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 use the Staking Dashboard to join a nomination pool.


In this example, we use the Westend testnet, but the process is the same for Polkadot and Kusama.


TABLE OF CONTENTS

How to Join a Nomination Pool


‼️ IMPORTANT

You can only participate in a pool with transferable balance and the amount you participate with is transferred from your account to the nomination pool. The pool account is controlled only by the pool's internal logic and no one else.


ℹ️ GOOD TO KNOW

An account can only be a member of one pool at a time.


1. Connect your account to the Staking Dashboard.


2. Navigate to the "Pools" tab and click the "Join" button:


Clicking the "All Pools" button will also allow you to browse all available nomination pools.


3. Find the pool you would like to join and click the "Join" button next to it:


ℹ️ GOOD TO KNOW

Nomination pools have the possibility to charge a commission for their services. Always check the pool's commission before joining it.


‼️ IMPORTANT

Choose wisely. As a pool member you must wait for the unbounding period before switching pools: 28 days on Polkadot and 7 days on Kusama.


4. In this panel, you can enter the amount you want to bond. You are presented with the option to activate a permissionless reward claiming, which allows anyone to claim your rewards on your behalf. The rewards can be compounded back to the nomination pool, withdrawn to your account as a free balance, or both. Once ready, click "Submit."



5. Once you sign the extrinsic, the "Pools" page will be presented again, displaying the information about the nomination pool you joined.


How to Increase Your Bond in the Pool


1. To increase your existing stake, click the plus button on the "Pools" page.



2. Enter the amount you want to add to your stake, and click Submit. Remember to leave some transferrable balance in your account to be able to pay for future transaction fees.


Limitations


  • A member cannot participate in governance with their pooled funds. This may be changed in the future once accounts are afforded the ability to split votes.
  • For a member to switch pools, they must wait for the unbonding process: 7 days on Kusama and 28 days on Polkadot.
  • Auto-compounding is not active by default, but it can be done either manually or permisionlessly if you opt for it.
  • A member can partially unbond the staked funds in the pool (at most 16 partial unbonds). See this article on how to unbond or exit a pool.

See this article for more information on how to create and destroy pools.

If you are more of a visual learner, check this video guide at the mark 13:07: