Elastic Subnets

The Elastic Subnets feature empowers Subnet creators with an unprecedented ability: activating Proof-of-Stake validation and uptime-based rewards using their own tokens on their own Subnet. For the first time, anyone can become a validator of a Subnet by simply staking its token on the Platform Chain, or P-Chain.

When a Subnet enables Elastic Validation, it undergoes a one-time transformation, resulting in an Elastic Subnet. Here's the catch - this process locks the Subnet from future modifications, and the creator relinquishes their control keys.

To enable Elastic Validation, creators need to specify an Avalanche Native Token (ANT) that validators will stake and receive as rewards. They also have to establish a set of parameters to dictate the staking mechanics.

Turning on Elastic Validation is purely optional and lies at the discretion of the creator. Creators who prefer to have more control over a Subnet's validator set can retain the default configuration, which designates specific nodes as validators.

You can use Avalanche Native Tokens from the X-Chain as stakeable tokens on Elastic Subnets or ERC-20s as ANTs, which can be used as stakeable and rewardable assets on Elastic Subnets.

Subnet creators can remove a validator before the end of its staking period. If the Subnet is already Elastic, a Subnet creator can also remove validators added before token-based staking was enabled.

These features give creators more control and options for configuring their Subnets, providing a more versatile and dynamic blockchain ecosystem.