For a long time, many friends in the community have been paying attention to the progress of DOT's rapid unbonding feature. Today we will help everyone follow up on this progress and understand the actual role of this feature in Polkadot.
On August 19, BlockDeep Labs tweeted that: RFC-0097 (the staking unbonding queue mechanism) has been developed, and all review comments have been processed! This PR has now been handed over to the code owners (Polkadot Technical Fellowship), and will be merged according to the SDK roadmap and release cycle.
Although the exact launch time has not yet been determined, BlockDeep Labs expects this feature will likely be arranged after the Polkadot Asset Hub migration (November 4).
So, what exactly is RFC-0097? Why is it important? What changes will it bring to DOT and the Polkadot ecosystem?
What is RFC-0097? Why is it important?
In Polkadot's staking system, once DOT is bound to participate in Staking, it must go through an unbonding period (currently 28 days) to retrieve it.
The initial design of this mechanism is to ensure network security: if validators act maliciously, the Slash can cover the entire unbonding period of the staking.
However, this 'fixed 28 days' model has also brought a significant problem: insufficient fund liquidity (although we can release liquidity through vDOT, the current proportion of vDOT is relatively small compared to native staking). Many users feel that the cycle is too long, which restricts the use of DOT in terms of liquidity, adversely affecting capital efficiency and the development of DeFi.
To this end, RFC-0097 proposes an improvement plan: by using the mechanism of 'Unbonding Queue' + 'Variable Unbonding Time', it finds a balance between security and liquidity.
In simpler terms:
DOT unbonding is no longer a 'one-size-fits-all' 28 days;
A portion of DOT can be unlocked more quickly;
But there will always be enough stakes remaining in the full unbonding period to ensure security.
How does it achieve a balance of 'security + liquidity'?
The design philosophy of RFC-0097 can be summarized in two points:
1. Some funds can be unbonded more quickly
After the user initiates an unbonding request, the funds enter an 'unbonding queue';
The system will dynamically decide the actual unbonding time of this part of the funds based on the overall staking distribution and security parameters;
This means that some users' DOT can be withdrawn faster than 28 days, for example within 2~28 days.
2. Some funds still need to comply with the full cycle
To avoid a decrease in security, the system will require a minimum proportion of stakes to continue to comply with the full unbonding period (28 days);
This way, even if malicious behavior occurs, there will still be enough funds to be Slashed.
So the result is that some people can withdraw DOT faster, but the network's security will not decrease due to 'fast unbonding'. This is an intelligent unbonding mechanism: it neither locks all funds for a long time nor compromises security due to overly rapid unbonding.
For example, suppose the total network DOT staked is 10 million DOT, then the following situation may occur:
40% of the DOT can be unbonded relatively quickly (for example, within 2~28 days);
But at least 60% will be required by the system to remain in the full unbonding period (28 days) as a 'safety cushion'.
Why is it a key upgrade for Polkadot?
Staking is the core of Polkadot's security and economic model. The optimization of the unbonding mechanism is not just about 'enhancing user experience', but also concerns:
Fund liquidity → Prosperity of the DeFi ecosystem: DOT can enter lending, liquidity pools, and other applications more quickly;
Balance of security and efficiency → Institutional innovation: Avoiding the binary opposition of 'either security or liquidity';
Attracting institutions and new users → Lowering the threshold: A flexible unbonding mechanism makes Staking more attractive.
Staking has always been one of the core mechanisms of Polkadot. The launch of RFC-0097 not only responds to the community's demand for 'liquidity' but also brings a smarter and more balanced staking system to Polkadot.
In the future, when rapid unbonding is truly online, we may see more DOT flowing into DeFi, more users flexibly participating in Staking, and further enhancement of the overall ecological activity.
In the process of Polkadot moving towards 2.0, RFC-0097 is likely to become a key piece that drives ecological acceleration. Currently, RFC-0097 has completed development and review, and will soon enter the merging and launching process with code owners + Fellowship. The current prediction is that it will go live after the Asset Hub migration (November 4), and rapid unbonding is already on the way, so please be patient a little longer~
