Staking Cardano (ADA) FAQs | Exodus Cardano staking rewards support | Staking ADA

Staking Cardano is a great way to earn ADA staking rewards as a form of passive income for holding Cardano. You can view it as earning interest on your crypto holdings. With some assets, staking means you agree to lock up your tokens for a certain period of time, during which they are unspendable. However, this is not the case with Cardano. Much like Tezos, you can spend your Cardano whenever you choose.

By staking your ADA, you actively support the Cardano network by allocating resources to it and contribute to the stability of the network. In return for your support, you earn ADA tokens as a reward.

To stake your ADA and start earning rewards, download Exodus!

In this article:

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

Staking Cardano (ADA) is a great way to earn passive income. You can view it as earning interest on your crypto holdings. 

With some assets, staking means you agree to lock up your tokens for a certain period of time, during which they are unspendable. However, this is not the case with Cardano. Much like Tezos, you can spend your ADA whenever you choose.

By staking your ADA, you actively support the Cardano network by allocating resources to it and contribute to the stability of the network. In return for your support, you earn ADA tokens as a reward.

To start staking your ADA to earn rewards, download Exodus.

ADA staking FAQs

Answers to your questions about staking ADA in Exodus.

Can I choose the amount I want to stake and is my balance spendable while it's staked?

When you stake your ADA, you are actually staking your Cardano address. This means you can't choose how much to delegate to the pool. It is all of your Cardano balance or nothing since you are staking your address to the pool. You can still perform normal transactions whilst your ADA is staked. When it is time to receive your rewards, a snapshot will be taken and your current balance at that time will be used to calculate your rewards.

Which node will I be delegating my funds to?

When you stake your ADA inside of Exodus, you will be supporting our staking API provider Everstake.

If you would like to keep up with how Everstake votes, you can see their latest news by checking out their blog.

How much can I earn from staking my ADA?

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

You can also find the latest yield here: Cardano Staking Rewards.

What is the minimum amount I need to start staking?

You only need 5.5 ADA to start staking!

Does Exodus charge a fee to stake my ADA?

Exodus does not charge a fee to stake your ADA. However, you will pay two small fees to the Cardano network.

The first is a network transaction fee, which is about 0.2 ADA. 

The second is a deposit you pay to the Cardano network. The deposit fee is 2 ADA, and it is required to register your address to start staking. 

If you choose to unstake your ADA, you will get the 2 ADA deposit back.

When will I start earning rewards?

When you decide to start staking your Cardano, you will need to wait 20 days to be approved and then another 5 days (one epoch) for the first cycle to complete in order to earn rewards.

This means you should start earning your rewards 25 days after clicking Start Staking and then every 5 days after that. If you make subsequent deposits, these are staked automatically and you will need to wait for the full 25-day cycle to complete before earning rewards for those deposits. Rewards will be paid out two epochs (10 days) after you've earned them.

You will be able to see the period of time you have been staking your funds for within the Exodus Cardano wallet:

Your rewards are paid with a 25-day delay. You will earn rewards every 5 days (1 epoch) from that point. However, your reward for each 5-day cycle will be calculated for your ADA balance 25 days ago from the current cycle. Your rewards are paid out 2 epochs after earning them. This means that if you've earned rewards in epoch 239, then you will receive the payout of these rewards in epoch 241.

How does unstaking work?

When you decide to unstake your Cardano, once you send the unstaking transaction, unstaking is instant. If you choose to unstake your Cardano, you will get your deposit of 2 ADA back.

How do I check the current epoch progress?

If you would like to see the amount of time remaining in the epoch, you can visit Cardano Explorer and look at the value in Current Epoch Ends In:

Do I need to claim my ADA rewards?

If you are just staking your ADA, no! You only need to claim your ADA rewards if you want to send or exchange them.

Your unclaimed ADA rewards count towards your staked balance. So you do not need to claim your current rewards to earn rewards on top of it. Your unclaimed ADA is counted towards your interest-earning balance.

This means that you only need to claim your ADA rewards when you are ready to send or exchange your ADA.

Of course, this is completely up to you. You can claim your rewards whenever you have earned at least 1 ADA.

What's the minimum ADA balance to claim rewards?

Since the minimum balance is 1 ADA, you need at least 1.25 ADA in your wallet to claim rewards.

This is enough ADA to both meet the minimum balance and pay the transaction fee for the claim rewards transaction.

Is staking ADA safe?

Staking your Cardano (ADA) is done in a non-custodial way in Exodus. That means that it is as safe as simply holding ADA in your wallet. You are in full control over your tokens while they are staked and you're even free to use your funds and move them around while they are staked.

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! 

To start staking ADA and earn rewards, download Exodus.

How do I stake my ADA in Exodus?

In order to stake, your ADA needs to be at your Shelley address (the default Exodus address that starts with addr1).

Desktop

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

2
Navigate to Cardano (ADA) and then click on Get Reward.

3
Then, click on Stake ADA.

Mobile

1
First, open your Cardano wallet in Exodus Mobile, then tap on the Stake icon.

2
Then tap  Stake ADA.

How do I unstake my ADA in Exodus?

Desktop

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

2
Navigate to Cardano (ADA) and then click on Overview.

3

To unstake your Cardano address, please first ensure you have claimed all your available rewards.

Then, click on Unstake ADA.

Mobile

1
First, open your Cardano wallet in Exodus Mobile, then tap on the Stake icon.

2

Tap on Unstake ADA.

To unstake your Cardano, please first ensure you have claimed all your available rewards.

How do I claim my ADA rewards in Exodus?

Desktop

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

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

3
Then, click on Claim ADA Rewards.

Claiming rewards will incur a small network fee.

Mobile

1
First, open your Cardano wallet in Exodus Mobile, then tap on the Stake icon.

2
Tap on Claim Reward.

Claiming rewards will incur a network fee.