The coin is alive.  There are recordings of the bi-weekly community meetings on the discord (https://discord.gg/aZkBvRw) as well as posted on Jim Hopper's YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4r1kfFZ6rezVwAWj0mnaXA) where you can catch up on what the Team is doing.

As far as the staking rate, at present the rate is 20% annual, which is shared (60/40) with the FNs ... so the effective rate without compounding is 8% annual.  If you have any questions on how to stake, you can find info on the discord - wallet FAQ channel.