Solana (SOL)

Validators

Staking mechanics

Stake activation time

0-~2.5 days (end of current epoch)

Stake lock-up time

0-~2.5 days (end of current epoch)

Re-delegating activation time

0-~2.5 days (end of current epoch)

Rewards frequency

First rewards: 1 epoch after stake is active (0-~2.5 days + ~2.5 days). Rewards frequency: beginning of every epoch (~2.5 days). Last rewards: last rewards earned before unstaking.

Auto-compounding

Yes

Self-bond

None

Active set

None

Slashing

No automated slashing currently implemented in the protocol. Can be done by a manual action from the community.

Relationship between validator stake balance and rewards

Linear. The more stake balance there is on the validator, the more rewards it will earn.

Staking workflow

What is the staking process?

Each new stake creates a Stake Account (which is like a sub-wallet) with your wallet set as withdrawer. This Stake Account is delegated to a validator.

Do funds move out to another wallet?

Yes, funds are moved to a Stake Account created & owned by your address.

Can I keep staking/unstaking from/to the same wallet?

Yes. You can create multiple stake accounts from the same wallet and deactivate them independently. You can deactivate an account and add more SOL on it before re-activating it.

Can I select how much of my wallet balance I want to stake?

Yes, you select the amount of SOL to send to a stake account when you create it.

How do I unstake?

Unstaking a Solana stake is a two step process:

  • Deactivate your stake: this can done from the dashboard, go to Overview > Select your Kiln account > Select the SOL view > Click "Deactivate stake" from the menu of one of your active stakes. You will need to connect with the wallet owning the stake. Once done it takes one epoch to deactivate your stake (~2-3 days).

  • Withdraw your stake: once your stake has been successfully deactivated, you can withdraw your stake. This can also be done via the dashboard via the same process used to deactivate your stake. There is no delay on withdrawals, the full stake amount and its rewards will be transferred to your wallet.

Can I unstake part of the staked balance?

You can split a stake account to 2 stake accounts and deactivate + withdraw only one of them. This way unstaking only a precise amount from your existing stakes. Deactivate is an operation that takes 2.5 days (1 epoch) and allows you to stop a stake account from staking to make it withdrawable. The flow to unstake a stake account is:

  1. 1 tx to deactivate it (2.5 days)

  2. 1 tx to withdraw it (instant once 1 is done)

How is my balance computed at epoch N for the rewards distribution?

The balance computed at epoch N for the rewards distribution is the balance at the beginning of epoch N-1.

How is commission paid?

Each validator commission rate is public and the same for all funds on a given validator. The validator takes its commission automatically when rewards are generated. Your staking rewards are distributed net of the validator commission.

How do I monitor my rewards?

You can monitor your rewards by going to the Solana explorer page of your Stake Account address (example)

You can also do so using the get stakes rewards API.

How can I get testnet tokens?

You can request some here.

FAQ

How to see historical performances ?
How are Solana staking rewards distributed ?

Solana stake account are auto compounding. Staking takes about 2 epoch to be effective and earn reward. Solana unstaking time is about 2 days. Staking time and unstaking time depends on the amount of new stake and unstake requests.

Solana uses inflation to pay staking rewards, this means new SOL is created every epoch. Inflation was first activated on mainnet-beta at the start of 2021 at a rate of 8%, decreasing at a rate of 15% per year (that’s 15% of 8%) until it will eventually settle at a terminal rate of 1.5%.

Staking yields are based on the current inflation rate, the total number of SOL staked, and individual validator uptime and commission. A validator’s commission fee is the percentage fee paid to validators from network inflation. Validator uptime is defined by a validator’s voting. One vote credit is earned for each successful validator vote and votes are tallied at the end of the epoch for reward calculation.

The other reward are the block reward which make up a less important part of the APY. Currently the fee system is very simple, users pay 5,000 lamports (0.000005 SOL) per signature on their transaction. When a validator produce a block, it earns 50% of the transaction fee times the number of transaction in the block. The other 50% are burnt.

To go further, here is the source article with in depth details.

What are the SLAs?

The full SLAs can be found in the broader Kiln services terms & conditions available here, which you contractually engage on when you sign an order form for a Kiln service.

Guaranteed rewards

  • Kiln guarantees 99% of achievable staking rewards.

Loss of original stake

  • Kiln will fully cover losses to the original stake that are solely due to its infrastructure or operations.

Performance

The detailed performance of Kiln's Solana validators can be viewed on the StakeWiz app

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