freeze tokens for a defined time. locked coins generate attention and will — the price of influence on the cybergraph
a neuron sends a lock signal to bind coins to a chosen validator for a specified duration. the locked amount leaves the liquid balance and enters the staking pool, strengthening consensus security proportionally.
locked coins continuously produce two resources: attention and will. attention determines the neuron's capacity to allocate cyberank across the cybergraph. will determines the capacity to create cyberlinks and shape the knowledge structure.
longer lock durations yield higher resource generation rates. a neuron that commits coins for a greater time horizon receives proportionally more attention and will per step, rewarding long-term alignment with the protocol.
delegation is the social layer of locking. when a neuron locks coins to a validator, it signals trust in that validator's infrastructure and governance behavior. the validator gains voting weight; the neuron gains resource flow.
unlocking requires an unbonding period — a countdown measured in steps. during unbonding, the coins generate no resources and remain inaccessible. this cooldown prevents rapid stake migration attacks against consensus.
the lock mechanism ensures that influence on the cybergraph carries real economic commitment. every cyberlink, every cyberank allocation, every governance vote traces back to coins that a neuron chose to freeze.
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