Staking Program

The Hedera staking program allows you to earn rewards by staking your HBAR to a network node. Staking helps secure the network by contributing to the node’s consensus weight (voting power).

​

Staking Nodes

All consensus nodes run by the Hedera Council distribute rewards to the accounts staked to them. You can find information about each node by visiting a Hedera network explorer or by querying the address book API. Nodes have a minimum stake and maximum stake, both configurable per node. The minimum stake is currently set to 0, meaning any amount of staked HBAR makes a node eligible for rewards. The maximum stake is a per-node value set by the network. Staked HBAR that exceeds it does not increase the proportion of rewards returned.

​

Lockup Period

There is no lock-up period when you stake your account. Your account’s entire balance is automatically staked to the selected node or account, and your HBAR remains liquid at all times. There is no “bonding” or “slashing.”

​

Staking Reward Account

The staking reward account (0.0.800) distributes rewards to eligible staked accounts. Its primary funding comes from the daily distribution from the Fee Collection Account (0.0.802). Anyone in the community can also contribute to the rewards pool by transferring HBAR into this account. This account has no keys; any HBAR transferred into it cannot be returned. The account must meet a minimum balance before rewards can be distributed. Once this threshold is met, rewards will continue to be paid out as long as there is a balance in the account.

​

Staking Rewards

To be eligible for rewards, your account must be staked for a minimum of one full staking period (24 hours), which begins and ends at midnight UTC. For a staked account to earn rewards, the following must be true:

• The staking reward account (0.0.800) must have met its initial threshold balance.
• The node the account is staked to must meet the minimum node stake threshold.
• The account must be staked for the entire 24-hour staking period.

​

Node Removal and Pending Rewards

Nodes are occasionally removed from the network address book, most commonly when transitional nodes are replaced by permanent ones. When this happens, staked accounts stop accruing new rewards, and accounts will not be able to claim the pending rewards that accrued while staked to the node that was removed. Rewards are paid out when your account balance changes (HBAR sent or received), when you update your staking settings, or when the account auto-renews. Rewards can also only be collected for up to 365 days back. If no payout has been triggered in over a year, earlier periods are dropped. Accounts with very little activity can accumulate pending rewards without realizing it, and if their node is removed, those rewards cannot be recovered.

​

Staking Reward Distribution

With the implementation of HIP-1259, the mechanism for handling fees and distributing rewards has been streamlined to improve network efficiency and simplify transaction records. Previously, transaction fees were immediately split and distributed to multiple accounts. The new system introduces the Fee Collection Account (0.0.802), a network-controlled account that consolidates all transaction fees. How it Works:

1. Collection: When a transaction is processed, the entire fee is transferred in a single payment to the Fee Collection Account (0.0.802).
2. Distribution: Once per day, at the end of each staking period, a single, large synthetic transaction distributes the accumulated fees from the 0.0.802 account to their appropriate destinations, including the Staking Rewards account (0.0.800).

​

Indirect Staking

Hedera offers a unique feature: indirect staking. If account A stakes to account B, and account B stakes to a node, the stake from both A and B increases the node’s consensus weight. However, the rewards for both accounts are paid to account B. An account can also optionally decline to earn rewards, though its balance will still contribute to the node’s stake. 📣 If you’re interested in checking out the wallets and exchanges supporting staking HBAR, head to the Stake HBAR page.