Capacity calculations in Tezos (XTZ) can be quite complex and hard to understand. In this article we will provide a simple explanation of what capacity is and why its important for delegators.
When a block is assigned to a baker a small amount of funds (security deposit) is frozen for 5 cycles as defined by the protocol. This amount is deducted from the baker's self-bond and unfrozen (returned) after the last cycle.
The more stake a baker has the greater their baking rights, meaning the more blocks that will be assigned to them. The more blocks that are assigned to a baker, the more self-bond they need to pay for the security deposits. If the baker gets assigned a block and does not have enough self-bond to pay the security deposit, then they will not be able to bake it and no rewards will be earned, at which point they will be over delegated. IE they will not have any more availablecapacity.
In simple terms capacity is the amount of tezos a baker can stake based on their self-bond. Available capacity is the remaining amount of delegations they can take on. Remember that the more delegation they receive, the more blocks that will be assigned to them, and the more self-bond they need to pay for security deposits.
Simplified example:
P2P at the time of writing this article has a capacity of 14 Million XTZ and has 12 Million XTZ being staked. Therefore their available capacity is 2 Million XTZ
We have provided a more in-depth look on these calculations in this article: Confusion with calculation of available staking capacity in Tezos. Who is right?
Delegators need to verify the available capacity of the baker they wish to delegate to. If they select a baker with no available capacity, they run the risk of not earning rewards. P2P is one of the largest Tezos validators and we always ensure that we have enough capacity to accept new delegations.
You can view our capacity on our Tezos page.
For more information on staking Tezos (XTZ) with P2P Validator and our special offer for large XTZ delegations, visit p2p.org/tezos.
For additional staking support, visit the P2P Tezos support center.
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