Gala’s Node Staking Drives $2.8B in $GALA On-Chain

Gala has taken a major step toward modifying its ecosystem with the official launch of its phased Node Staking Program. The upgrade advances Gala’s multi-year decentralization roadmap, putting staked Founder Nodes at the heart of GalaChain’s future.

Since its rollout on June 16, more than 2.8 billion $GALA has been bridged from Ethereum to GalaChain, marking it as one of the largest on-chain migrations in the project’s history.

A New Model for Node Rewards

The new system connects daily Founder Node rewards to on-chain $GALA holdings, replacing the previous model that rewarded based on daily node points and uptime. To receive full daily rewards, node operators must now hold up to 1 million $GALA per node on GalaChain either in their wallet or within the allowance mechanism. Operators with lower holdings will still earn rewards, but on a proportional basis.

This is part of the four-phase rollout, charted out to align node activity with the growth and utility of GalaChain:

Phase 1: Rewards scale based on $GALA holdings that is currently live.

Phase 2 : Introduction of $GSTAKE, which will be the new native token minted via eligible NFT conversions, usable for staking, and expected to roll out in late June.

Phase 3: Expected to come out in the third quarter this year, this will mark the transition from holding to locking $GALA or $GSTAKE to earn rewards.

Phase 4 : $GSTAKE lending functionality, allowing holders to delegate tokens to other node operators in exchange for a share of their rewards, is expected to come out in the third quarter as well.

The introduction of $GSTAKE intends to add both utility and complexity. While it creates flexibility, especially for NFT holders, it also brings additional mechanics such as conversion rules, minting conditions, and third-party trade support. The bridging of 2.8 billion $GALA suggests that a significant portion of the community is willing to meet the new requirements and that there’s enough trust in GalaChain’s stability to move capital off Ethereum. 

To support this transition, Gala has launched a Node Staking Dashboard via GalaConnect, giving operators a real-time view of their holdings, reward eligibility, and available staking options. The dashboard is part of a broader roadmap that includes expanded Web3 tooling, increased token utility, and further integrations across Gala’s entertainment verticals, all built on GalaChain.

Looking Ahead

Gala is presenting this rollout as part of its transition toward a more sustainable, utility-driven ecosystem. Each upcoming phase advances Gala’s decentralization roadmap, moving from simple holding to locked staking and delegated lending and ultimately positioning Founders Nodes as the chain’s economic backbone. With additional phases set to go live in the coming months, including token locking and lending mechanics, the system is still evolving. What’s clear now is that Gala is prioritizing alignment over reach. Rather than trying to keep all node operators equally engaged, the project is rewarding those who are willing to stake long-term interest in the chain itself.