Polkadot’s OpenGov is weighing one of its biggest staking changes yet. Referendum 1890 would force validators to lock at least 10,000 DOT of their own funds and clear the way for slash‑free nominators and unbonding times of just one to two days.
According to Polkadot’s official X account, Referendum 1890 proposes that every validator must “lock a minimum of 10,000 DOT of their funds as self‑stake.” Today, many validators rely heavily on nominator capital, so this rule would push more economic risk directly onto operators. Therefore, only teams willing to invest significantly would be able to run validators on the network.
PANews and other outlets report that this self‑bond requirement is not a cosmetic tweak but a “mandatory prerequisite” for the next phase of staking upgrades. Those upgrades include making nominators unslashable and cutting the effective unbonding period from around 28 days to roughly 24 to 48 hours. As one Polkadot ecosystem commentator put it, the new system “eliminates the risk of slashing for nominators and reduces unbonding from 28 days to just 24–48 hours,” which they argue means “more security, immediate liquidity, and a much stronger network.”
How The New Staking Design Would Work
The logic behind Referendum 1890 is simple: validators, not nominators, should take on slashing risk through large self‑stakes. Under the proposal, any validator that misbehaves or goes offline would first lose its own 10,000+ DOT bond instead of immediately burning the funds of many small stakers. Nominators could still delegate and earn rewards, but their principal would no longer sit under the same constant slashing threat.
At the same time, the reform would unlock much faster exits for anyone who stakes DOT. Today, Polkadot’s unbonding period sits at about 28 days, and official guides warn users they must wait nearly a month before withdrawn DOT becomes transferable. By contrast, the new design targets unbonding times of roughly 24 to 48 hours, which would push staking liquidity closer to what traders expect in modern DeFi.
If OpenGov approves Referendum 1890, Polkadot’s staking model would remove two major barriers to entry at once: slashing risk for retail nominators and long exit times. Lower risk and quicker unbonding could draw in DOT holders who stayed on the sidelines because they did not want funds locked for weeks or tied to a validator’s mistakes.
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