<h2 class="wp-block-heading">What is Phala (PHA)?</h2>Phala Network is a privacy-preserving cloud computing service, which offers computing power comparable to existing cloud services and protects the privacy of managed programs. Based on TEE-Blockchain Hybrid Architecture, developers can deploy confidential smart contracts running inside the TEE Enclaves in the CPU. The token that powers the Phala network is PHA and it is exclusively used for trading, staking, nominating, paying transaction fees, and governance votes on the network. This tutorial will show you how to stake PHA tokens on the Phala network.&nbsp;<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Prerequisites</h2><h3 class="wp-block-heading">Where to buy Phala (PHA)</h3>You can get PHA tokens at a cryptocurrency exchange or within select wallets. You should always do your own research when selecting a reputable cryptocurrency exchange. For best security, it is not recommended to leave your tokens on an exchange, but transfer them to your non-custodial or cold/hardware wallet after procuring them. You can buy PHA here:<ul><li><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.coingecko.com/en/exchanges/binance">Binance</a></li><li><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.coingecko.com/en/exchanges/uniswap_v2">Uniswap V2</a></li><li><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.coingecko.com/en/exchanges/okx">OKx</a></li><li><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.coingecko.com/en/exchanges/kraken">Kraken</a></li><li><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.coingecko.com/en/exchanges/kucoin">Kucoin</a></li></ul><h3 class="wp-block-heading">Phala (PHA) wallets</h3>Phala has a variety of non-custodial wallets for you to choose from. We recommend that you use a hardware wallet such as Ledger otherwise we suggest using Talisman wallet because it has the best UX and is well respected in the Phala and Kusama community. Compatible wallets include:<ul><li><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.subwallet.app/">Subwallet</a></li><li><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.talisman.xyz/">Talisman</a></li><li><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://polkadot.js.org/apps/#/accounts">Polkadot.js</a></li><li><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://metamask.io/">Metamask (ERC-20 PHA)</a></li></ul><h2 class="wp-block-heading">How do I choose Phala Staking Pools?</h2>Please refer to the FAQ section titled ‘How do I choose Phala pools’ on <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.stakingrewards.com/earn/phala-network/">this page</a> when selecting Phala pools. Also, you may want to utilize our criteria for verifying providers through the Staking <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://docs.stakingrewards.com/verified-provider-program/"><a target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Rewards Verified Staking Provider (VSP) Program</a></a>.<h2 class="wp-block-heading">How Staking Rewards for Phala (PHA) are Generated</h2>Learn how rewards are generated in the FAQ section titled ‘How are the staking rewards generated?’ <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.stakingrewards.com/earn/phala-network/">here</a>.<h2 class="wp-block-heading">How to stake Phala (PHA)</h2>There are two ways to stake your PHA on the Staking Portal:1. Delegate to a StakePoolPhala provides a delegation mechanism that allows delegators to stake to workers they do not control and earn rewards. This mechanism is enabled by a feature we call the StakePool. Overall, delegation incentivizes high-quality compute providers to generate consistent and reliable rewards for their delegators. This in turn ensures the stability of the compute provided.2. Delegate to a VaultA ‘Vault’ is a function designed for delegation proxy. Vaults are pools of funds with an associated strategy that aims to maximize returns on the assets they hold.StakePools, which are overseen by pool operators, enables users to pool their tokens to increase their chances of earning block rewards. However, for novice delegators, it is often difficult to identify high-quality StakePools, as this process is dependent upon utilizing complex indicators such as creation time, past performance, APR, etc.The ‘quality’ of a StakePool can be determined by its performance in rewarding its delegators consistently. Therefore, if delegators unknowingly select a ‘bad’ StakePool, they’re at risk of receiving decreased rewards or no rewards. Minimizing the probability of this occurring is crucial to maintaining community confidence and avoiding risks of network instability.Vaults increase the probability of high-performance workers being chosen as experienced agents are incentivized to assist with the process of StakePool selection.This tutorial will walk you through BOTH methods.&nbsp;<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Step 1: Make sure you have a Talisman wallet</h3>As a popular wallet in the Polkadot/Kusama ecosystem, Talisman offers users the ability to stake tokens, access blockchain apps, and manage multiple tokens in one wallet. Install the <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/talisman-polkadot-wallet/fijngjgcjhjmmpcmkeiomlglpeiijkld">Talisman browser extension</a> and deposit your tokens into this wallet before continuing onto step 2.