GTC Staking on Your Identity
GTC Staking allows you to put tokens behind your identity to demonstrate trustworthiness. By staking GTC, you signal confidence in your own humanity and can vouch for others, creating a graph of trusted humans within the Passport ecosystem.
How Staking Works
There are two forms of staking:
- Self-staking — You stake GTC on your own identity to increase your Unique Humanity Score
- Community staking — You stake GTC on another person’s identity, vouching for their humanity
Both forms of staking contribute to the broader trust network and help strengthen sybil resistance across the ecosystem.
Self-Staking Tiers
Self-staking is organized into three tiers based on the amount of GTC you commit:
| Tier | GTC Required | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Bronze | 5 GTC | Entry-level stake demonstrating basic commitment to your identity |
| Silver | 20 GTC | Mid-level stake showing stronger confidence in your identity |
| Gold | 125 GTC | Highest tier, signaling maximum commitment to your verified identity |
Higher tiers contribute more to your Unique Humanity Score.
Community Staking Tiers
When others stake on your identity, you progress through community staking tiers:
| Tier | Description |
|---|---|
| Beginner | Initial level of community trust |
| Experienced | Growing network of community vouchers |
| Trusted Citizen | Highest level of community-verified trust |
The Graph of Trusted Humans
When people stake on each other, it creates a network of mutual trust. This graph of trusted humans provides a powerful signal for identifying real people, as sybil attackers would need to convince real humans to risk their tokens by staking on fake identities.
How to Self-Stake
- Navigate to the Passport App and connect your wallet
- Go to the Staking section
- Select the self-staking tier you want (Bronze, Silver, or Gold)
- Approve the GTC token spend if prompted
- Confirm the staking transaction in your wallet
- Wait for the transaction to be confirmed on-chain
- Your Unique Humanity Score will update to reflect your new stake
How to Community Stake
- Navigate to the Passport App and connect your wallet
- Go to the Staking section
- Select Community Staking
- Enter the wallet address of the person you want to stake on
- Choose the amount of GTC you want to stake on their identity
- Approve the GTC token spend if prompted
- Confirm the staking transaction in your wallet
- The recipient’s community staking tier will update accordingly
Slashing Risk
Staked GTC is subject to slashing if the identity you staked on is found to be in violation of network integrity rules. This applies to both self-staked and community-staked tokens. Before staking on another person, make sure you trust that they are a legitimate, unique human.
For more details on slashing, see the Slashing guide.
Important Considerations
- Staked tokens are locked and cannot be transferred while staked
- Tokens may be locked for additional periods during active Grants Rounds
- Unstaking requires a separate transaction (see the Unstaking Guide)
- Always ensure you have enough ETH for gas fees when staking