Powerledger’s Proof-of-Stake Energy Blockchain allows Powerledger to build and scale energy projects across the globe, processing 50,000+ energy transactions per second. To be part of securing Powerledger’s Energy Blockchain, stake your POWR allowing you to earn rewards whilst being apart of the renewable energy transition.
Watch the video below to learn how to stake your POWR, through delegation, on Powerledger's Proof-of-Stake Energy Blockchain.
Make sure to choose a Validator with low commission.
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Click the “Stake POWR” button on the Powerledger website - https://www.powerledger.io
Make sure to double check the URL to protect yourself from scams.
In order to stake, you will require:
1. An Ethereum wallet MetaMask with POWR and Eth (for gas)
2. A Phantom/Solflare wallet (Solana). SOL is not required.
Watch the "How to stake POWR" video above and follow the instructions step by step. If you are using a hardware wallet to stake, refer to the “Can I stake with a hardware wallet?” section in the FAQ.
When staking you will be asked to choose a validator to stake with from a drop down menu.
Validators offer different levels of performance and rate of commission that they charge delegated stakers.
When a validator experiences down time and are not securing the Powerledger Energy Blockchain, they will earn fewer rewards or may stop earning rewards all together, this will negatively effect any delegated staker that has staked with that validator.
For more information on the fees associated with staking read the "Are there fees?" section in the FAQ.
No, at this stage staking is only supported on desktop.
1. No minting. Staking on the Powerledger chain happens with the native token of the chain. This means there is no minting functionality that an attacker can use to increase their balance.
2. Permissioned chain. Powerledger is not a public chain, so it’s not possible for just anyone to push a transaction onto the chain. Additionally, the relayer that approves transactions on both chains is controlled by Powerledger. This makes the previous type of attack used on the Wormhole impossible. The complexity of the flaw that was exploited to pull off the Wormhole hack illustrates the sophistication of adversaries that smart contract developers must defend against. Being a permissioned chain reduces the risks of attacks by the public.
3. Withdrawal checks. Our smart contract checks the amount that was deposited and the amount of the rewards earned. It then validates the number of POWR being withdrawn, and will automatically stop if a malicious withdrawal is detected.
4. No pooled funds. Each stake can only be withdrawn by the address that deposited it. This prevents an attacker from draining bridged POWR.
5. Withdrawal delay. There is a 7-day delay between native tokens being withdrawn on the Powerledger blockchain and the ability to claim POWR from the staking contract, in order to allow for the staker to fully undelegate their staked POWR. We use this window of time to stop malicious activity before funds can be withdrawn.
There are two factors to consider: the energy efficiency of the blockchain and how renewable the energy that is powering the blockchain is. On the energy efficiency side, we believe we are well positioned to be one of the most energy efficient blockchains for the volume of transactions we process. This, of course, is primarily due to the Powerledger Energy Blockchain being a Proof-of-Stake blockchain based on Solana. On the type of energy used, it will depend on the energy used by Powerledger Energy Blockchain validators. Some will be based in countries where the grid energy already contains a high percentage of renewables, others less so. We are strongly encouraging everyone who wants to become a validator to source their energy from 100% renewable sources or to purchase Renewable Energy Certificates.
Staked POWR is locked up in an Ethereum contract that has successfully undergone multiple internal audits. The contract has also successfully passed an audit from an external auditor. We made this contract rigid in order to protect it from various vectors of attack. It contains a Java script component that uses a remote procedure call (RPC) to view locked up POWR and issue a corresponding amount of native tokens on the Powerledger chain to the user’s account. The link between the Ethereum chain account and the account on the Powerledger chain is stored in the Ethereum contract. The native tokens of the Powerledger chain are then staked using a program that is identical to Solana’s staking and has been tested by the Solana community for some time. The staking portal is one of the most streamlined that we’ve seen in the blockchain ecosystem. It allows users to connect Ethereum wallets (such as metamask), hardware wallets (such as Ledger Nano) and Solana wallets (such as Sollet or Phantom) all from the same page, and complete staking in just a few clicks. This design still requires our community to have knowledge on how to operate wallets and sign transactions, however, we have simplified the process as much as possible while maintaining custody.