<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Step 2: Use SubBridge to bridge your ERC-20 Phala to Khala</h3>To start staking, you need to bridge your ERC-20 PHA tokens into KHA tokens. A reminder that PHA circulates in three forms: on Ethereum, Khala (Kusama), and Phala (Polkadot). To bridge your ERC-20 PHA to KHA tokens, follow the steps below:<ul><li>Go to <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://subbridge.io/">SubBridge</a> and connect your Metamask wallet that is holding your ERC-20 PHA</li><li>Select ‘Ethereum’ in the ‘from’ tab and ‘Khala’ in the ‘to’ tab</li><li>Enter the amount of PHA you want to bridge</li><li>Input your ‘Destination’ account, this will be your KHALA address on your Talisman wallet</li><li>Sign the transaction</li></ul><figure class="wp-block-image"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/HfTPZQfkyyVuAW_83NBqAJLQgEgFaSdfI6IFibbxOfi-VuECZjQgmopcZlGwjk8oIqB9oxgXR7rXicyfRYVIWtHqegFoPkLlmkGgPL9EE3bnNspq339QJm84sJoGysqJKntIZZj2YmkoV52gnoLniOg" alt="" decoding="async"></figure>Please note: You will need to pay an Ethereum gas fee for this transaction. Please ensure you have enough ETH to cover this fee and remember that you will need to pay it again once you bridge back to ERC-20 PHA when you are done staking.<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Step 3: Go to the Phala staking portal and choose a Staking Pool or Vault</h3>Connect your wallet to the <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://app.phala.network/">Phala Staking Portal</a> and make sure you are on the KHALA network. We recommend choosing staking pools from our Verified Staking Provider (VSP) Program. VSP validators have a blue tick on their logo <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.stakingrewards.com/earn/phala-network/">here</a>.&nbsp;<figure class="wp-block-image"><img src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/ApUZAInvU5ibKYp9rBOUeuV99TDC4lqMsvjCZpwq5Nd1SqrImIg8xvJIA7HenYt7FmCpT4OlhOxpTnFEGKXLVGU_jIW4I0yeFUvO-V6_zgMzoCuUXZALS7w0ys9KmkobiO8JwJbWIqmgtCI3arvZOx4" alt="" decoding="async"></figure>If you are unsure of how to choose a validator, please see the FAQ section named ‘How do I choose Phala Staking Pools?’ above this one to help you decide. Follow the steps below to start staking:Using a StakePool<ul><li>To join a staking pool, navigate to the ‘Delegate’ tab and click ‘Delegate’.</li><li>Check the ‘Verified’ box to only filter for Verified Staking Pools</li><li>Click on the ‘StakePool’ filter</li><li>Click on the Staking Pool you have chosen</li><li>It will open a new tab that will take you to their page.</li></ul>&nbsp;<figure class="wp-block-image"><img src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/wKYA87mF4mc0a1WrAXEYKwRwrkS_ZtP6IdYfA0uHVi1BDCbfZ0_XoklcTQPgWeaSzGAdlNI0o96XxEnYOgvwFbwrXfSFro4wto7QtdmNzORrnJy319Qdid6KTV9B4rDLVm4s0isXkf_3_Zz_lY1Pq9E" alt="" decoding="async"></figure>Using a Vault<ul><li>To join a staking pool, navigate to the ‘Delegate’ tab and click ‘Delegate’.</li><li>Check the ‘Verified’ box to only filter for Verified Staking Pools</li><li>Click on the ‘Vault’ filter</li><li>Click on the Staking Pool you have chosen</li><li>It will open a new tab that will take you to their page.</li></ul>&nbsp;<figure class="wp-block-image"><img src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/SyyGgq02xhhF4MO5mu3IAxd0o6ODLsBCvPDeYFCHT2mWH38e4jDStPPtTWZRNi4x7K9UvgW_CQACf0bPWAPqz-nwJdJTTtuWyaKJuXZVV4xLS_m5pvUqb55G89xT0jiSal3U_n6oiGBMPrJa_WvR9MM" alt="" decoding="async"></figure>Please Note:<ul><li>At present, Slashing is not yet enabled on the Khala Network, however, it will be at some point in the future. For now, you can always get back as much PHA as you delegate. Once Slashing is enabled this will no longer be guaranteed.</li><li>It may take up to 14 days to withdraw your PHA from a Vault or StakePool.</li><li>The actual rewards obtained may not be as high as the APR shown at the time of delegation. Current performance does not predict future returns.</li></ul><h3 class="wp-block-heading">Step 4: Finalize the transaction&nbsp;</h3>Enter the amount of PHA you want to stake, press confirm and approve the transaction.&nbsp;<ul><li>Next, enter the number of tokens you’d like to stake and click ‘Delegate. Take note of the transaction fees.</li><li>After the transaction completes, go to ‘My Delegation’ to see an overview of your delegated PHA.</li></ul><figure class="wp-block-image"><img src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/ErnbEEXpU6qrEdLgUm-IafTWPuf6Sv99F13cxrDKmdQ1J-J0Pq8dtmF_rKnH5ted6Ql0sl3Edf2TPHqxPRa1jdA9Orps7tT02JQGPMRb1v-GUXjR6JgKLgeT2etsELBQBsZEixvr8AFzUwDMr0jtr2Q" alt="" decoding="async"></figure>Please Note:&nbsp;<ul><li>After you delegate to a StakePool or Vault, your tokens will be transferred and locked. As proof of the delegation, you receive a Delegation NFT in return. The Delegation NFT records its owner, the StakePool where the delegation is located, and the share of the corresponding StakePool.&nbsp;</li><li>Your Delegation NFT is transferable, and you can also sell it to others on <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.phalaworld.com/">PhalaWorld’s NFT platform.</a></li><li>When your Delegation NFT is transferred or sold to someone else, the delegated PHA will no longer belong to you, because you have lost the certificate to withdraw it back from the corresponding StakePool or Vault.</li></ul>Congratulations! You have now staked your PHA tokens and will start earning those juicy staking rewards.