How do I stake ADA?

Stake your ADA with Atomic Wallet to receive interest on your deposit! Here, we'll guide you through everything you need to know to stake your ADA and earn rewards.

ADA 101: the things you need to know before staking your coins
How to stake your ADA via our desktop app
ADA staking rewards
How to unstake your ADA

Getting started with staking

Staking looks pretty straightforward as a process—instead of just keeping your ADA deposit on your balance, you're choosing to stake it and earn interest. Where does the interest come from, though?

By delegating your ADA to a validator of your choice, you're expressing your trust in them, which makes them more powerful on the Cardano blockchain. As validators get paid for confirming blockchain transactions, they pay back to those who supported them. That's how you earn your rewards.

By staking your ADA in Atomic Wallet, you're choosing us as your validator (aka staking pool).

ADA 101: the things you need to know

First reward In 15 to 20 days

Regular rewards Every 5 days

Yearly yield 3%

You’ll have to pay a network fee every time you claim your ADA rewards. The fees are charged by the Cardano blockchain directly, and we don't have any additional ones. If you're interested in learning more about how network fees work, see Does Atomic Wallet charge any additional transaction fees?.
Your ADA will stay on your balance when staked. Unlike most other blockchains, Cardano doesn't freeze your deposit for the staking period. You're still free to send or swap them.
You’re staking your address. You can’t choose the amount you want to delegate—you’re staking all the ADA you currently have. The minimum staking amount is 4 ADA. If you deposit more funds to your address, they’ll get added to the staking pool automatically. Please note that the staking cycle will start anew in this case.
You’ll have to pay a one-time 2 ADA deposit fee. It’s charged by the Cardano blockchain as well. You’ll only have to pay it once, right when you stake your ADA.
You’ll receive your first rewards in ca. 20 days. See the ADA staking rewards section for more details.

How to stake your ADA

Desktop Android or iOS

Navigate to the Staking tab and click Cardano.
Click Choose Pool.
Choose a staking pool for your ADA and click Stake.
Success! Your ADA is now staked. Relax and wait for your first rewards to arrive.

Select the Staking tab in the bottom panel.
Find ADA in the list and tap it
Choose a staking pool from the list
Choose the amount of ADA to stake
Enter the amount of ADA to stake
Wait for a second while the transaction is confirmed.
That's it! Your ADA is now staked.

Rewards

You should see your first rewards in 3 epochs (that is, around 15 to 20 days) after staking your coins. After that, you'll receive your rewards every epoch. Each epoch lasts for approximately 5 days. Sometimes, however, due to the state of the blockchain, one epoch may last longer than usual. You can check the current epoch status here.

ADA Rewards 101: the things you need to know

Note: You'll have to pay a network fee every time you claim your rewards.

The minimum amount to claim is 0.5 ADA.
Your rewards won't expire, so you're free to claim them whenever you want.
Don't claim too often. That's just a tip! Since the Cardano blockchain will charge you a fee every time you claim your rewards, it's always best to claim less often and pay less in fees.
Your rewards will be counted towards your total staked amount, claimed or not. You'll earn interest on the sum of your total ADA balance and the amount of your rewards.

Select the Claim button to claim your rewards. The button will get highlighted once there're any rewards available.

The mobile version works the same way:

How to unstake your ADA

With Cardano, there's no need to unstake your deposit, as you're always free to move your coins around, staked or not. If you still want your deposit to stop accumulating rewards (e.g., for tax purposes), the only way to achieve that would be to create a new wallet and transfer your coins there.