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.
The Official Powerledger Telegram is a group for everyone to discuss and learn about POWR. Join thousands of members from around the world for advice support and to talk all things POWR.
Click the 'Stake POWR' button on the upper right corner of the homepage.
Make sure to double check the URL to protect yourself from unauthorised links and 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. You can view a list of validators and their performance at blockchain dashboard.
When a validator experiences down time and they are not securing the Powerledger Blockchain, they will earn fewer rewards or may stop earning rewards all together, this will potentially negatively affect the rewards earned from any delegated staker that has staked with that validator.
You can monitor validator’s performance using the “skip rate” metric on the blockchain dashboard, and unstake and redelegate if your validator is not performing well. 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 blockchain 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. 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 It then validates the number of POWR being withdrawn, and will automatically stop if a malicious withdrawal is detected.
3. No pooled funds. Each stake can only be withdrawn by the address that deposited it. This prevents an attacker from draining bridged POWR.
4. 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.
When considering the energy efficiency of the blockchain, there are two main things to consider: the efficiency of the blockchain itself, and how much of the energy used to power the blockchain comes from renewable sources.
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 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 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 to offset their emissions.
Staking is facilitated on the Powerledger blockchain through the use of the POWR ERC-20 token. POWR is locked up in an Ethereum contract that has successfully undergone multiple internal and external audits, and is rigid in order to protect it from various vectors of attack. When you deposit funds into the staking portal, you'll receive a matching amount of native tokens on the Powerledger blockchain in your account.
Here's how it works:
- The link between the Ethereum chain account and the account on the Powerledger blockchain is stored in the Ethereum contract.
- The native tokens of the Powerledger blockchain are then staked using a program that is identical to Solana’s staking. This program has been thoroughly tested and validated by the Solana community over time.
1. Go to staking webpage and reconnect the same wallets (e.g. metamask and phantom/solflare) that you used to stake. Once connected, your stake and any rewards you have earned will appear next to the ‘undelegate button’. To undelegate your stake, press the ‘undelegate button’. There is a network fee to undelegate that is withdrawn in POWR (about 25 - 50 POWR depending on Ethereum gas prices) and is subtracted from the total POWR you staked.
Once you click ‘undelegate’ and confirm the transaction, your stake will begin a cooldown until the end of the next epoch, which lasts up to 2.5 days.
2. After the current epoch has ended and your stake has finished delegating, you can return to staking webpage to unlock your stake and rewards on the Ethereum blockchain. This will start a 7 day withdrawal period which is in place for security purposes.
3. After 7 days have passed, return to the staking webpage, reconnect the wallets and press the ‘withdraw’ button. This will ask you to approve a transaction from metamask, which will return your staked POWR and any earned rewards. These will be deposited into the same Ethereum Wallet address that you staked with. Sending a withdraw transaction required a small amount of ETH to pay for the transaction fee, which varies depending on the current network congestion. Metamask will display the current transaction fee for you before you press accept.
4. If you want to restake, you will need to use a different Ethereum wallet and Solflare 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.
- 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.
2. 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.
- 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)
3. To add your ledger wallet to Solflare or phantom, quit the Ethereum application and open the Solana application on your ledger wallet. Then press ‘connect hardware wallet’ from the phantom/Solflare menu to add it as a wallet.
4. 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. Press ‘connect to Powerledger’ and connect your ledger wallet account through phantom/solflare.
5. 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.
6. 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.
7. 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’.This will begin the undelegate process and your stake will start cooldown. This stake cooldown process lasts until the end of the current epoch (up to 2.5 days).
3. After the cooldown period has finished, return to the staking portal and reconnect your wallets. There should be an unlock button, and pressing and confirming this will open a MetaMask window that requests 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. There is a withdrawal delay of 7 days, after which you can return to the page and withdraw the tokens.
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 Ethereum application on your hardware wallet and connect your wallets
2. Select the ‘withdraw’ button and after confirming, you will be asked to sign a transaction using phantom/Solflare - confirm this using your hardware wallet to initiate the withdrawal on the Powerledger Blockchain.
3. 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 2500 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 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.
Learn more about validation here.
You can find more information on becoming a validator and setup instructions here, or by emailling validator@powerledger.io for more information. The Powerledger blockchain is a public blockchain, and anybody is eligible to become a validator if they have a suitable validator setup. Arrange your initial stake and contact Powerledger to initiate the validator process.
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 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.
The Solana wallet is not used to perform any transactions on the Powerledger blockchain, but it is used to derive a deterministic stake account for the user. The Ethereum wallet is required as POWR is an ERC-20 token.
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.
Like holding any other blockchain assets, it is very important that the user securely stores their seed phrases for the wallets used to stake. Loss of the seed phrase or private keys of the accounts used to stake will make your stake inaccessible. If your seed phrase or private keys are leaked to the public or an attacker you could lose your stake and rewards. Powerledger recommends storing your seed phrase offline in a secure location.
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.
