NEAR Protocol is a sharding-supporting Proof-of-Stake blockchain notable for its environmental friendliness and sustainability. The mission of the Near project is to make the development, use, and maintenance of useful dApps as simple and fast as possible. Thus Near will facilitate community-driven innovation and enable it to benefit people worldwide.
Our earlier article, What is Near, provides more information on the NEAR protocol, including its unique features and operation, so be sure to check it out if you want to learn more.
This guide explains how to stake NEAR using the Meteor Wallet.
Why Stake NEAR?
By staking their funds, users support the decentralization of consensus and get rewards for doing so if the node that uses their tokens successfully creates a block. Rewards are distributed proportionally to each user’s share of the total amount staked.
What is a Meteor Wallet?
The Meteor Wallet was founded by an all-star team that has equally founded top-notch projects like Near Tinker Union and Enleap Near on NEAR Protocol.
Meteor is a simple and secure wallet: everything is encrypted, and nothing sensitive is logged. The wallet allows users to collect NFTs, access DeFi, and explore everything Web3.
Meteor Wallet is now available on Web and Browser Extension. The Mobile version is coming soon.
How to Set Up a Meteor Wallet?
Before staking NEAR, you must create and top up a cryptocurrency wallet.
Please go to the Meteor Wallet website and choose between the web and extension versions. In this tutorial, we will stake NEAR tokens via the web version.
Proceed to the next step by clicking the Get Started button.
On the main screen of the Meteor Wallet, two options are available:
-
Create a new wallet;
-
Import an existing wallet.
We will create a new one to show the whole process from scratch. First, click Create a new Meteor Wallet.
A password is required to prevent unauthorized third parties from logging into the wallet and confirming transactions without your consent. Create a complex password and click Continue.
Every NEAR account is identified by a specific address. Based on their name, there are two types of accounts:
-
Named accounts with human-readable names, such as alice.near;
-
Implicit accounts designated by a string of 64 characters.
Select the option that you prefer.
Backing up your wallet is the most important step. You can restore access to funds on another device using a secret recovery phrase.
It's crucial to save the passphrase in a safe place, as it is the only way to access your wallet. To properly safeguard it, write it down and store it in a secure location accessible only to you. You may also use a specialized device designed for seed phrase storage.
Avoid taking screenshots or copying the phrase to the clipboard, as it may be compromised this way. Never share your passphrase with anyone.
Select the first and last words from your secret recovery phrase to confirm that you have saved the entire phrase.
Before proceeding to the staking, you need to top up your account. Copy your wallet address by clicking on Account. Use it to send tokens to your wallet. As soon as you top up your wallet, you can proceed to staking.
How to Stake NEAR using a Meteor Wallet?
Go to the staking section by clicking the Stake button, as shown below.
Select the Standard Staking section.
Click the Create New Staking button to proceed.
Enter the amount you want to delegate and choose a reliable validator by clicking the Select Your Validator button.
A list of available validators will appear on the screen. Find the validator to whom you want to delegate NEAR tokens. For a quick search, start typing the validator's name in the field, for example, Everstake, and then click on it.
Meteor Wallet shows the estimated earnings for several periods so you can find out how many rewards you will get.
Having selected a validator and the amount of tokens, click Stake.
Finally, check the transaction details and click Confirm to stake NEAR.
We have successfully staked NEAR tokens.
You can also unstake them by clicking the Unstake button and specifying how much you want to unstake.
Note: The unstaking period is approximately 52-65 hours (four epochs).
NEAR Blockchain Explorers
You can monitor the network's statistics and access a list of the NEAR validators using one of the NEAR blockchain explorers:
Everstake operates across over 70 blockchains and has assigned dedicated DevOps, R&D, and community expert teams. You can contact our NEAR Blockchain Manager via Twitter anytime with any queries.
