Everything you need to know about Algorand's decentralized Community Governance rewards program! Start staking Algorand with the Algorand governance program to earn ALGO rewards.
To sign up, vote, and earn ALGO rewards, you can download Exodus here.
In this article:
What is Algorand's Community Governance model?
The Algorand ecosystem has moved to a decentralized governance model. This allows holders of Algorand (ALGO) to participate in the ecosystem’s decision-making process, as well as earn governance rewards by becoming a governor.
Algorand's passive staking was phased out in early 2022 and replaced by the Community Governance program, which lets you commit your ALGO for 3 months to vote on community proposals and earn rewards.
Tutorial video: How to stake Algorand
What is the Community Governance program?
The Algorand Community Governance program began in 2021. Any Algorand address can commit to serving as a governor. To do so, you have to both commit and stake some of your ALGO to the program for a three-month period as well as vote in the growth and development of the Algorand ecosystem.
When you commit ALGO to participate in the governance program, the ALGO you have committed is not locked in your wallet. However, if you send any part of the committed amount from your wallet during the governance period, your wallet will become underfunded. As an Algorand governor, If your wallet becomes underfunded or you do not participate in the voting sessions, you will not be eligible for any rewards for that governance period.
Once the three-month period is complete, governors who committed ALGO and stayed compliant with the governance program are rewarded. The rewards are automatically sent to their Algorand address.
Governors
Any address holding ALGO can sign up as governor during the registration phase by sending a zero-ALGO transaction to a designated sign-up address, with a note provided by the Algorand Foundation in the Public Memo field. The Algorand Foundation provides a web portal that enables anyone to generate a sign-up transaction in the right format.
This zero-ALGO sign-up transaction can be sent using your Exodus Algorand wallet.
Voting
The Algorand Foundation announces the voting sessions for each governance period with a list of proposals to be voted on. Voting sessions are open for approximately two weeks.
To be compliant, a governor is required to vote on all proposals during the governance period. To do so, they can send a zero-ALGO payment transaction from their governor's account to a designated voting address with the details of the vote encoded in the Public Memo field. The weight of the vote will equal the number of ALGO that the governor's account committed to the governance period.
Rewards
Before each three-month governance period begins, the Algorand Foundation will authorize and fund a rewards pool, which is an on-chain escrow account. Once the governance period is closed, the governor addresses that maintained their committed ALGO level throughout the period and voted on each proposal are eligible to collect rewards for this service. The rewards rate is based on the ratio between the rewards pool for the period and the number of ALGO committed by governors.
How can I participate from my Exodus wallet?
You can sign up to be a governor and vote from Exodus. Your rewards will be sent to your Algorand address once the governance period is over.
The zero-ALGO transaction (with a note provided by the Algorand Foundation in the Public Memo field) that is used to sign up and vote can be sent using any Exodus wallet.
To learn more about the Community Governance program, visit the Algorand Foundation’s governance site or their FAQ.
When do governance periods take place?
There are four governance periods a year which will typically run every three months. The ALGO governance program is fairly new, and the stages for each period (signup, voting, etc.) are not fixed. As such, dates may change as the program evolves.
Generally, you can sign up to be a governor for the first two weeks of a governance period. Voting takes place after the registration period has ended.
To learn more about upcoming governance periods and when you will sign up as a governor, vote, and receive rewards, please see Algorand's news feed or follow their official Twitter account.
In addition, if you have questions that are not covered under the Algorand Foundation's FAQ, you can email them directly at [email protected].
Can I sign up for the Algorand Governance program now?
No, registration for governance period 11 ended on April 16, 2024. If you did not sign up before this date, you will need to wait to sign up for the next governance period, which begins on July 1, 2024.
Can I vote in the current Algorand Governance period now?
No, the voting window for Governance Period 11 is not yet announced.
How do I sign up to be an Algorand governor?
To sign up to be an Algorand governor, you can send a zero-ALGO transaction (with the text provided by the Algorand Foundation in the Public Memo field) from your Exodus wallet.
Algorand governance site is a third-party platform that is not affiliated with Exodus. As such, Exodus cannot guarantee the performance of its products/services or that the steps shown and the information provided will always be accurate.
