Until transfers are enabled on August 18, you will only be able to stake and nominate DOTs if you participated in the Polkadot crowdsale.
This is Figment’ guide to staking and nominating Polkadot DOTs
Last updated: July 28, 2020
Note that unstaking takes 28 days. You will need:
- If you participated in the crowdsale, you’ll need control of the Ethereum address you used to purchase DOTs or control of an account that has claimed DOTs (optional)
- Chrome or Brave web browser
- The address of the validator(s) you are nominating
Figment validator addresses:
138QdRbUTB9eNY94Q4Mj5r39FkgMiyHCAy8UFMNA5gvtrfSB
12NEHw7QgwX61xGe9kahhVqMGCi6MY8fq6iBcwNJvj3Y7Nwj
148TcjWBiBQT4oYE6EGY4Q94242sFnaG4g1gogJhe2Yhiz8N
16a4Q1iudXznPBx3CzJRaxXtYNenzGAZXdBZZkc5KrNxLXFP
Guide to Staking and Nominating
Begin by using either the Chrome or Brave web browser, and install the Polkadot{.js} browser extension. Head to https://polkadot.js.org/apps and select ‘settings’ in the left vertical toolbar to ensure you are on the Polkadot network (since this web app can be used to connect to several other networks, such as Kusama).
There are different kinds of accounts, but you’ll only need to create a stash account by clicking ‘Accounts’ in the left menu bar. This new account will be used to store and control your funds. Ensure that you back up your seed phrase by writing it down on paper–anyone that controls this seed phrase will also control your funds.
If you haven’t already, you can claim your DOTs with this interface.
After you have claimed your DOTs, click ‘Staking’ in the menu bar on the left side, then ‘Account actions’ in the top menu. Click the ‘Nominator’ button on the right side.
There are two steps to nominating your validator(s). The first is to decide how many DOTs you’re prepared to stake and also where your rewards should go (if you prefer that they go to a different account).
The next step is to indicate the validator(s) you want to nominate. Currently you will need to search for the addresses below to find the Figment validators. (Nominating to all 4 of Figments validators below gives the best chance of rewards)
138QdRbUTB9eNY94Q4Mj5r39FkgMiyHCAy8UFMNA5gvtrfSB
12NEHw7QgwX61xGe9kahhVqMGCi6MY8fq6iBcwNJvj3Y7Nwj
148TcjWBiBQT4oYE6EGY4Q94242sFnaG4g1gogJhe2Yhiz8N
16a4Q1iudXznPBx3CzJRaxXtYNenzGAZXdBZZkc5KrNxLXFP
Then click the ‘Bond & Nominate’ button to nominate Figment.
Authorize the transaction by clicking the ‘Sign and Submit’ button.
Finally, you’ll receive a pop-up dialogue from the web browser extension. Enter your password and sign the transaction.
That’s it! Now you’ll need to wait until the validator is elected before you begin earning, which shouldn’t be long. Only the top 197 validators are active and earning, and we expect a total of 1000 validators to be active by November.
You can watch your payouts here: https://polkadot.js.org/apps/#/staking/payout
For reference, a nominator must send a claim transaction once every 84 days, but only one nominator has to do this for all nominators to get paid. Claims older than 84 days will fail. Figment will be responsible for executing Polkadot payouts each month, so you will not have to make any claims.
Hopefully you found this useful. Questions? Comments? Feedback is always welcome! I’m on Twitter
