Stake Cardano with Kiln, enterprise-grade staking

Proof-of-Stake (PoS) is a type of consensus mechanism used to validate cryptocurrency transactions. Through PoS, validators can contribute to the block production of a chain while keeping environmental concerns to a minimum, which is becoming an increasingly large issue in Proof-of-Work.

By staking capital rather than energy, validators risk losing a portion of their value and future potential for staking by misbehaving while creating blocks. This incentivizes collaboration and minimizes malicious activity in the consensus process.

Both are consensus algorithms, helping to democratize one participation to securing a blockchain. DPoS is an iteration of PoS combining real-time voting with a system based on reputation to reach consensus across the blockchain. Voting power is still determined by how many tokens they have.

Rewards for staking ADA and delegation are awarded at the end of every epoch. On the Cardano chain, an epoch is equivalent to five days. Rewards are calculated according to transactions processed on validated blocks over the period and come with an in-built monetary incentive along with the collected fees. A current estimated reward rate is around 3.19% per epoch.

Yes, rewards accrued through staking Cardano are re-delegated back into your original amount. In this way you are consistently compounding your stake and increasing your future rewards.

The Cardano network does not implement slashing into its staking process so the risks associated with staking ADA are minimal for both validators and delegators.

There are no minimum or maximum amounts associated with staking Cardano however, fixed fees are included in the delegation process which will need to be considered. Check that you have enough ADA to stake on top of these fees to effectively stake your assets.

While you may self-custody your staked ADA (ideally using a Ledger hardware wallet), you may choose a third-party custodian to control the withdrawal of your staked ADA (ie Fireblocks).

There is no minimum lock up period associated with Cardano, you can release and use any ADA you are staking as soon as you unstake.

Every slot the validator is expected to sign attestations. If submitted attestations are good the validator receives rewards, otherwise it receives penalties. In case the Cardano validator is offline it will also receive penalties.

The average block time on Cardano is ~20 seconds, though this is fluid and can change with time depending on various factors.

To run a full node on Cardano requires a certain degree of technical understanding. However, delegating your ADA is a lot simpler and can be done with even a small amount of capital. You will need a funded wallet with which to delegate your ADA, including some funds set aside for delegation fees.

Unbonding is simple and instantaneous, you can use your coins as soon as you decide to unstake.

Rewards are received after every epoch, five days.

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In the context of Proof-of-Stake blockchains, the gross reward rate (GRR) refers to the total or gross amount of rewards earned from staking before deducting any fees or expenses. This is a reward rate that fluctuates with the operations of the protocol and the performance of validators, it is not set by Kiln. The net reward rate (NRR), on the other hand, takes into account the deductions or expenses, providing a measure of the actual rewards received after subtracting fees or costs.

There are many existing resources but we invite you to visit the Cardano website and to check our latest articles on our blog.