Staking Ontology (ONT) FAQs

Everything you need to know about Ontology (ONT) staking in Exodus.

In this article:

What is ONT?

ONT started out as a NEO NEP-5 token on the NEO blockchain. On June 30, 2018, the Ontology mainnet went live and a token swap was issued to swap NEP-5 ONT tokens to mainnet ONT.

ONT is now the primary asset for the Ontology blockchain and is used for main chain services.

Much like NEO, ONT is indivisible, so it can only be whole numbers. 

It is also capable of creating, deploying, and running smart contracts on the Ontology blockchain. 

ONT uses a dual token model. ONT transactions pay for fees, also known as gas, with Ontology Gas (ONG).

What is ONG?

ONG is the secondary token on the Ontology blockchain, it is the utility token used for main chain operations. ONG can be divisible and so does not need to be a whole number. When performing any sort of transaction of ONT or ONG or even when claiming your ONG rewards, the transaction fee is 0.05 ONG.

What is Ontology staking and how can I benefit from it?

Staking your ONT is a great way to earn passive income in the form of staking rewards. Rewards are paid out in ONG. You can view it as earning interest on your crypto holdings. With Ontology, Staking means you agree to lock up an amount of your ONT that you choose for a certain period of time, during which they are unspendable. However, you can unlock your ONT whenever you choose.

By Staking your ONT, you actively support the Ontology network by allocating resources to it and contribute to the stability of the Ontology network. In return for your support, you earn ONG as a reward!

How does staking work?

When you decide to stake your ONT, you must stake a minimum of 1 ONT and you can choose any amount you would like to stake to a node, as long as it is a whole number (i.e. 1, 2, 3 etc)

The amount you choose to stake you will now see inside the Earn Rewards section as Staked which is your staked balance. You will need to wait up to 60,000 blocks to be confirmed for you to be able to claim your ONG rewards.

While your ONT is staked, you will only be able to perform transactions with your unstaked amount of ONT inside your wallet.

How does unstaking work?

When you decide to unstake your ONT, again you can choose the amount you want to unstake (in whole numbers).

The amount you choose to unstake will now be seen inside the Earn Rewards section as Unstaking and you will now need to wait for 2 consensus rounds to finish (up to 120,000 blocks) for you to be able to transact that ONT again.

When unstaking ONT two transactions are needed. For your first transaction will need 0.05 ONG for your unstaking transaction to go through, and then after the unstaking period has ended, you'll need another 0.05 ONG remaining in your wallet for the claim ONT transaction to complete. This means when unstaking only 0.05 ONG is needed right away, however please note you'll need a further 0.05 ONG reserved for the future claim ONT transaction.

Which node will I be staking my funds to?

When you stake your ONT inside of Exodus, you will be supporting one of the ONT foundation consensus nodes.

How much can I earn from staking my ONT?

To find out more about what Annual Percentage Yield (APY) is and how to view the current APY for Ont and ONG, please check out this article: What is APY.

You can also find the latest yield here: Ontology staking rewards

At the end of each staking round, which is roughly 4 to 6 weeks long, it is possible to earn more ONG as an extra reward because the staking node earns a portion of the transaction fees it processes and then will distribute a share of it all to the users who staked with the node.

Does Exodus charge a fee to stake my ONT?

No, Exodus does not charge a fee! There are a couple of Ontology network fees:

The first fee is a transaction fee for sending the staking transaction when you stake your ONT. You will pay another transaction fee if you decide to stake some more ONT later on.

The second fee is a combination of two transaction fees every time you claim your ONT rewards and withdraw it to your usable ONG balance.

What is the minimum amount I need to start staking?

The minimum amount of ONT you need to start staking is 1 ONT.

The minimum amount of ONG recommended to start staking is 0.1 ONG (0.05 ONG to pay for the network fee to start staking, and another 0.05 ONG, which will be enough to claim your rewards at least once).

When will I start earning rewards?

When you stake your ONT you will start to earn rewards once the next consensus round begins. This could take up to 60,000 blocks.

Then, you will need to wait for another 60,000 blocks to confirm to be able to claim your ONG rewards, because rewards are only paid after you have staked your ONT for a full consensus round. This is part of the Ontology staking model. Each block on average takes between 1 second and 30 seconds to confirm and is subject to change due to network conditions. You will be able to claim your rewards after each cycle of 60,000 blocks as each reward is paid out to a user every 60,000 blocks.

You can also see how many blocks you have left for your next reward by going into your ONT wallet and clicking the three dots in the top right corner, then click Earn Rewards and look at the Remaining Blocks heading.

Is staking ONT safe?

Staking your ONT is done in a non-custodial way in Exodus. That means that it is as safe as simply holding them in your wallet. You keep full control over your tokens while they are staked, and you're even free to unstake your funds whenever you choose.

So instead of letting them sit idly in your wallet, you might as well put them to good use and let them earn rewards for you!

How do I check the current consensus round progress?

Each consensus round consists of 60,000 blocks and can last up to 21 days. If you would like to see the amount of time remaining in the current consensus round, you can visit the Ontology node page and look at the number of blocks left in the current consensus round and get an estimate of the time remaining.

How do I stake/unstake my ONT inside of Exodus?

Desktop:

Stake

1
Open up your Exodus wallet and head over to the Rewards app.

2
Navigate to where it says Ontology and then click on Get Reward.

3

You will need to have at least 0.05 ONG as well as your ONT balance to start staking.

Then, a) enter the amount of ONT you want to stake and b) click on Stake ONT.

Unstake

1
Open up your Exodus wallet and head over to the Rewards app.

2
Navigate to where it says Ontology and then click on Overview.

3
Then, a) click on the Unstake tab at the top, b) enter the amount of ONT you want to unstake and finally c) click on Unstake ONT.

Mobile:

Stake

1
First, open your Ontology wallet inside of Exodus on your mobile, then tap on the Stake icon in the top right corner to open the Ontology rewards section.

2
Tap on Stake ONT.

3

You will need to have at least 0.05 ONG as well as your ONT balance to start staking.

To start staking your ONT, a) enter an amount of ONT you want to stake and b) tap on Stake ONT.

Unstake

1
First, open your Ontology wallet inside of Exodus on your mobile, then tap on the Earn Rewards icon in the top right corner to open the Ontology rewards section.

2
Tap on Unstake ONT.

3
To unstake your ONT, a) enter an amount of ONT you want to unstake and b) tap on Unstake ONT.

How do I claim my ONG rewards?

Desktop:

1
Open up your Exodus wallet and head over to the Rewards app.

2
Navigate to where it says Ontology and then click on Overview.

3
Then, a) click on the Claim Reward tab at the top. b) You can see the amount of ONG rewards available. To claim your ONG rewards, c) click on Claim Reward.

Claiming rewards will incur a network fee.

Mobile:

1
First, open your Ontology wallet inside of Exodus on your mobile, then tap on the Stake icon in the top right corner to open the Ontology rewards section.

2
Tap on Claim Reward.

Claiming rewards will incur a network fee.