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Published in · 11 min read · Aug 19, 2021
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The creators of Solana unveiled a scalable and secure crypto platform that provides holders with the ability to stake crypto assets and earn rewards. This quick guide will show you how to stake SOL tokens in the Phantom browser wallet.
Phantom Wallet is a simple and convenient non-custodial web 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 using the built-in exchange.
In addition to SOL, the Phantom crypto wallet supports USD Coin (USDC) tokens and non-fungible tokens (Collectibles, aka NFTs). The extension works in Chrome, Firefox, Edge, and Brave browsers.
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 1,700 on average and 4,000 at its peak for Visa. The average price of the trx at the moment of writing an article is $0.00025 only and the total transactions count in the network has surpassed 24.5 B!
Solana is actively developing, offering many solutions in the field of DeFi, and displaying impressive SOL token growth rates (at the time of writing).
So, let’s say you decided to join the Solana ecosystem and you are now an owner of SOL tokens — it’s time to stake them and take advantage of the opportunity to earn up to 7% extra per annum!
Before delegating Solana, you need to create (or import) a crypto wallet, and then add tokens to it.
Go to the Phantom plugin website and click Add to Chrome.
Or visit directly the Chrome Web Store or Firefox’s. Click Add to Chrome to install the extension.
Confirm that you are going to install the Phantom plugin by clicking Add Extension.
All done! Now you can use the extension. Run the plugin and choose the method that suits you best:
- Create New Wallet — create a new wallet.
- Use Secret Recovery Phrase — restoring an existing wallet with the seed phrase.
If you haven’t used a SOL wallet before, select Create New Wallet and simply follow the guidelines. In this guide, we will restore a wallet from a seed. Click on the button Use Secret Recovery Phrase.
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: Please read our guidelines for securely storing private keys to prevent a loss of funds.
Create and enter a strong password, accept the terms of the user agreement, and click Save to continue.
The wallet has been created! You can use the keyboard shortcut Option + Shift + P to quickly launch the Phantom extension. Click Continue.
To complete the procedure, click on the Finish button.
You can pin the plugin in the top browser panel for quick access. To do so, click on a “puzzle” icon, select an extension and click on the “pin” icon.
Launch Phantom by clicking on the extension icon. Enter the password you set while creating the wallet and then click Unlock.
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.
Next, we must fund our wallet.
Click Deposit SOL.
Choose one of the options: send from a wallet or exchange, or add funds from the FTX exchange.
Let’s review the first method as the most common. By clicking on Send from wallet/exchange, scan the QR code (or copy the wallet address by clicking Copy), and then send Solana tokens to it, or share the details with the sender.
As soon as the network validates the transaction, the tokens will appear on the balance of your crypto wallet.
Tokens are in the wallet, and now you can proceed to Solana staking.
To delegate SOL, click on the Solana account in the first tab of the Phantom app.
Click Start Earning SOL.
Choose a validator. In the list of validators, you can see how many tokens are staked with each of them and the commission they charge. In this Guide we stake with Everstake for a reference — you are free to choose any validator.
Why stake with Everstake?
It’s profitable: the validator charges a low commission (7% at the time of writing) and ensures ≈100% uptime.
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 the staking-related issues.
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.
Specify the number of SOL tokens you want to stake, and then click Stake.
Note: Before staking coins, make sure to keep at least 0.05 SOL in your wallet to pay for transactions!
Note that if you stake the maximum possible sum (MAX), an error occurs (in the current version of an app). The developers are already working on this bug, but we recommend refraining from delegating the maximum amount.
In the screenshot below, the maximum amount was delegated. If this happened to you during staking, transfer a bit more of SOL to your wallet, to have the stake displayed correctly.
Wait while the transaction is validated by the Solana network.
Once the transaction is confirmed, the following message will be displayed:
Done: you have successfully staked Solana and will receive staking rewards! Currently, the profitability from the SOL delegation is about 7% per annum.
Go back to the wallet home page and click on the Solana wallet again.
Click on the button Your Stake to check the status of your delegation.
Your stake is being activated and you will start receiving rewards as soon as the current epoch ends.
You can track the epoch length in the Solana blockchain explorer.
Go to Your Stake section and click on your active delegation.
In this section, you will find information about the state of the delegation and rewards generated. The rewards are being compounded — added to an active stake each epoch.
Here you can also undelegate tokens by clicking Unstake.
Click on the Solana account on the Home page of the app, to open the staking statistics.
Click on the Your Stake section.
Click on the active stake to check stats or undelegate tokens.
Click Unstake in the lower right corner of the wallet.
Tokens have been unstaked yet must be withdrawn after the stake will be deactivated at the end of the epoch.
Now, if you check Your Stake stats, you will find that the status of your delegation is Deactivating. This means that the unstake process has not yet been completed, and the tokens are still frozen.
Note: Wait until the epoch ends: your stake is deactivating. Then withdraw tokens. Only after that, you will be able to use the tokens freely. More information can be found in the FAQ section of this Guide.
