# Step Rewards Step Rewards in XYO Layer One are designed to promote sustained participation by rewarding validators, producers, and passive stakers at specific milestone blocks. ### Key Features * **Earned by:** Block Producers, Chain Validators, Pending Transaction Validators, System Stakers * **Distribution:** From the Step Reward Pool at milestone blocks * **Purpose:** Incentivizes long-term protocol engagement and decentralized network health * **Triggers:** On Milestone Blocks (Step Triggers) ### Reward Pool Growth Over Time * Every block contributes a portion of its reward to the Step Reward Pool. * Since distributions only occur at milestones and never deplete the pool fully, the reserve grows over time. ### Proof of Participation * Participants can submit a participation transaction to become eligible for Step Rewards. * These transactions prove activity and put stake at risk for slashing, increasing accountability. --- # 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://docs.xyo.network/xyo-layer-one/rewards/step-rewards.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.