> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.vespr.xyz/vespr/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.vespr.xyz/vespr/user-guide/the-basics/staking.md). # Staking ## What is Staking? ADA holders can "**stake**" (delegate) their ADA to a **stake pool** and earn rewards in ADA. Stake pools produce the blocks that keep Cardano running, and each pool shares its block rewards with the people who delegate to it. Cardano staking is liquid: there is no lock-up, and your ADA never leaves your wallet. You can spend it, or move to another pool, at any time. ## How Does Cardano Staking Work? Cardano time is divided into **epochs** of 5 days. For each slot (a short period of time), a lottery chooses a stake pool to produce the next block. A pool's chance of being chosen is proportional to the amount of ADA delegated to it. At the end of each epoch, rewards are calculated for the pools that produced blocks and shared between each pool's operator and its delegators. ### When do the first rewards arrive? A new delegation takes a few epochs to start earning. If you delegate during one epoch, your stake becomes active two epochs later, and the first rewards are paid two epochs after that: about 15 to 20 days after you delegate, as long as the pool produces blocks. After that, rewards are paid every epoch (every 5 days) in which your pool produces blocks. A small pool can go an epoch without a block, and then there is no reward for that epoch. VESPR shows the date rewards begin before you confirm. ## How Much ADA Will You Earn From Staking? Staking rewards are variable: they change from epoch to epoch, and nobody can guarantee a return. They depend on: 1. **Your share of the pool:** your rewards are proportional to your share of your pool's total stake. 2. **Stake pool performance:** a pool only earns rewards for the blocks it produces. A pool that misses blocks pays its delegators less. 3. **Stake pool fees:** each pool takes a fixed fee and a margin from its rewards before sharing the rest with its delegators. 4. **Stake pool saturation:** once a pool holds more ADA than the saturation point, its rewards stop growing, so each delegator earns less. The saturation point is set by Cardano's protocol parameters and changes over time. VESPR shows how saturated each pool is. 5. **Network parameters:** Cardano's protocol parameters, such as how much of the reserve is paid out each epoch, set the overall level of rewards. They can change through Cardano governance. VESPR shows each pool's recent **APY** on its pool page, and an estimate before you confirm. These are based on past rewards and are not a promise of future returns. ## Rewards and your balance Rewards are added to your wallet's reward account every epoch and keep building up. You don't have to claim them. Since the Plomin hard fork in January 2025, Cardano only allows rewards to be withdrawn from a wallet that has also delegated its vote: to a DRep (a delegated representative), or to **Abstain** or **No Confidence**. * **With a vote delegation:** VESPR adds your available rewards to the transactions it builds, such as when you send ADA, so you can spend them without a separate withdrawal. * **Without one:** your rewards keep building up, but you can't spend them until the wallet delegates its vote. Staking and voting are separate: delegating to a stake pool doesn't give the pool your vote. VESPR doesn't delegate your vote for you. Do it in a governance dApp, such as GovTool ([gov.tools](https://gov.tools)), from VESPR's dApp browser. VESPR then asks you to approve the request, for example "Assign your voting power to …" or "Abstain from Cardano's governance". ## VESPR Rewards Dashboard Open the **Rewards** tab to see: * **Epoch meter:** which day of the 5-day epoch it is. * **Historical rewards:** the total rewards your wallet has earned, in ADA and your display currency. * **Staked ADA:** the amount of ADA currently staked. * **APY:** your wallet's recent annualized return. * **Stakepool:** the pool you are staked to. Tap it to open the pool's page. * **Upcoming:** when your next reward arrives, how much it is and which pool it comes from. * **Future:** estimated rewards for the next epochs. Estimates use your current balance; the actual reward uses your balance at an earlier snapshot, so it can differ. * **Past:** the rewards you have already received. The search icon at the top right opens **Browse Pools**. If the dashboard shows **Drip Rewards**, it opens token claims powered by DripDropz, which are separate from your ADA staking rewards.
VESPR Rewards dashboard with the epoch meter, Historical rewards, Staked ADA, APY and Stakepool

The Rewards dashboard.

## Distribution To Users (DTU) A pool's **DTU** (Distribution to Users) shows how much of the pool's revenue goes to its delegators. A pool with a higher DTU passes a larger share of its revenue on to its stakers. **Avg DTU** on a pool's page averages the DTU of its past 10 reward distributions.