Mobile
You can sign up to be an Algorand governor with the Web3 browser in Mobile. Here's how:
The signup period has historically been open for only the first two weeks of any governance period. If this window is missed, new opportunities to participate will occur every three months.
In Exodus Mobile, a) tap Profile, then b) tap Staking.
Here, you'll see all stakeable assets in Exodus Mobile. Tap Algorand to go to the Algorand Governance site.
Once there, tap Connect Wallet.
Confirm your address and tap Use.
Next, tap Commit Algos.
a) Choose the amount of ALGO you want to commit. Next, b) tap Commit Algos.
MAX is your entire balance minus 1 ALGO. This 1 ALGO is a buffer that can be used to cover network fees in case you have to send a transaction during the governance period.
When you commit ALGO as an Algorand governor, the funds are not locked up. However, if you send any part of the committed amount from your wallet during the governance period your wallet will become underfunded. If your wallet is underfunded, you will not be eligible to receive a reward for that particular period.
Next, a) confirm that you are sending a zero-ALGO transaction, then b) slide to approve the transaction.
Once your commitment is successful, tap Close.
Once processed, you will see your status as Eligible. And that is it! You are now an Algo Governor!
You must vote in all voting sessions to remain eligible for governance rewards.
Desktop
The signup period has historically been open for only the first two weeks of any governance period. If this window is missed, new opportunities to participate will occur every three months.
Go to Algorand's governance site.
Scroll down to Algorand Community Governance and click Sign Up.
On the following page, click Sign Up.
A new window will open, and you will need to connect your wallet to participate in the current Governance Period. Click Connect Wallet.
Select Other Wallets.
a) Copy and paste your Exodus ALGO address in the address field, and b) click Connect Wallet.
The dashboard will display your ALGO balance available to commit to Governance. Click Commit Algos.
a) Choose the amount of ALGO you want to commit. Next, b) click Commit Algos.
MAX is your entire balance minus 1 ALGO. This 1 ALGO is a buffer that can be used to cover network fees in case you have to send a transaction during the governance period.
When you commit ALGO as an Algorand governor, the funds are not locked up. However, if you send any part of the committed amount from your wallet during the governance period, your wallet will become underfunded, and you will not be eligible to receive a reward for that particular period.
Next, you will need to prepare a zero-ALGO transaction. You will need both the a) address and b) note.
In your Exodus ALGO wallet, a) paste the address you copied from step 9 in the address field, and b) paste the Note from step 9 in the Public Memo field. c) Leave the amount as 0.00, and d) click Send.
Paste the ALGO note copied from Step 8 above into the Public Memo field. You can leave the Personal Note field blank, or enter a note for your records.
Confirm the address is correct and that you are sending 0.00 ALGO, then click Send.
Back in the Algorand Governance dashboard, click I've sent the transaction. It can take a few minutes to process.
Once processed, you will see your status as Eligible. And that is it! You are now an Algo Governor!
You must vote in all voting sessions to remain eligible for governance rewards.
Web3 Wallet
The signup period has historically been open for only the first two weeks of any governance period. If this window is missed, new opportunities to participate will occur every three months.
Go to Algorand's governance site.
Scroll down to Algorand Community Governance and click Sign Up.
On the following page, click Sign Up.
A new window will open, and you will need to connect your wallet to participate in the current Governance Period. Click Connect Wallet.
Select Exodus Wallet. This will open your Web3 Wallet.
If locked, a) enter your password and b) click Unlock.
To authorize the connection to Algorand Governance, click Connect.
Confirm your address and click Use.
The dashboard will display your ALGO balance available to commit to Governance. Click Commit Algos.
a) Choose the amount of ALGO you want to commit. Next, b) click Commit Algos.
MAX is your entire balance minus 1 ALGO. This 1 ALGO is a buffer that can be used to cover network fees in case you have to send a transaction during the governance period.
When you commit ALGO as an Algorand governor, the funds are not locked up. However, if you send any part of the committed amount from your wallet during the governance period, your wallet will become underfunded. If your wallet is underfunded, you will not be eligible to receive a reward for that particular period.
Next, you will need to approve a zero-ALGO transaction. To approve it, click Approve.
Back in the Algorand Governance dashboard, you'll see a message informing you that you are successful. You can now click Close.
