Nowadays Solana stands as the fastest blockchain in the world, as well as the fastest-growing ecosystem in crypto. With all the DeFi possibilities that Solana offers to token holders, there is also an opportunity to stake SOL, which helps secure the network and lets you earn rewards while doing so.
The staking process can be proceeded through a variety of crypto wallets. The Everstake team has prepared for you several staking guides through different wallets.
In this guide, we are covering staking via the Phantom iOS app.
About Phantom
Phantom Wallet is a simple and convenient non-custodial wallet with Web3 support and the integration of Ledger hardware wallets as a browser extension. The Phantom Wallet provides SOL storage, transfers, staking, and exchange.
In addition to SOL, the Phantom crypto wallet supports USD Coin (USDC) tokens and non-fungible tokens (Collectibles, aka NFTs). The web extension works in Chrome, Firefox, Edge, and Brave browsers. The mobile version is currently available on iOS devices.
What is Solana
Solana is an innovative, open, and fully decentralized platform for building effective blockchain applications (DApps) and marketplaces in the Web3 environment.
The Solana blockchain provides high scalability and bandwidth, and in terms of transaction processing speed, it can outperform the well-known payment giants. The platform can process up to 50,000 transactions per second against 2,000 on average. “Solana is all about speed, with 400 millisecond block times. And as hardware gets faster, so does the network.” (Source). The average price of the trx at the moment of writing is $0.00025 only and the total transactions count in the network has surpassed 57 Billion!
If you are a lucky SOL holder – it's time to stake them and take advantage of the opportunity to earn ≈6-7% extra per annum.
How to stake and unstake SOL
Install the Phantom iOS app on your device
Download the app from the Phantom website or look for the Phantom Wallet app in the Apple Store. Make sure that the app is issued by Phantom Technologies Incorporated. Do not trust apps issued by another developer; do not download applications from unknown sources.
Install and launch the app. If you haven't used a SOL wallet before, select Create New Wallet and follow the guidelines. In this guide, we will restore a wallet from a seed.
Click on the button I already have a wallet. Protect your wallet by enabling Face ID (if available).
Enter the wallet mnemonic phrase (that you saved in the past) and click Import secret recovery phrase. If for some reason you lost it, create the wallet again and save the seed securely.
Note: take a look at our article about crypto security to prevent a loss of funds.
Import your accounts.
You are all done! Click Get Started, and access your wallet. If you don’t have funds, replenish your wallet by depositing tokens to it, either by clicking Deposit or scanning the QR code (top right corner of the app).
You can now use your wallet. The main page displays the balance, wallet address, and available tokens. You can switch between the Collectibles, Transactions, Activity, and Settings tabs. If you need to export or reset the private key, restore the mnemonic phrase, or delete the wallet – visit the Settings menu.
Let’s assume you’ve got tokens and are ready to stake. Click on the Solana field to see a detailed breakdown of your account. Choose the option Start earning SOL marked by star icon, to begin delegating. In the new screen choose a validator from the list or enter the validator’s name in the search field.
In this guide, we delegate to Everstake validator, one of the most secure and reliable validators in the world. High-performance servers, broadband channels, and advanced network topology allow us to show 99.9% uptime and generate blocks really fast.
Yet, you are free to choose any other validator from the list!
Enter the amount you wish to stake and confirm a transaction.
Note: Before staking coins, make sure to keep at least 0.05 SOL liquid in your wallet to pay for all future transactions (staking, unstaking, tokens withdrawal, etc.)!
Note that if you stake the maximum possible sum (MAX), you may experience a bug of the stake not displayed correctly. If this happens, transfer more SOL tokens to your wallet, to fix the issue.
Why stake with Everstake?
It's reliable: Everstake is a large, high-performance validator constantly improving its services and performance and running the best hardware/software with the highly professional specialists onboard. We have vast validating experience in more than 45 PoS blockchains.
It’s convenient: we provide services for staked assets monitoring. We support users in our channels and assist with staking-related issues 24/7.
It's simple: we regularly issue staking guides in our blog to help newbies quickly figure out how to delegate assets across different wallets. We have dedicated Blockchain Managers for each of the networks to manage the operational flow in the most efficient way.
Wait until the transaction is confirmed. Done! You have successfully staked SOL and will receive staking rewards! Currently, the profitability from the SOL delegation is about 7% per annum.
Click on the button Your Stake to check the status of your delegation. Your stake is being activated and you will start earning rewards as soon as the current epoch ends. You can track the epoch length in the Solana blockchain explorer. In the Your Stake section, you will find the information about the rewards generated in the last epoch. The rewards are being auto-compounded (added to active stake).
How to unstake SOL
In the Your Stake section, you can also undelegate tokens by clicking Unstake. If you unstake immediately after staking (the stake wasn’t activated yet), you will be able to withdraw tokens immediately.
However, if the stake has been activated already, you will have to unstake, wait till the next epoch, and then withdraw SOL tokens to have them liquid again. To withdraw tokens, return to Your Stake section, press on your staking account, which is Inactive now, open it, and press Withdraw Stake.
Wait until the transaction is confirmed. Done! You have successfully undelegated your SOL. Go back to the dashboard to operate your tokens.
Track staking rewards
The Phantom Wallet doesn't provide a complete staking rewards picture. In fact, it displays rewards only for the last epoch, not the cumulative of all epochs. To avoid confusion, track your staking rewards using the solanabeach.io or other Solana explorers.
Read our detailed guide on How to Track SOL Staking Rewards in different wallets and explorers.
Solana staking FAQ
What is an Epoch?
An epoch is a unit of time in computing. It varies slightly but is normally around 2-3 days. When you start staking, the epoch you are in will not accumulate rewards. Check the epoch length here.
What does activating/deactivating stake status mean?
When you delegate or un-delegate a stake account, the tokens do not change state immediately. Newly delegated tokens are considered “activating” or “warming up”, and are not eligible to earn rewards until they are fully activated. Newly un-delegated tokens are considered “deactivating” or “cooling down” and are not able to be withdrawn until deactivated. The Solana protocol only allows staked tokens to finish changing state at the beginning of a new epoch.
I just staked all my SOL, but I can't see my stake
Transfer a small amount of SOL to the wallet, to have the stake displayed correctly. We recommend keeping ≈0.05 SOL in your wallet for future gas fees.
How long to unstake, and do I have to do any extra steps?
It takes an epoch for the stake to get deactivated. After that, you will need to withdraw tokens. Find more answers on our SOL dedicated page.
Hardware wallet integration
The Phantom extension allows you to connect a Ledger device to make transactions. To learn how to connect a Ledger wallet and use it, visit the official web wallet guide.
About Everstake
Everstake is one of the top validators in the world. With over 625,000 unique users who trust us, Everstake has staked more than $6 billion in digital assets at the time of writing this guide. Check the most recent numbers here.
It is not only the numbers that are great but the variety of staking options as well. You can stake on almost all the reputable PoS networks through Everstake. The platform is very informative: click on the blockchain you are interested in, use the staking calculator and learn more about blockchain features.
The Everstake team selects only promising PoS projects. Delegating with Everstake is safe and profitable – our team performs thorough project research before joining the network as a validator.
Find our other guides on Solana staking
Video Guides:
Blog guides about SOL staking via Exodus, SolFlare, Phantom, Trustee Wallet, as well as a few translations to Turkish, Spanish, Georgian, and Russian languages.
Check Everstake Twitter and Discord for the latest updates.
And If you have any questions you can always contact our Solana Blockchain Manager on Twitter.
