Estimated Stake Allocation
Understanding what delegation and revenue to expect as a shMonad validator.
How Stake Is Allocated
New shMON stake is allocated by your weighted revenue contribution relative to all other validators, calculated each epoch by the Stake Allocation Mechanism.
Your final net delegation can also decrease when users withdraw or when turnover routes stake away from overallocated validators.
In v1.2, weighted revenue is not just one raw revenue number. Staking yield and non-staking revenue are tracked separately, staking yield is adjusted by a deadband, and non-staking revenue such as MEV and donations receives a configurable multiplier. Revenue is still smoothed over a 2-epoch moving average to prevent volatility.
What Drives Your Revenue
| Factor | Impact | How to Optimize |
|---|---|---|
| Running the MEV Sidecar | High | Captures MEV from your blocks. Non-staking revenue receives multiplier treatment in the allocation formula. |
| Donation Rate | Medium | Donating a portion of priority fees counts as shMonad revenue attributed to your validator, boosting your allocation weight. |
| Block Production | Base | You earn priority fees whenever you produce blocks. More stake = more blocks = more fees, but staking-yield attribution is deadbanded so existing stake alone does not dominate allocation. |
The Flywheel
Better revenue → higher allocation weight → more delegated stake → more block production → more revenue. This automatic, epoch-by-epoch rebalancing requires no manual intervention.
The most impactful action you can take is running the MEV Sidecar. Validators with the sidecar active consistently earn more revenue and receive proportionally more stake.
Estimating Your Returns
Use the Revenue Projection Calculator to estimate your expected delegation and revenue based on live on-chain data. The calculator shows:
- Current validator revenue leaderboard (staking, MEV, and total)
- Estimated stake delegation per validator (baseline vs. with sidecar)
- Revenue projections at different stake levels (50M-200M MON)
- The stake allocation flywheel effect for sidecar-active validators
Past performance does not guarantee future results. All projections are estimates only. Delegation amounts depend on market conditions, total pool size, and relative validator performance. The calculator uses historical on-chain data and aggregate revenue ratios - actual results may vary.
Revenue Sources
| Source | Description | FastLane Fee |
|---|---|---|
| Staking Rewards | Standard block rewards from consensus participation | 5% protocol commission |
| Priority Fees | Fees from transactions in your blocks | None (goes direct to coinbase contract) |
| MEV Rewards | Revenue from MEV auctions via the Auction Handler | 10% total on mainnet (5% boosts shMON yield, 5% to FastLane) |
See Parameters and Fees for the full fee schedule.
Getting Started
- Complete Validator Onboarding
- Configure your commission and donation rates
- Run the MEV Sidecar
- Monitor your allocation via the on-chain contracts
Actual delegation varies with market conditions, total pool size, and relative validator performance. The system is fully on-chain and deterministic - you can verify your allocation at any time by querying the contract state.