Polkadot uses NPoS (Nominated Proof of Stake) consensus mechanism, in which users nominate nodes by bonding (staking) their DOTs to validator nodes. In return, users receive staking rewards generated by the node.

Users’ funds remain in their custody despite being staked, so they are safe from any attempt of appropriation. Polkadot allows you to delegate your tokens to different validator nodes at the same time, and the system will automatically switch to the node that provides the higher yield. The NPoS mechanism also includes a slashing system, so you must select reliable nodes that behave correctly.

We recommend staking to multiple reliable validators at the same time to always obtain rewards. This is because validator seats rotate in every epoch, so not every validator is always generating rewards.

Your rewards can be claimed anytime within the Polkadot App at Staking > Payouts > Claim. When any user that delegates in our node performs a payout, the rewards are automatically distributed to the delegators. Thanks to that, rewards are distributed frequently, usually every few days.

The minimum amount to confirm your staking intention depends on each era, but staking is dynamic and being able to generate rewards will depend on a number of factors. In addition, you need a minimum of 250 DOTs to submit your intention to nominate a validator.

This does not guarantee that your nomination will generate rewards. For this to happen, your validator must be active in that era, and of all the active nominations, yours must exceed the minimum amount set by the minimum staking of the 22,500 chosen nominators.

Now you can stake in Polkadot natively with only 1 DOT to join a nomination pool and get staking rewards.

You can cancel your stake anytime within the Polkadot App at Staking > Account Actions > Unbond Funds. The unbonding period of the network is set to 28 days, so the funds will be locked dor this time while unstaking.

Stakely charges a 3% fee that is automatically deducted from the rewards. This is the minimum we can charge to maintain and monitor the Polkadot validator in a sustainable manner in the long run.

As a nominator, you have the option to allocate nominations yourself or participate in a nomination pool where the pool owner or pool nominator will allocate nominations on your behalf. In either case, your bonded funds will back those nominations.

In Polkadot, there are two different ways to stake DOT: direct staking or nomination pools:

• Direct Staking (Nominating): There is no fixed minimum amount for direct staking, but there is a minimum reward threshold. This means that the amount of DOT staked must contribute sufficiently to a validator’s total staked balance to be eligible for rewards. While the exact required amount can vary, it generally requires a significant amount of DOT to be competitive for rewards.
• Nomination Pools: For joining a nomination pool, the minimum amount is much lower, typically around 1 DOT. This makes staking accessible to users with smaller amounts of DOT, as they can join a pool and still earn rewards without needing to stake a large amount themselves.

These conditions may vary slightly based on network evolution and available pools.

The minimum active stake statistic is the minimum amount of DOT being bonded by a nominator for the current era. This value is also the minimum amount required to receive rewards. Being above this threshold guarantees that you will be present in the active nominator set for the era, but it does not guarantee rewards as your active nominations may still be oversubscribed.

The consensus mechanism used by Polkadot includes a slashing mechanism, in which part of the stake of a node might be slashed if it does not behave correctly. Other risks include protocol bugs, network attacks, and bad key management by the user. We adopt the necessary measures to bring the slashing risks to the minimum.

Stakely is a validator verified and nominated by the Web3 Foundation, with low fees, high reliable infrastructure, and experience with Substrate-based blockchains.

Only the top 512 nominators are rewarded per validator in Polkadot, so ensuring that your active bond is above the minimum active stake threshold will increase your chances of rewards. You can keep track of these metrics from the dashboard and amend your staking position if necessary, whether increasing your bonded DOT, changing your nominations, or joining another pool.