- 1
Open the Staking tab
In Eternl, open your wallet and click the 'Staking' tab. Cardano staking is non-custodial — your ADA never leaves your wallet and never gets locked up. You can spend or transfer at any time while still earning rewards.
- 2
Browse Cardano stake pools
Eternl shows a searchable list of every registered Cardano stake pool with live saturation, ROA, fees, pledge and blocks produced. You can also paste a pool ID or ticker directly if you already know which pool you want to delegate to.
- 3
Pick a good stake pool
Aim for a pool below 100% saturation with a fixed fee of ~340 ADA, a margin of 0–2%, meaningful pledge and a consistent block production history. Avoid multi-pool operators to keep Cardano decentralized — a single small-to-mid pool that produces blocks every epoch is ideal.
- 4
Confirm delegation
Click 'Delegate', review the pool details, and confirm with your spending password (or your hardware wallet if you use Ledger or Trezor). Delegation costs a one-time 2 ADA deposit that is refunded when you un-delegate, plus a small network fee (~0.17 ADA).
- 5
Wait for rewards
Cardano epochs last about 5 days. Your delegation becomes active at the start of the next epoch, and the first rewards land 15–20 days later. From then on you earn ADA every 5 days automatically — rewards compound in the same wallet without you doing anything.
Frequently asked questions
- Is ADA locked when I stake with Eternl?
- No. Cardano staking never locks your funds. You can send, swap or move your ADA at any time while still earning rewards.
- How much can I earn staking ADA?
- Cardano staking yields around 3–5% APY depending on the pool and epoch. Rewards are paid in ADA every epoch (~5 days) and compound automatically.
- Can I stake to more than one pool from Eternl?
- Yes. Eternl supports multi-delegation via multiple stake accounts in the same wallet, which is rare among Cardano wallets.
Cardano staking is non-custodial and never locks your ADA.