---
title: "How to Stake and Unstake $XRD"
url: "https://radix.wiki/contents/resources/how-to-stake-and-unstake-xrd"
updated: 2026-10-15
last_verified: 2026-10-15
license: CC-BY-4.0
license_url: "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"
version: "1.0.0"
---

# How to Stake and Unstake $XRD

| Staking at a glance |  |
| --- | --- |
| Where | [Radix Dashboard](https://dashboard.radixscan.io/network-staking), signed in the [Radix Wallet](https://www.radixdlt.com/wallet) |
| Minimum stake | None set by the protocol |
| You receive | [Liquid stake units](/contents/tech/core-concepts/liquid-stake-units) (LSUs), one token per validator |
| Rewards | Every epoch (about 5 minutes), compounding inside the LSU |
| Unstaking delay | 2,016 epochs, about 7 days |
| Fee rise notice | 4,032 epochs, about 14 days |
| Active set | Top 100 validators by stake |
| Slashing | None |

**Staking XRD** means delegating it to one of the validators that run the Radix network, in return for a share of the roughly 300m XRD the protocol mints each year. You choose validators on the [Radix Dashboard](https://dashboard.radixscan.io/network-staking), sign the transaction in the [Radix Wallet](https://www.radixdlt.com/wallet), and receive [liquid stake units](/contents/tech/core-concepts/liquid-stake-units) (LSUs) that rise in value as rewards arrive. Unstaking swaps the LSUs for a stake claim NFT, a token that can be exchanged for the XRD once a delay of about 7 days has passed.

## What do you need before you stake $XRD?

You need the [Radix Wallet](https://www.radixdlt.com/wallet), the official mobile app for iOS and Android, with the $XRD in one of its accounts, and a connection between that wallet and the Radix Dashboard. On a computer the connection runs through the Radix Connector browser extension, which you link to the wallet by scanning the QR code the extension shows from Linked Connectors in the wallet's settings. On a phone, the Dashboard opens the wallet directly.

The Dashboard has been hosted by [RadixScan](/ecosystem/radixscan) at [dashboard.radixscan.io](https://dashboard.radixscan.io/network-staking) since July 2026, after the Radix Foundation moved to maintenance mode; the old address, dashboard.radixdlt.com, redirects there. $XRD held on an exchange has to be withdrawn to a wallet account before it can be staked this way.

The protocol sets no minimum stake: the only check the [validator component](https://github.com/radixdlt/radixdlt-scrypto/blob/main/radix-engine/src/blueprints/consensus_manager/validator.rs) makes is whether its owner has closed it to delegated stake. Leave some $XRD unstaked, because $XRD is the only token that pays network fees, and unstaking and claiming are each a transaction with a fee of their own.

## How do you stake $XRD?

1. Open the [Network Staking](https://dashboard.radixscan.io/network-staking) page of the Dashboard, click **Connect**, and approve the request in the Radix Wallet to share the accounts holding your $XRD.
2. Select one or more validators from the list, then click **Stake to Selected**.
3. In the **Add Stake** panel, choose the account to stake from and enter the amount. With several validators selected, a switch splits the amount equally between them, or you can enter each amount yourself.
4. Confirm. The Dashboard sends the transaction to the Radix Wallet, which shows the $XRD leaving the account and the validator's LSUs arriving. Slide to sign.

The stake then appears under **Your Stakes** on the Dashboard and in the account's **Staking** view in the wallet. The Radix [Knowledge Base](https://www.radixdlt.com/articles-learn/how-to-stake-and-unstake-xrd) gives the same steps with screenshots.

## How do you choose a validator?

Check four things on the Dashboard's validator list: whether the validator is in the active set, its fee, its uptime and its share of total stake. Only the 100 validators with the most stake take part in consensus in an epoch and earn emissions, so a stake with a validator below that line earns nothing until the validator climbs back into it.

- **Fee.** A validator keeps between 0 and 100% of the rewards its stake earns. A rise takes effect 4,032 epochs, about 14 days, after the validator queues it ([protocol configuration](https://github.com/radixdlt/radixdlt-scrypto/blob/main/radix-transaction-scenarios/generated-protocol-updates/cuttlefish/receipts/00-00-06--cuttlefish-update-number-of-min-rounds-per-epoch.txt)), which gives delegators time to move. Two validators queued rises to 50% in the [week to 11 October 2026](/blog/week-in-review-2026-10-11), and the [Validator Nodes](/contents/tech/core-concepts/validator-nodes) article explains why the fee a validator stores can differ from the fee it charges.
- **Uptime.** A validator that [misses too many consensus rounds](https://www.radixdlt.com/articles-learn/what-happens-if-a-validator-node-misses-many-consensus-rounds) loses that epoch's rewards, and its delegators lose them with it.
- **Share of stake.** The Dashboard flags any validator holding more than 4% of all staked $XRD and recommends staking with smaller ones. Stake piled on a few validators makes it easier for a few operators to stall or control consensus.

