Polkawallet offers two types of staking: native staking on the relay chain and staking on Acala (for DOT) and Karura (for KSM). In this article, we describe how to stake your tokens on the Relay Chain and participate in the network's security.


If you are already staking and you are interested in managing your stake, please read this article.


ℹ️ GOOD TO KNOW

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

Alternatively, you can also search Polkawallet's documentation or contact their team directly through email, and receive specialized assistance from the team that developed the wallet.

What to know before starting

  • Nominating currently requires a minimum of 250 DOT staked funds on Polkadot (0.1 KSM on Kusama). Please ensure you are above that minimum, or you won't be able to nominate.

‼️ IMPORTANT

Not all nominators with over 250 DOT will get staking rewards. The minimum amount needed to earn rewards is dynamic and can be found on the Targets page on Polkadot-JS UI. Please refer to this referendum for details.
  • If you are staking above the dynamic minimum amount and still aren't receiving rewards, it's possible that your account needs to be re-adjusted by calling an extrinsic. This is due to the new bags-list feature. You can find instructions on how to fix this here.
  • If you don't have enough DOT to earn rewards, consider joining a nomination pool instead of staking solo. Please note, though, that Polkwallet does not support nomination pools at this point.

How to stake your tokens

To start staking with your tokens, follow these steps:


1. First, select the account you want to stake with. In this example, we'll be staking on Kusama, but the same process applies to Polkadot too.


2. Then tap on "Metahub". Tap on the right arrow at the top to browse through the features and select "Staking". Then tap on "Enter".



ℹ️ GOOD TO KNOW

The feature "KSM Staking" or "DOT Staking" is the non-native method to stake on Karura or Acala respectively, which is not described in this article.


3. On this page, you can see the network's staking details. Also, on the top right, you can view the selected account and its transaction history. 


Click on "Go Stake" to proceed.



4. On this page, first enter the amount you want to stake.



Then select the reward destination. A scrolling menu will open up with four options:

  • Stash account (increase the amount at stake): This will automatically add any rewards to your existing stake, increasing it (compound).
  • Stash account (do not increase the amount at stake): This will send any rewards to your stash account as transferable balance.
  • Controller account (do not increase the amount at stake): This will send the rewards to your controller account as transferable balance. Since for new stash accounts the controller is the same account as the stash, this option is equivalent to the previous one.
  • Specified payment account: With this option, you can specify any account to receive your staking rewards. Polkawallet will display a warning that the destination account must be active (not have a zero balance), otherwise your rewards may be lost.


Once you enter this information, tap on "Bond Funds".


5. On the next page, you can select the validators you want to nominate. You can select up to 16 on Polkadot and 24 on Kusama. 


ℹ️ INFO

If you are wondering how to choose your validators, we have written this article with some advice on what to consider.



You have several options on this page to sort or filter the displayed validators:


a. Tapping on that button allows you to sort the validators based on various criteria, like returns or how much stake they have behind them. The default sorting is based on returns percentage.


b. By tapping on these buttons, you can filter out validators with more than 20% commission (selected by default) and those who don't have an on-chain identity set (deselected by default).


c. With this search box, you can search for a specific validator based on their name in their on-chain identity or their address.


By tapping on a validator, you can see more details about it.



ℹ️ GOOD TO KNOW

Only active validators will show their active nominators on this page.


6. Select the validators you want to nominate by tapping on the small circle on the right. Any validators you select will move to the top of the list regardless of the sorting option you've selected.



7. Once you're done with your selection, tap on "Nominate".


8. On the last screen, review the transaction's details and click "Submit".



That's it! You have started staking! Provided you've staked enough to be above the dynamic minimum, you will participate in the election in the next era and receive your first rewards once that era ends. One era is 24 hours on Polkadot and 6 hours on Kusama.


Your staking page will change to the following more detailed view.



ℹ️ GOOD TO KNOW

After you nominate and until the era ends, all your nominations will show up as "Waiting". This is normal and their status will change in the next era.