Go to stake.powerledger.io and reconnect the same wallets (e.g. metamask and phantom/solflare) that you used to stake. Once connected, your stake and any rewards you accrued will appear alongside the undelegate button. The fee to undelegate is withdrawn in POWR (about 25 - 50 POWR) and is subtracted from the total POWR you staked. This fee is dependent on the current gas price so can fluctuate under heavy network conditions. Click the ‘undelegate’ button and confirm the transaction on metamask, the 7 day countdown will then appear. This waiting period is in place for additional security. You are not eligible to earn rewards during this period. After 7 days have passed, return to this page, reconnect the wallets and press the ‘withdraw’ button. This will ask you to approve a transaction from phantom/solflare first, then confirm the withdrawal transaction which will return your staked POWR and any accrued rewards. These will be deposited into the same Ethereum Wallet address that you staked with. There is also an applicable gas fee, paid in Eth. If you want to restake, you will need to use a different Ethereum wallet and phantom wallet; as the previous wallets cannot be reused. Please note that your stake compounds automatically, so unstaking and staking is not required to take advantage of compounding.
You are able to stake using a hardware wallet, by connecting it to both the metamask and phantom or Solflare wallets. Please note that you can only use a ledger or trezor wallet for your Ethereum account, but only ledger is supported as a Solana wallet in phantom/solflare.
Staking with hardware wallets
1. You must install the Ethereum applications on your hardware wallet (and the Solana application if you wish to use a ledger as your Solana wallet.
2. You must enable ‘blind signing’ and/or ‘contract interactions’ in the settings section of both the Ethereum and Solana applications on your hardware wallet prior to staking.
3. To add your hardware wallet account to MetaMask, open the Ethereum application on your hardware wallet and connect it to your computer. Then, open MetaMask and select ‘connect hardware wallet’ from the top right hand menu. Then select the wallet address you would like to use (this is the address that must contain the POWR you want to stake and some ETH for transaction fees.
4. To add your ledger wallet to Solflare or phantom, quit the Ethereum application and open the Solana application on your ledger wallet and press ‘connect hardware wallet’ from the phantom/Solflare menu to add it as a wallet.
5. With wallets now added to MetaMask (and phantom/Solflare if using a ledger) you can now press ‘connect to Ethereum’ and select your ledger wallet from the list, and then press ‘connect to Powerledger and connect your ledger wallet account through phantom/solflare.
6. To stake POWR using a hardware wallet, make sure your hardware wallet is unlocked and the Ethereum application is open. Then select an amount you want to stake and a validator that you want to stake. Then press deposit to process the transaction.
7. You will need to approve two transactions on your hardware wallet after pressing confirm on the MetaMask pop-up. The first, is to approve the contract to access your POWR, and the second is the deposit of the stake.
8. After your stake has finished depositing, you can now safely exit the page.
Unstaking with hardware wallets
To unstake your POWR and withdraw using a hardware wallet, follow these steps:
1. Reconnect the same two wallets you used to stake, through MetaMask and phantom/Solflare.
2. Make sure the Ethereum application is open on your hardware wallet, and then press ‘undelegate’ and a MetaMask window will open asking you to sign a message containing the current time. Press confirm on MetaMask and then confirm on your hardware wallet and the unstaking of your POWR will begin, and you can withdraw them after 7 days.
Withdrawing with hardware wallets
To withdraw your POWR, you must wait 7 days after undelegating them. Then you reconnect the two wallets you used to stake initially, through MetaMask and phantom/Solflare and follow these steps:
1. Open the Solana application on your ledger (if using one). If you are not using a ledger for phantom/Solflare you can skip this step (i.e. if you are using a trezor)
2. Select the ‘withdraw’ button and you will be asked to sign a transaction using phantom/Solflare - confirm this using your hardware wallet to initiate the withdrawal on the Powerledger Energy Blockchain, then you can quit Solana application on your ledger, if you are using one.
3. Open the Ethereum application on your hardware wallet, and a MetaMask window will pop up asking you to confirm your withdrawal transaction. Press confirm on MetaMask and then you will need to approve this transaction on your hardware wallet.
4. After the withdrawal transaction is processed, you will receive your stake and any accrued rewards.
The minimum amount of POWR that can be staked is 5000 POWR.
20 million POWR tokens will be made available as rewards over 4 years, approximately 5 million POWR tokens a year.
37,000 POWR tokens will be awarded every epoch, which runs for approximately 2 and half days and is shared in proportion to the amount that was staked.
Return to the staking portal and connect both wallets that you previously used when staking. You're rewards will be displayed.
