Should I Stake my SOL?

If you own SOL, you should have it staked with a validator. Our validator. Here's why.

If you’re holding SOL in your wallet it's just waiting to be put to work. By staking your SOL, you can generate a high annual return. These rewards come in the form of additional SOL tokens, steadily growing your position over time. Instead of letting your SOL sit idle, staking allows you to passively accumulate more tokens. Over the long term, this compounding effect can make a big difference in your overall holdings, especially if you believe in Solana's growth.

But Staking SOL is more than earning a bonus on your investment — it's vital to Solana's decentralization and security. By staking SOL you contribute to the network’s resilience and governance. Delegating tokens to a validator resembles voting in a representative democracy, as it reflects trust in the validator's ability to maintain consistent uptime and vote on blocks quickly and accurately. By staking a validators, it makes it hard for any single, well-funded entity to manipulate the network for personal gain.

What does it mean to Stake a Validator?

Solana distributes staking rewards in the form of additional SOL each epoch. A validator’s staking rewards are based on the number of vote credits earned. Validators earn credits by correctly voting on blocks that become part of the chain. Validators who experience downtime or fail to vote on time earn fewer credits. A validator’s staking rewards are split among their stakers based on the size of their delegation. Validators can charge a commission as a percentage of the total inflation rewards issued to all their stakers. Commission fees are usually a single-digit percentage around 5%. InfiniteSOL charges 0% commission; our stakers enjoy the highest possible native yield. We do this because we aim to increase our total stake and improve the rewards for our stakers.

Solana epochs last roughly two days. The system issues staking rewards when a new epoch starts. This process is automatic; stakers will see their balance increase each epoch. When you stake SOL with a validator, you lock your tokens for the duration of the current epoch. If users deactivate their stake at the start of an epoch, they may face a cooldown period of up to two days before being able to withdraw it. The process can be almost instant if they withdraw as the epoch ends.

Where does the APY come from?

Annual Percentage Yield (APY) represents the annual compounded percentage return stakers would earn by staking at the current rate for an entire year. Several factors influence this rate, including the network's current rate of issuance, validator performance and uptime, the prevalence of users tipping validators, and the current staking rate (i.e., the proportion of SOL staked). Several sites list validators ranked by their APY, with StakeWiz being one of the most comprehensive.

Is Staking SOL Safe?

With native staking, stakers keep control and custody of their SOL at all times. If a validator goes offline or exhibits poor performance, stakers can freely unstake. Staking our validator leaves you in complete control of your SOL, with the exception that you will only be able to withdraw it at the end of the current epoch should you decide to stop receiving rewards.

Slashing is a penalty mechanism that reduces delegated stakes to discourage malicious or harmful behavior. Solana does not currently implement slashing, but it is under consideration and could be later introduced.

Finally, you should be careful in managing your private keys to prevent loss or theft. Typically financial fraud preys upon your cooperation in sharing information with the predators. Don't share anything but your public key with anyone. And don't click on any links sent to you via email or text. When connecting your wallet to an account (like InfiniteSOL), be careful to understand who you're allowing to connect. You should only allow it when you know the company you're connecting with.