Polkadot staking incident: active stake minimum jumped ~30× overnight while funds stayed locked

Something clearly broke overnight. The active staking minimum reportedly jumped from ~280 DOT to ~10,100 DOT, causing many users with hundreds or even thousands of DOT to suddenly become inactive and stop earning rewards. At the same time, funds remain locked for 28 days due to unbonding rules. Some users also reported that both direct nominations and pools were inactive, which points to a network-level issue rather than user error.

The core problem is not “small vs big holders”. The problem is that rewards can stop overnight without warning, while capital stays locked, and this risk is not clearly disclosed in wallets that prominently advertise APY. Whether this is caused by election mechanics, a low number of elected nominators, or an edge case/bug, the user impact is the same: no warning, no grace period, no exit without penalty.

This may be “by design” and fully on-chain, but it breaks basic risk assumptions for staking and is extremely hostile to retail users. At minimum, wallets should clearly warn that direct DOT staking has no guarantee of continuous rewards and that users can become inactive without notice while still locked for 28 days. Posting this so others are aware before staking, not after learning the hard way.