Validators can charge a commission to delegated stakers who stake their POWR with their node. This commission can vary, from 0% to 100%, and Powerledger does not control this commission rate. The commission is subtracted from any rewards delegated stakers may accrue. If you are seeking to maximise your rewards, we recommend that you choose a validator with low commission.
The validator’s current rate of commission is displayed on the validator drop down menu on the staking page. Validators can change the commission every epoch, however we do require them to provide 2 week notice to the community of any commission increases.
To deposit and stake POWR, you will need to pay an ethereum transaction fee. To undelegate your stake, a fee is required to be paid (for the ethereum transaction) to apply your rewards on the ethereum side. This fee, paid in POWR, fluctuates depending on the ethereum gas price and is subtracted from your reward balance. To withdraw, you must send an ethereum transaction to withdraw your funds, which will incur another ethereum transaction fee.
Validators are entities responsible for forging blocks and approving transactions on the Powerledger Energy Blockchain. This involves operating hardware and running the blockchain code. In return for this, validators are rewarded with staking rewards.
Validators will earn rewards for their performance and will incur penalties for their non-performance. As such, we anticipate that professional validators and our existing energy industry partners will be the most interested.
To become a validator please email validator@powerledger.io. The Powerledger energy blockchain is currently a permissioned, consortium blockchain. Powerledger will only consider established and trusted entities to become validators at this stage
The POWR token will remain on Ethereum as an ERC-20 token and will be continued to be used for our existing clients. For stakers, you can withdraw your staked POWR and rewards back to the ethereum chain using the staking website
You will begin earning rewards after your warmup period has finished, and these will be updated at the end of every epoch (approximately 2 - 2.5 days). You can check the epoch progress and your reward balance on the staking website.
The 'warmup' period is the time is takes for your deposited stake to become active and begin earning rewards. The warmup time is a necessary security feature for staking, and can last up to one epoch length (around 2 - 2.5 days).
The 'cooldown' period is the time it takes for your deposited stake to become inactive and able to be withdrawn. The cooldown time is a necessary security feature for staking, and lasts 7 days.
An 'epoch' is a length of time for the existing validator leader schedule on the powerledger energy blockchain. An epoch is a set ammount of 'slots' which should be 400ms, but can vary slightly depending on network conditions. An epoch lasts approximately 2 - 2.5 days depending on latency. The current epoch progress can be viewed on the staking page.
Both an ethereum and a solana wallet are needed to operate this bridge. This is due to our non-custodial staking design to enhance security. This means that while your tokens are bridged and staked, they are under control of the keys from the solana-based wallet you provided. This prevents anyone from being able to steal or manage your bridged and staked tokens.
The validator you have delegated to can only be changed by undelegating, and redelegating, your stake to a different validator. This will require waiting through the cooldown time and creating new wallets to re-stake to a new validator.
The commission percent, shown next to each validator, is the percentage of staking rewards that the validator charges as a comission fee. For example, if a validator charges a 10% commission then 90% of the staking rewards will be allocated to you if you delegate to them, while 10% is retained to offset operating costs. Generally, you earn higher rewards from delegating to a low commission validator. Delegating to a 100% commission validator means you will be allocated none of the staking rewards.
Yes, the validators listed with 100% commission are real. They act as backbone validators to maintain the security and operation of the network while it matures. These nodes do not earn rewards and we do not recommend staking to them.
A maximum of 37,000 POWR tokens will be distributed at the end of every epoch. Distributed across all that have delegated. Rewards per epoch = 37000*(your stake) / (total staked) * (100 - commission%) / 100. Please note, the formula will provide an estimate on return because the rewards vary depending on network speed, and the number and duration of epochs. We anticipate and hope to see the rewards increase going forward as the network matures.
Each validator has a max of 5 million POWR that can be staked.
Powerledger will never ask you to disclose your seed phrase or private keys. Anyone contacting you on Telegram or other channels requesting those is an imposter. Never reveal the seed phrase or private keys you used when staking POWR. Never send your POWR to anyone to be staked on your behalf. Maintain ownership, security and privacy of your seed phrase and private keys at all times. If you lose or misplace the keys you used to stake, your staked POWR and rewards will be lost forever.
Prior to unstaking, we also recommend you review your Ethereum address used for staking and verify that it does not contain any surprise transactions, such as ETH withdrawals that you don’t remember making. If it does, it could mean you’ve accidentally leaked your private keys to your metamask wallet and hackers have access to your Ethereum address. Security of your seed phrase and private keys is your responsibility.
