Start your staking journey or explore more information about staking on Polkadot's Home Page. Discover this new Staking Dashboard that makes staking much easier and check our extensive article list in the Overview article to help you get started.

This article explains how to create a pool using the Staking Dashboard. If you'd like to learn how to join an already existing pool, check out these instructions instead.


When creating a pool, you can set the administrative roles and make an initial deposit to the pool. An account can only be a member of one pool at a time.


⚠️ ATTENTION

Creating pools is considered an advanced topic. Only create a pool if you plan to attract nominators and are aware of the limitations.



TABLE OF CONTENTS

How to create a pool


1. Click Create Pool.


2. Give your pool a name, and select Continue.


3. Choose your nominations (up to 16). You can use the built-in feature to automatically choose the validators according to several criteria or select them from your favorites. Whoever holds the Nominator role can change these in the future. Select Continue.


4. You can edit your Root, Nominator, and Bouncer roles. Click Continue.


ℹ️ INFO

See this wiki article for a detailed overview of roles and limitations.


5. Choose the amount for the initial deposit and click Continue.

⚠️ ATTENTION

The minimum initial bond from the pool creator on Polkadot is 500 DOT. As with a joining a pool, this needs to be transferable balance as it will be deposited in the pool's account. 

As mentioned below, this initial bond can be withdrawn from the pool only if the pool is in the "destroying" phase and all other pool members have exited the pool.



6. Review your selections to make sure everything is correct. If not, you can use the Update button to change it. Once confirmed, select Create Pool.


Once the transaction is complete, the Overview tab will display your role.

Pool management options


Once a pool is created, some of its features can be modified by the Root account from the "Manage" menu:


The "Manage Pool" panel provides the Root account with access to the following options:


  • Claim Commission: If the nomination pool had set commission to the pool's rewards, it could be claimed from here.
  • Manage Commission: A commission rate can be set after importing the payee account. This commission can be increased up to the value of "Max Commission" at a specified "Change Rate." Once set, the "Max Commission" can only be decreased, and the "Change Rate" can only be decreased. To learn more about nomination pools commission, visit the wiki article on the topic.


‼️ IMPORTANT

The Global Maximum Commission is set by public referenda. Currently it's set to 10% in Polkadot and Kusama.


  • Update Claim Permission. As any pool member, you can allow anybody to claim your rewards on your behalf by compounding them back to the pool or withdrawing them to your account.

    Please note that this option will only affect your own account, not the rest of the members. Each member must decide for themselves.


  • Rename Pool. As Root, you can update the name of the nomination pool.
  • Lock Pool. Limits new members from joining the nomination pool.
  • Destroy Pool. Initiates the pool destruction as described in the following section.

How to destroy a pool


⛔ READ THIS FIRST!

Before proceeding with the pool destruction, please read the article below to see if it applies to your situation:

Changes for Nomination Pool Members and OpenGov Participation


‼️ IMPORTANT

As the initial pool member, your deposit must remain as long as the pool exists. Only after all other members have left will you be able to initiate the unbonding from the pool.


1. To destroy the pool, connect the account with the "Bouncer" role and click the "Manage" button:


2. Choose the Destroy Pool option.


3. Note the transaction fees, and click Submit.

If you prefer to see the whole process in action, take a look at the following video showing the walkthrough: