Over 130M $GALA Bridged Daily As Node Staking Changes Go Live - BitcoinWorld

he Gala ecosystem has entered a period of strong growth, with a major increase in on-chain activity. Over the past three weeks, an average of 130 million $GALA tokens per day have been bridged into GalaChain. With the recent updates to the Founder Node rewards system there is an increasing use of network’s features.

Updated Node Staking Model Now Live

On June 16, 2025, Gala launched a new model for how Founder Node rewards are earned. Node operators are now required to hold $GALA in their GalaChain wallet or allowance in order to receive rewards. To earn 100% of the daily rewards per node, a user must hold 1 million $GALA. Holding less still earns rewards, but at a lower percentage based on the amount held.

This update aligns node rewards with participation and encourages direct engagement on GalaChain. In a future phase, the system will shift from just holding $GALA to requiring it to be locked for additional user participation. As part of this staking update, Gala also introduced a new token called $GSTAKE. Once live, it will let users stake with $GSTAKE instead of $GALA, with a 1:1 ratio for rewards. $GSTAKE will be minted by converting specific NFTs purchased with $GALA. Details on which NFTs qualify and how the conversion works will be shared before the second phase of the rollout. Once live, $GSTAKE will be tradable on Gala Connect, GalaSwap, and possibly other platforms.

Simplified rewards

Even with large volumes of $GALA being bridged to GalaChain, enough liquidity remains on exchanges. This ensures that new users can still access the token easily while long-term holders benefit from better integration and utility.

With billions in $GALA now moving to Galachain, the momentum across the ecosystem is strong. It reflects the growing confidence of the community with the upcoming launch of GalaSwap, Gala’s own DEX, is adding to the momentum. As Galaswap launch approaches the bridging of $GALA signals real demand and excitement for native trading, staking, and DeFi activity