This is a quick and easy guide on how to stake Avail (AVAIL) in a Nomination Pool with SubWallet. At the moment, the minimum threshold of tokens for direct nomination is greater than 1,000 AVAIL tokens. However, using a Nomination Pool, the minimum amount of tokens you need is 100 AVAIL. Make sure to also leave some free balance for gas fees.
Nomination Pools aggregate the stakes of individual users and delegate them to the chosen validator set. This enables users with smaller stakes to increase their chances of earning rewards by using the collective weight.
SubWallet is a user-friendly and open-source wallet for the Polkadot and Substrate ecosystem. It supports a wide range of parachains and assets.
If you already have a SubWallet funded with at least 100 AVAIL tokens, you can skip right to Step 3 of this guide.
Step 1 - Configure your SubWallet
Download your preferred SubWallet version. In this case, we’re using the SubWallet Google Chrome extension.
If you have an existing SubWallet account, you can import it using your seed phrase and password. In this example, we’re going to create a SubWallet account from scratch.
Click “Create a new account”
Review the security recommendations and Click on every checkbox to express your consent, then click “Continue.” You must also set a password that can only be used to unlock your wallet on your current browser.
SubWallet will automatically generate a seed phrase for you. You can copy and paste the seed phrase locally on your computer or store it offline (for safety reasons, never store your seed phrase online).
Step 2 - Fund your SubWallet account
Before you can stake and contribute to the security of the Avail DA network, you first need to fund your SubWallet account with AVAIL tokens.
To do so, make sure you are located on SubWallet’s home screen, then click on the “Get address” button. You can top up your SubWallet account with Avail tokens from a centralized or decentralized exchange.
Step 3 - Stake your Avail tokens
There are two ways to stake on Avail: direct nomination or via nomination pools. This guide is focused on nomination pools.
Direct nomination means choosing one or more validators to delegate your stake to and directly participating and earning rewards. Nomination pools are collective pools of staked tokens from multiple users who have chosen to nominate to a specific validator set. In essence, this allows smaller stakeholders to pool their tokens in case they do not meet the minimum 1,000 AVAIL requirement, or to delegate their nomination strategy and diversify among various validators. At the moment, the minimum to join a nomination pool is 100 AVAIL tokens. Choosing between direct nomination or nomination pool depends on the amount of tokens you wish to stake. For direct nomination, please see this guide.
To join a nomination pool, head to https://staking.avail.tools/ and connect your SubWallet account. To be able to nominate, you also need to make sure that you have selected the Account that holds AVAIL tokens.
- As a first step, you need to select the pool you wish to join.
- Select Pools from the menu
- Select All Pools
- Search for your preferred pool (Stakin Pool 🙂 )
- Find the pool and click More
- Now you can Join the Pool.
- Specify the amount you wish to stake
- Decide if you allow your rewards to be withdrawn to your account, compound the rewards, or a permissioned approach where only you have the right to claim your rewards
After reviewing everything, click Join Pool
You will also need to approve the transaction in your wallet. The transaction may take some time to complete before you can see your bonded funds on the dashboard.
Congratulations, you have now staked your AVAIL tokens!
DISCLAIMER: This is not financial advice. Staking and cryptocurrency investment involve a certain degree of risk, and there is always the possibility of loss, including the loss of all staked digital assets. Additionally, delegators are at risk of slashing in case of security or liveness faults on some Proof-of-Stake protocols. We advise you to conduct your own due diligence before choosing a validator.
