Nova Wallet is a Polkadot wallet developed and maintained by Novasama Technologies. It is an open-source mobile app available for iOS and Android, funded by the Polkadot Treasury. Nova Wallet is compatible with many DApps and wallets in the ecosystem.


ℹ️ GOOD TO KNOW

If you have any questions about Nova Wallet, or run into any issues and require further assistance, feel free to ask our AI chatbot or contact us.

Alternatively, you can also read Nova's documentation or contact their team directly and receive speciliazed assistance from the team that developed the wallet.

You can contact Nova support on Telegram.


In this article, we'll show how to join a nomination pool on Polkadot using Nova Wallet, claim your rewards, bond more, or unbond from a pool. We'll use the Android version of the app, but the differences are minimal.


‼️ 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.


If you want to learn more about nomination pools on Polkadot and choose the one that's right for you, check this article.


How to join a nomination pool in Nova Wallet


1. Open the Nova Wallet app and navigate to the Staking tab at the bottom of the screen:



2. Tap on the Polkadot network. Tap "Start Staking" and enter the amount you want to stake:


⚠️ ATTENTION

Do not join a nomination pool with all your funds! You need to have more than the Existential Deposit left in your account to be able to pay transaction fees. Otherwise, you will not be able to claim your rewards, unbond from a pool, or issue any other extrinsic until you deposit more funds in your account.



3. Depending on the amount you want to stake, Nova Wallet will recommend either direct staking or through a nomination pool:



4. Tap on the recommendation to choose your pool and switch between direct (solo) staking and pool staking if needed. By default, the nomination pool administrated by the Nova Wallet team is chosen. Tap on it to choose a different pool:



5. For each pool, you can see its name, estimated APY, and the number of members. You can tap the information icon next to a nomination pool to view it on a block explorer for more information. If you don't know which pool to choose, check this article:



ℹ️ GOOD TO KNOW

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


6. Once you choose your method of staking and your nomination pool, tap "Continue" to see the transaction details and confirm.


How to claim your pool rewards


1. Open the Nova Wallet app and navigate to the Staking tab at the bottom of the screen:



2. Tap on the Polkadot network. If you are a member of a nomination pool, you'll see the information about your stake in the pool and your rewards. Tap "Claim rewards":



3. By default, your rewards are claimed to your account as transferable balance. You can toggle this switch to bond your rewards back into the pool:



4. Tap "Confirm" to confirm the transaction.


How to bond more DOT to a nomination pool in Nova Wallet


1. Open the Nova Wallet app and navigate to the Staking tab at the bottom of the screen:



2. Tap on the Polkadot network. If you are a member of a nomination pool, you'll see the information about your stake in the pool. Tap "Stake more" to add more DOT to the pool:



3. Enter the amount you want to add to your stake in the pool:



⚠️ ATTENTION

Do not join a nomination pool with all your funds! You need to have more than the Existential Deposit left in your account to be able to pay transaction fees. Otherwise, you will not be able to claim your rewards, unbond from a pool, or issue any other extrinsic until you deposit more funds in your account.


4. Tap "Continue" to see the transaction details and confirm.


How to unbond from a nomination pool in Nova Wallet


⚠️ WARNING

You cannot rebond during the unbonding period with a nomination pool. If you change your mind, you must wait for the unbonding period to end before you can join a nomination pool again.

1. Open the Nova Wallet app and navigate to the Staking tab at the bottom of the screen:



2. Tap on the Polkadot network. If you are a member of a nomination pool, you'll see the information about your stake in the pool. Tap "Unstake" to unbond some or all of your tokens from a nomination pool:



3. Enter the amount you want to unbond from a nomination pool.


4. Tap "Continue" to see the details of the transaction and confirm.


ℹ️ GOOD TO KNOW

It takes 28 days (28 eras) to unbond on Polkadot, 7 days (28 eras) on Kusama, and 12 hours (2 eras) on Westend.

5. After the unbonding period is over, navigate to the Staking tab again, choose Polkadot, and tap "Redeem" to withdraw your unbonded funds. Confirm the transaction to make your funds transferable again.