How to stake on Polkadot

Whether you're a beginner or an experienced staker, we've got you covered. Follow our step-by-step guide to start staking with ease. All you need is your wallet and some DOT tokens. Let's get started!

Get a wallet Explore DOT

Beginner: Stake through a wallet

Staking through a wallet is the easiest method for beginners.

Choose a wallet

Non-custodial wallets are recommended as they give you full control over your private keys.

Create your account

Create a Polkadot account with your chosen wallet.

Top up your account

Acquire DOT tokens from a cryptocurrency exchange and transfer them to your non-custodial or cold/hardware wallet.

Get a wallet

Beginner: Join a nomination pool

Join a nomination pool with just 1 DOT. Benefits (and penalties) are shared proportionally and must be claimed manually. Note: DOT tokens in pools can’t be used for governance.

Connect to the Staking Dashboard

Connect your account to Polkadot's Staking Dashboard

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Select a pool to join

Navigate to the "Pools" tab and click "Join." Select the pool you'd like to participate in.

Enter amount to bond

Enter the amount you want to bond.

See tutorial

“Nomination pools are a unique feature on Polkadot and are generally not implemented in other blockchains. On-chain registration of the process is novel and being able to delegate a minimum of 1 DOT is very inclusive.”

Ilhan Gnossienli, Staker Space

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Intermediate & advanced: Unlock more staking opportunities

Ready to move beyond the basics? Take your staking journey to the next level with these additional options.

Intermediate

Open a nomination pool

Confident in your ability to select trustworthy validators? Open your own pool and let others join. Build a community and gain a reputation as an expert nominator.

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intermediate

Nominate directly

Actively participate in validator selection and governance. Be aware that misbehaving validators can lead to DOT loss. DOT rewards compound automatically; just choose a payout schedule and watch your tokens accumulate.

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ADVANCED

Run a validator

For technical users who want to secure the network and produce blocks on the Relay Chain. Validators earn rewards for good behavior and can lose DOT for misbehavior.

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Validator Lounge

Stake like a pro

The Polkadot Staking Dashboard is your hub for managing your nominations, joining pools, and optimizing token rewards.

Go to Dashboard Connect your account

“The new staking dashboard is seamless to operate so that it empowers any token holder to contribute to the security and maintenance of the network—irrespective of technical knowledge.”

Robert Dörzbach, Staking Facilities

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