Once processed, you will see your status as Eligible. And that is it! You are now an Algo Governor!
You must vote in all voting sessions to remain eligible for governance rewards.
How do I vote in an Algorand voting session?
To vote, you send a zero-ALGO transaction (with a note field) using your Exodus Algorand wallet.
Algorand governance site is a third-party platform that is not affiliated with Exodus. As such, Exodus cannot guarantee the performance of its products/services or that the steps shown and the information provided will always be accurate.
Mobile
In Exodus Mobile, a) tap Profile, then b) tap Staking.
Here, you'll see all stakeable assets in Exodus Mobile. Tap Algorand to go to the Algorand Governance site.
Once there, tap Connect Wallet. If you are already connected, skip to Step 5.
Confirm your address and tap Use.
Tap on Start Voting.
After learning about the voting measures, select either a) Vote all topics with Foundation, or b) cast your own vote.
Once you have made your vote, tap Submit your votes. This will open a zero-ALGO transaction.
Next, a) confirm that you are sending a zero-ALGO transaction, then b) slide to approve the transaction.
Once the transaction has been confirmed on the blockchain, you should see the message You've already voted. And that's it! You have now voted as an Algo Governor!
Rewards will be distributed once the governance period ends.
Desktop
Go to Algorand's governance site.
Once there, click Connect Wallet. If you are already connected, skip to Step 5.
Select Other Wallets.
a) Copy and paste the Exodus ALGO address you registered as a governor in the address field, and b) click Connect Wallet.
Click Start Voting.
After learning about the voting measures, select either a) Vote all topics with Foundation, or b) cast your own vote.
Once you have made your vote, click Submit your votes.
Next, you will need to prepare a zero-ALGO transaction. You will need to copy both a) the address and b) note from the Algo dashboard.
In your Exodus ALGO wallet, paste a) the address in the address field and b) the note in the Public Memo field. c) Leave the amount as 0.00, and d) click Send.
Confirm the address is correct and that you are sending 0.00 ALGO, then click Send.
In the Algo dashboard, click I've sent the transaction. It can take a few minutes to process.
Once the transaction has been confirmed on the blockchain, you should see the message You've already voted. And that's it! You have now voted as an Algo Governor!
Rewards will be collected once the governance period ends.
Web3 Wallet
Go to Algorand's governance site.
Once there, click Connect Wallet. If already connected, skip to Step 7.
Select Exodus Wallet. This will open your Web3 Wallet.
If locked, a) enter your password and b) click Unlock.
To authorize the connection to Algorand Governance, click Connect.
Confirm your address and click Use.
Click Start Voting.
After learning about the voting measures, select either a) Vote all topics with Foundation, or b) cast your own vote.
Once you have made your vote, click Submit your votes. This will open a zero-ALGO transaction.
In your Exodus wallet, a) confirm that you are sending 0.00 ALGO, then b) click Approve.
Once the transaction has been confirmed on the blockchain, you should see the message You've already voted. And that's it! You have now voted as an Algo Governor!
Rewards will be collected once the governance period ends.
What is the xGov program?
The pilot phase of the xGov program is soon ending. Currently, it is not possible to sign up to be an xGovernor.
If you are currently enrolled in the xGov program, you can continue participating and voting as normal until your enrollment period ends.
The xGov program is an Algorand initiative that involves a process where participating governors, referred to as xGovernors, participate in funding decisions specifically related to grant applications to support the growth of the Algorand ecosystem.
The xGov program launched in a pilot phase, during which participants who signed up to be xGovernors committed their Algorand for 12 months instead of the regular governance period of 3 months.
xGovernors have to fulfill the same duties as regular governors and vote in all voting sessions during the 12-month period, plus extra duties, such as voting on grant applications.
During the 12-month period, if an xGovernor's Algorand balance drops to less than the amount they initially committed or do not perform their voting duties, they risk losing all rewards.
As the pilot phase of the xGov program is coming to an end, it is currently not possible to sign up to be an xGovernor.
If you are currently enrolled in the xGov program, you can continue to participate and vote in all sessions as normal to stay eligible for rewards until your enrollment period ends.
When the xGov program is relaunched, the criteria for becoming an xGovernor might change.
To learn more about the xGov program, you can visit the Algorand Foundation’s xGov site.