# Staking **Staking is the primary value accrual strategy of Traverse.** Stakers stake their **VERSE** tokens on the Traverse Website to earn rebase rewards. The rebase rewards come from the proceed from bond sales, and can vary based on the number of **VERSE** staked in the protocol and the reward rate set by monetary policy. **Staking is a passive, long-term strategy.** The increase in your stake of **VERSE** translates into a constantly falling cost basis converging on zero. This means even if the market price of **VERSE** drops below your initial purchase price, given a long enough staking period, the increase in your staked **VERSE** balance should eventually outpace the fall in price. **When you stake, you lock VERSE and receive an equal amount of sVERSE .** Your **sVERSE** balance rebases up automatically at the end of every epoch. **sVERSE** is transferable and therefore composable with other DeFi protocols. **When you unstake, you burn sVERSE and receive an equal amount of VERSE tokens.** Unstaking means the user will forfeit the upcoming rebase reward. Note that the forfeited reward is only applicable to the unstaked amount; the remaining staked **VERSE** (if any) will continue to receive rebase rewards. --- # Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question. Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter: ``` GET https://traverse.gitbook.io/traverse/basics/staking.md?ask= ``` The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language. The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation. Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.