this step is optional. You will need to complete the Moonbeam Crowdloan Terms and Conditions in order to contribute through the Moonbeam Crowdloan DApp, but you can do this when you contribute.
Once the crowdloan opens, you will be able to contribute your DOT through the Moonbeam Crowdloan DApp. We will provide a tutorial in advance so you know what to expect, and how to verify the authenticity of the application/crowdloan. - **Please be aware of scams. Crowdloan contributions are made through a special transaction using the campaign index and NOT by transferring DOT to a specified address. The Moonbeam Foundation will release the Moonbeam Crowdloan Index number at the start of the campaign.
Contributing via an Exchange
- The participating exchanges have not yet been finalized, but will be announced shortly.
- Once announced, participating exchanges will release tutorials for participating in a crowdloan. We will post links to these tutorials when available.
Contributing via a Supported Wallet
- The participating wallets have not yet been finalized, but will be announced shortly.
There is one other important detail to note about your DOT in this crowdloan. DOT contributed to a crowdloan will be locked if the campaign is:
- Successful (i.e., Moonbeam wins a slot): Your contribution will be locked for the duration of the parachain lease (96 weeks). A contributor can trigger the refund of the locked tokens at the end of the lease.
- Unsuccessful (i.e., Moonbeam does not win a slot): Contributors can trigger the refund of their locked tokens at the end of the campaign (i.e. the Campaign End Date).
Rewards
Moonbeam has allocated 10% of its initial token supply, 100 million GLMR tokens, to reward its crowdloan contributors. Please see the GLMR token page for more details.
We believe that the initial distribution of token holders has a profound and lasting impact on the network’s trajectory. With that in mind, we have designed a crowdloan campaign where all potential contributors are on even footing, and there is no cap on the number of participants.
Since the Moonbeam’s crowdloan does not have a fixed DOT cap, a contributor’s reward is determined based on that individual’s proportional contribution to the total number of DOT tokens in the crowdloan at auction close.
For example:
- Alex contributes 100 DOT to the crowdloan.
- At auction close, there is a total of 1,000,000 DOT in the crowdloan.
- Therefore, Alex’s reward is 10,000 GLMR at a ratio of 1 DOT : 100 GLMR
(100 DOT / 1,000,000 DOT) * 100,000,000 GLMR = 10,000 GLMR
Crowdloan contributors will be able to track overall contributions throughout the crowdloan campaign through the Moonbeam Foundation website. The Foundation will provide a statistics page that will show the current total contributions to the crowdloan and the current ratio of DOT to GLMR. This ratio will change depending on the participation in the crowdloan and will remain unfixed until the moment the auction ends.
The minimum contribution is 5 DOTs, and there is no individual maximum contribution limit.
Throughout the crowdloan campaign you will be able to increase your contribution, but keep in mind that only contributions made in the first two days of an auction period are guaranteed to be counted towards that auction. Learn more about how slot auctions work in this educational article.
Reward Distribution
- The initial 30% of the total rewards will be distributed upon successful launch of the Moonbeam parachain (when EVM and balance transfers are fully enabled).
- The remaining 70% of rewards will vest over the lease duration (96 weeks). They will vest on a block-by-block basis. Contributors may claim their rewards at any time, at which point the number of vested rewards will be automatically calculated based on the number of intervening blocks. Individual contributors are in control of when to claim their rewards.
Claiming Rewards
The rewards distribution mechanism will be on-chain. Once the crowdloan has ended, the participants will be added to the rewards pallet.
- The initial 30% of the total rewards will be distributed upon successful launch of the Moonbeam parachain (when EVM and balance transfers are fully enabled).
- The remaining 70% of rewards will vest over the lease duration (96 weeks). They will vest on a block-by-block basis. Contributors may claim their rewards at any time, at which point the number of vested rewards will be automatically calculated based on the number of intervening blocks. Individual contributors are in control of when to claim their rewards.
Phased Deployment of Moonbeam Parachain
The Moonbeam network launch will follow a similar process to Moonriver. Below is a high-level overview of the launch process that will follow the onboarding of winning parachains on December 17th, 2021. More details will be released shortly, and this process is subject to change as the launch nears.
- Phase 0: Centralized
- ❌ Collators hosted by the Moonbeam Team
- ❌ Balance transfers disabled
- ❌ EVM disabled
- ❌ Staking and governance will be limited and controlled by the Foundation
- Phase 1: Decentralization
- ✅ Increase collators to a total of 32 collators
- Phase 2: Full Launch
- ✅ Remove Sudo
- ✅ Governance enabled
- ✅ Staking enabled
- ✅ Balance transfers enabled
- ✅ EVM enabled
- ✅ Reward claim enabled
- ✅ Gradual continued increase of collators
What’s Next?
Please stay tuned for the announcement on when the Moonbeam Crowdloan opens. We will update you on the Moonbeam Foundation website as this information is released and as more details are finalized. Join the Moonbeam Network Discord, Twitter, and Telegram for updates as well.