&nbsp;<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Step 5: Track your staking portfolio</h3><ul><li>Track your Phala staking rewards on the ‘My Delegation’ page on the <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://app.phala.network/delegate/my-delegation">Phala staking dashboard</a></li><li>Monitor <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://forum.phala.network/c/governance/51">governance proposals on Phala network</a> that may impact the staking mechanism</li><li>Track the current and historical reward rates, validator count, number of unique Phala staking wallets, and staking ratio of the Phala network by visiting the <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.stakingrewards.com/earn/phala-network/">Phala asset page</a>. To make better staking decisions, it’s essential to understand these relevant data points. To learn how these data points could impact your staking rewards, please read more in the FAQ sections named ‘How do I choose Phala pooled’ and ‘How are the rewards generated’ on the <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.stakingrewards.com/earn/phala-network/">Phala asset page.</a></li></ul><h3 class="wp-block-heading">Step 6: How to unstake Phala (PHA)?</h3>To unstake your PHA tokens, follow the steps below:&nbsp;<ul><li>Go to ‘My Dashboard’ on the Staking dApp</li><li>Click the ‘Three dots’&nbsp;</li><li>Click ‘Withdraw’</li><li>Click ‘All’</li><li>Click ‘Submit’ and sign the transaction &nbsp;</li></ul><figure class="wp-block-image"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/3ObqnUHn9bBDFNWKn5Ae0M3RZC41WXpDTmZ9sz_QsUKmwo3lxRGQuPK8KQhqK-1co4RDtMFs8sib41tE3w_v-0xlSpBEyrw9KxLf09yI7pOk5P5ohKxwsNrsybOdq6AwdwjFmMhBHkdEHjzM0-C2FL8" alt="" decoding="async"></figure>Please Note:&nbsp;<ul><li>As a delegator (staker), you can always withdraw (undelegate) some stake on the Phala App.</li><li>If there are enough free delegations in the stakepool, your withdrawal request will be completed in real-time. If the free delegation is insufficient, a withdrawal queue will be generated.</li><li>The pool owner needs to add enough free delegation within seven days after the withdrawal queue is generated. Anyone can manually trigger a reclaim operation at any time and use the free delegation in the stakepool to eliminate the withdraw queue.</li><li>If the free delegation is still insufficient after seven days, and the existing releasing stake is also insufficient to afford the withdrawal, the stakepool will be forced to stop after a new reclaim operation, and all active workers will enter a cooling-down period for 7 days. When the cooling down countdown of the workers is over, any delegator can reclaim the delegations from the stakepool, take out the delegation which was staked into the workers, and use it to eliminate the withdrawal queue of the pool.</li><li>You can also sell your NFT on PhalaWorld. When your Delegation NFT is transferred or sold to someone else, the delegated PHA will no longer belong to you, because you have lost the certificate to withdraw it back from the corresponding StakePool or Vault.</li></ul><h2 class="wp-block-heading">Maximizing Staked PHA</h2>Now that you have staked your PHA, you have three options which can be used to change your position. These options appear on the <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://app.phala.network/delegate/my-delegation">Phala Staking Portal</a>. The options are:Stake moreYou can increase your bond in the pool by delegating more PHA.&nbsp;UnstakeAs a delegator (staker), you can always withdraw (undelegate) some stake on the Phala App.ReClaim rewardThe last thing people need to take care about is the “releasing stake” in a pool. It means some miners are stopped, in the Cool Down (CD) state. The CD state takes 7 days. When the CD time is reached, someone needs to trigger the release of the stake, and put it back to “Ready” state. For performance considerations, it’s not done automatically. You will rarely be the one having to ‘Reclaim’ rewards if you have chosen a good staking pool.<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Conclusion</h2>Staking is essential to Proof-of-Stake blockchains and comes with many benefits for investors and the network:<ul><li>Investors earn yield from token emissions and/or transaction fees.</li><li>Stakers become eligible for airdrops as many networks prioritize granting these benefits to them.</li><li>Staking helps to secure the network</li><li>Staking from multiple participants helps decentralize the network</li><li>Stakers can participate in governance, as many PoS networks allocate governance rights based on the amount of tokens staked.</li></ul>Congratulations! You are now not only getting the most out of your investment with compounded returns. YOU are also (in-)directly contributing to the decentralization, and the network security of Phala and thus contributing to the long-term success of your investment! Phala needs active stakers like you to become successful long-term.&nbsp;Now share the tutorial with your friends so they can get to start staking as well!Lastly, don’t forget to check out the <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.stakingrewards.com/earn/phala-network/">Phala (PHA) asset page</a> for more insights into staking PHA, and drop us a <a href="mailto:content@stakingrewards.com" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">message</a> if you found this tutorial useful. Happy staking!

How to Stake Phala (PHA)

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