Splitting a stake across several validators limits what one validator going offline or raising its fee can cost you. The Knowledge Base has a longer [guide to choosing validators](https://www.radixdlt.com/articles-learn/how-should-i-choose-validators-to-stake-to).

## When do staking rewards arrive?

Rewards arrive every epoch, about every 5 minutes, and need no claiming. The validator adds them to its stake pool rather than paying them out, so each LSU redeems for a little more $XRD after every epoch and the rewards compound on their own. On 15 October 2026 the Dashboard estimated an annual return of about 6.2% for validators charging no fee; a validator's fee comes out of that figure.

## How do you unstake $XRD?

1. On the Dashboard, under **Your Stakes**, select the validator you want to leave.
2. Click **Request Unstake** and enter the amount.
3. Sign in the Radix Wallet. The LSUs leave the account and a stake claim NFT arrives in their place, recording the amount of $XRD and the epoch it unlocks.

The stake stops earning from the epoch after the request.

## How long does unstaking take?

Unstaking takes 2,016 epochs, about 7 days, for every validator; the protocol sets the delay and no validator can shorten it ([protocol configuration](https://github.com/radixdlt/radixdlt-scrypto/blob/main/radix-transaction-scenarios/generated-protocol-updates/cuttlefish/receipts/00-00-06--cuttlefish-update-number-of-min-rounds-per-epoch.txt), [Knowledge Base](https://www.radixdlt.com/articles-learn/how-long-does-it-take-to-convert-lsus-to-xrd-and-unstake)). The wallet counts down on the claim NFT, for example "Ready to Claim in 3 days or less".

The only faster way out is to sell the LSUs instead of unstaking them. They are ordinary tokens, so a buyer willing to wait out the delay can pay $XRD for them now, at a discount. [Liquify](/ecosystem/liquify) was built as a market for exactly this, though it has not filled an order since 24 July 2026.

## How do you claim unstaked $XRD?

Once the delay has passed you claim the $XRD with a transaction of your own; it does not arrive by itself. In the Radix Wallet, open the account, go to its **Staking** view, where the amount shows under **Ready to Claim**, tap **Claim** and sign. The Dashboard offers the same through a **Ready to Claim** button on the validator under Your Stakes. The claim NFT goes back to the validator and the $XRD is deposited in the account.

## Can you lose $XRD by staking?

A validator cannot take your stake. Staked $XRD sits in the validator's component, part of the protocol itself, which the operator cannot withdraw from ([Knowledge Base](https://www.radixdlt.com/articles-learn/what-happens-to-my-tokens-when-i-stake-them-could-the-node-i-delegate-to-steal-them)), and Radix has no slashing: a validator that goes offline or misbehaves loses that epoch's rewards, not its delegators' $XRD.

What staking does risk is smaller returns from a poorly run validator or a fee rise you miss, a 7-day wait to get out unless someone buys your LSUs, and the price of $XRD moving while you wait. LSUs and claim NFTs are bearer tokens: whoever holds them owns the stake, so sending them to another account sends the stake with them.

Radix has no support staff who contact people by direct message. Anyone who offers staking help in a DM and asks for your seed phrase is trying to empty your wallet.

[Staking](/contents/tech/core-concepts/staking) covers how proof of stake works across networks, and [Validator Nodes](/contents/tech/core-concepts/validator-nodes) covers what validators do and how they are paid.

## External Links

- [Radix Dashboard: Network Staking](https://dashboard.radixscan.io/network-staking) – hosted by RadixScan
- [Radix Wallet](https://www.radixdlt.com/wallet) – download for iOS and Android
- [How to Stake and Unstake XRD](https://www.radixdlt.com/articles-learn/how-to-stake-and-unstake-xrd) – Radix Knowledge Base
- [How should I choose validators to stake to?](https://www.radixdlt.com/articles-learn/how-should-i-choose-validators-to-stake-to) – Radix Knowledge Base