How does staking work on Cardano?
Your ADA – your control. Staking on Cardano is safe, flexible, and straightforward.
Set up a Wallet
Download a Cardano-compatible wallet – e.g. Eternl, Lace or Yoroi. Create a new wallet and safely store your seed phrase.
Buy & Deposit ADA
Buy ADA on an exchange of your choice (e.g. Binance, Kraken, Coinbase) and transfer your ADA to your personal wallet.
Choose a Stake Pool
Search for the ticker "HAMDA" in your wallet and select the Cardano Hamster Stake Pool. Confirm the delegation with a small transaction fee.
Receive Rewards
After approx. 2 epochs (≈10 days) you will automatically receive your first staking rewards. These are paid out every epoch (≈5 days).
Recommended Wallets
The Ouroboros Protocol
Cardano's consensus protocol is peer-reviewed, energy-efficient, and mathematically proven secure – the foundation for reliable staking.
Proof-of-Stake
Instead of energy-intensive mining, slot leaders are randomly elected proportional to their stake – secure, efficient, and decentralized.
Epochs & Slots
An epoch lasts 5 days and consists of 432,000 slots (1 second each). On average, a slot leader is elected every 20 seconds.
Verifiable Randomness
Slot leader selection uses a Verifiable Random Function (VRF) – the blockchain itself generates fair randomness from past blocks.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is my ADA locked?
No! When staking on Cardano, you always have full access to your ADA. You can send, receive or change your delegation at any time.
How high are the fees?
HAMDA charges a minimum fee of 170 ADA per epoch plus a variable fee of 0%. Registration costs a one-time fee of approx. 0.18 ADA (Cardano protocol fee).
How much can I earn?
The annual return (ROA) is typically 3–5% depending on pool size and block production. Use our calculator to estimate your earnings.
When do I get my first rewards?
The first reward payment occurs after approx. 15–20 days (3 epochs). After that, rewards are paid automatically every epoch (≈5 days).
What is the Ouroboros Protocol?
Ouroboros is Cardano's scientifically proven proof-of-stake consensus protocol. Unlike energy-intensive Bitcoin mining, slot leaders in Ouroboros are randomly elected proportional to their stake – no computational race, with the same security guarantees.
What are Epochs and Slots?
The Cardano blockchain divides time into epochs (5 days / 432,000 slots each) and slots (1 second each). In each slot, a stake pool can be elected as slot leader and produce a block. On average, this happens every 20 seconds.
Live Data
How is the pool performing?
Blocks, fees, saturation and Pool ID in real time.