The CasperLabs team has developed a decentralized protocol named Casper Network, described as “the future-proof blockchain” and based on the CBC Casper specifications partially designed by Ethereum developers.
Casper Network was one of the first protocols to implement a sharding model architecture which allows blockchain to scale without compromising security and efficiency.
Token holders can participate in the development of the network and help validators maintain its stability by delegating their tokens. In this guide, we will describe to you how to stake Casper tokens using the official Casper CSPR.live explorer.
Installing the CasperLabs Signer Extension
To be able to delegate or transfer tokens on CSPR.live, you need an extension for the Google Chrome browser. Install the plugin using the link. After that you will be able to sign up on CSPR.live to create an account, add funds to it and stake coins.
Click Add to Chrome on the Casper Signer extension page, to install it:
To install the plugin, click Add Extension.
Note: the plugin works in other browsers besides Google Chrome, for instance, in Brave.
Pin the extension to have a shortcut if needed: click on the extensions icon in the top right corner and “pin” the extension.
Let’s sign up on the CSPR.live explorer. Go to the website, click on Sign In in the upper right corner and select the Casper Signer extension. Upon that, you will be able to create or import an account.
Account creation/import
Run the extension and create a strong password to protect your account from getting hacked. When loading an extension, two options are available:
- Select “Import Account” if you have created a Casper account earlier. Enter your account name and private key.
2. Otherwise, choose “Create Account”.
Let’s illustrate how to create a new account for storing, transferring and staking CSPR tokens. Select the option Create Account. Come up with a unique name for your account and choose an encryption algorithm (both of algorithms are fine to use). Then copy and save the generated keys to a safe place (Public Key and Secret Key) and click Create.
Your account is ready. Click on the “Disconnected” button in the top menu to connect to the CSPR.live explorer and use its functionality:
Confirm the connection by clicking the “Connect” button. Once connected, you allow the extension to view your public key and send requests to sign transactions.
Excellent! You have created an account in the CSPR.live explorer.
You can manage your account settings and keys in the Casper Signer. In a menu located in the upper right corner of the extension, select “Key Management”:
In this section, you can edit the account name or download the private key in case you have lost it or planning to use an account in another browser (in this case, you would need to upload the saved private key when importing your account into another browser):
Adding funds to the CSPR account
To get your Casper account details for tokens transfer, click on the address in the upper right corner of the browser and select “Copy Public Key” from the drop-down menu. Send tokens to this address by sharing it with the sender or the exchange where you’re buying CSPR.
To check your account balance, click View Account. The following information is available on the account page:
- public key (an address to add funds) of the account;
- account hash for viewing detailed information about transactions in the Casper blockchain explorer;
- account balance;
- a list of transactions and accrued staking rewards;
Your account has been funded, and now you can proceed to CSPR staking.
Delegating CSPR
To stake Casper tokens, select “Wallet” in the top menu of the browser and choose “Delegate Stake” in the drop-down menu.
Select a validator from the list. CSPR.live does not display validator names, so you need to know the validator’s hash in order to delegate tokens. In our guide, we’ll delegate tokens to the Everstake validator.
Everstake validator’s hash:
01bf489970ee9ad639854b9a78ed19d08b5f8d8f2185099b44c0fc5f6f467b14b4
You can easily find Everstake at the top of the list by clicking on a validator search field.
If you insert the validator’s hash in the field, the explorer will display the commission charged by the validator, as well as the amount already delegated to the validator:
Enter the number of tokens you intend to stake and click “Next”. Casper Network does not have a minimum staking threshold, but you should take into account the network’s fee for delegation and similar transactions, which is 3 CSPR per transaction currently.
We also recommend keeping a minimum of 5–10 CSPR in your balance, since further unstaking may not be possible with an account balance of less than that.
Check the details of the transaction and, if everything is correct, click “Confirm and Delegate Stake”:
Please note that there is a waiting period of 1 era (≈2 hours), after which the tokens will be staked. You will be able to track rewards in ≈4–6 hours.
Also, a waiting period of ≈14 hours is required before unstaking tokens, for safety reasons.
Sign the transaction using the Casper Signer extension by clicking the button. Copy the transaction hash if you want to track it in the blockchain explorer.
Click Sign in the Casper Signer plugin to complete the CSPR delegation procedure:
Congratulations! The delegation has been completed successfully. To return to your account, click “Back to home”:
How to unstake CSPR
The unstaking process is similar to delegation with minor differences. To withdraw CSPR tokens, click on the “Wallet” section in the top browser menu and select “Undelegate Stake” in the drop-down menu:
Select a validator — simply click on the validator search field to see a list of validators to whom you have previously delegated tokens.
Enter the amount you want to undelegate and click “Next”:
Click “Confirm and Undelegate Stake” after checking the transaction details:
Please note that there is a waiting period of ≈14 hours before you can unstake tokens, once you’ve delegated them.
Sign the transaction with Casper Signer:
Done! You have successfully unstaked your tokens. You can now use your CSPR to make transactions.
Possible errors during unstaking
At the step of signing a transaction during unstaking, you may encounter an error:
In this case, you should:
• make sure that there is at least 5 CSPR in your balance. Transfer tokens to the account and repeat the unstaking transaction;
• if there are tokens on the balance but an error still appears, use another browser (reinstall the Casper Signer extension in it, import the account by downloading the private key and importing it as described above) or clear the cache in your original browser and try to unstake again.
Everstake and CasperLabs
Everstake is one of Casper’s validators that participated in the first round of private Casper token sales back in October 2020.
CSPR token holders and institutional investors can delegate their tokens to the Everstake validator pool. The rewards APY at the time of writing is ≈20%, and Everstake is ranked 4th in the list of validators by the total stake.
Everstake in CSPR.live explorer.
Casper (CSPR) page on Everstake: https://everstake.one/casper
About Everstake
Everstake is a large staking provider run by an experienced blockchain, IT and fintech development team.
The team is actively involved in various crypto projects, develops solutions to improve the process of handling PoS blockchains, and provides validator services. Everstake works with almost all major blockchain projects using the Proof-of-Stake mechanism: Ethereum (ETH), Chainlink (LINK), Cosmos (ATOM), Tezos (XTZ), Near Protocol (NEAR), Band Protocol (BAND), Elrond (EGLD) and many others.
With over 325,000 delegators (as of June 2021) and a total stake in digital assets equivalent to ≈ $3 Billion, Everstake is one of the most ambitious and promising projects in the crypto industry nowadays.
The Everstake team strives to simplify the delegation process for token holders and provide convenient services for staking monitoring. Newbies will find helpful guides in different languages in the Everstake blog to help them figure out how to stake certain tokens in various crypto wallets.
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