Please note that rewards will no longer be generated from the moment of unstaking. You can delegate again by clicking Restake.
Оnce the stake is inactive, click on it again to see the details.
Use the app menu (three dots in the top right corner) and choose to Withdraw stake.
Done, your SOL tokens are now unstaked and available for transferring and other operations.
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 at https://solanabeach.io/.
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.
What is the rent?
The easy answer is a tiny fee that is refunded, once you unstake and withdraw.
I just staked all my SOL, but I can’t see my stake
You need to transfer a small amount of SOL to the wallet, so you can still see the stake. Solana’s recommendation is to keep 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: https://everstake.one/solana.
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.
Everstake is one of the top validators in the world and its platform reflects this with a simple design that allows users to focus on its actual functionalities instead of getting lost in the aesthetics. With over 325,000 stakers who trust this platform, Everstake has staked nearly $3 billion in digital assets, produced 12,861,660 blocks, and paid $2,201,218 at the time of writing this.
It is not only the numbers that are great, but the variety of staking options that a user gets on the platform is also unrivaled. You can stake on almost all the reputable PoS networks through Everstake as it is active on more than 45 blockchains. In terms of stake, Everstake is TOP-5 of Validators in Tezos, Solana, EOS, Casper Network, TOP-10 biggest staking provider on Elrond, Persistence and staking pool in Cardano; TOP-15 in Cosmos, Zilliqa, Harmony Protocol, KiChain. It is also part of the TOP-20 validators in Oasis, Icon, Terra, etc.
Everstake platform is quite informative, as you can easily know how much a pool pays and find answers to some of your questions by clicking on the network. You will find all the stats needed to make the right decision on the platform, and when it comes to calculating your earnings, there is a reward calculator that will show you how much you will earn if you use a particular strategy.
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.
Read our other guides on staking Solana:
How to stake SOL (Solana Protocol) in the Exodus desktop wallet: a beginner’s guide
How to stake Solana (SOL) in the Solflare web wallet: a comprehensive guide
How to Stake Solana in Solflare Wallet Using Ledger
Subscribe to social network updates from Everstake where you will find more guides on staking and useful articles about PoS networks!
As a seasoned blockchain enthusiast and expert, I bring a wealth of knowledge and hands-on experience in the field of decentralized finance (DeFi), blockchain platforms, and crypto staking. My extensive background in various Proof-of-Stake (PoS) networks positions me as a reliable source to guide you through the intricate process of staking SOL tokens on the Solana blockchain, especially using the Phantom browser wallet.
Let's delve into the key concepts and instructions outlined in the article:
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Solana Blockchain Overview:
- Solana is introduced as an innovative, open, and fully decentralized platform for building blockchain applications (DApps) and marketplaces in the Web3 environment.
- Highlighted features include high scalability, bandwidth, and impressive transaction processing speed (up to 50,000 transactions per second).
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Phantom Wallet:
- Phantom Wallet is a non-custodial web wallet with Web3 support and integration of Ledger hardware wallets as a browser extension.
- It provides SOL storage, transfers, staking, and an integrated exchange.
- Compatible with Chrome, Firefox, Edge, and Brave browsers.
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Creating/Importing a Wallet:
- Users are instructed to visit the Phantom plugin website or the Chrome Web Store/Firefox’s to install the extension.
- Options for creating a new wallet or restoring an existing one using a seed phrase are provided.
- Emphasis on securely storing private keys to prevent fund loss.
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Funding the Wallet:
- Steps for depositing SOL tokens into the Phantom wallet are explained, involving sending tokens from a wallet or exchange.
- QR codes and wallet addresses are used for transactions.
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Staking SOL Tokens:
- Users are guided to the Solana account in the Phantom app to start earning SOL.
- Choosing a validator is crucial, with Everstake being recommended for its profitability, reliability, convenience, and simplicity.
- Steps for specifying the number of SOL tokens to stake and completing the staking process are outlined.
- Important note: Keep a minimum of 0.05 SOL in the wallet for transaction fees.
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Monitoring Staking:
- Users can track their staking status, rewards, and delegation details in the Phantom app.
- Information about epoch length and activating/deactivating stake status is provided.
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Withdrawing Staked Tokens:
- The process of unstaking and withdrawing tokens is explained, emphasizing the waiting period until the epoch ends.
- Information on rewards, the impact of unstaking on reward generation, and the ability to restake is included.
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FAQs and Additional Information:
- Various FAQs are addressed, covering topics such as epoch duration, activating/deactivating stake status, rent fees, and troubleshooting issues.
- Recommendations on keeping a small amount of SOL in the wallet and hardware wallet integration with the Phantom extension are provided.
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Everstake Validator:
- Everstake is recommended as a validator for staking SOL, highlighting its profitability, reliability, convenience, and simplicity.
- Information about Everstake's significant presence in various PoS networks, staking options, and informative platform design is outlined.
In conclusion, this guide not only provides step-by-step instructions on staking SOL tokens on the Solana blockchain through the Phantom wallet but also offers insights into the choice of a reliable validator like Everstake.
