The Guide

Why is staking needed?

Staking uses a proof-of-stake concept which provides security to the network. Thanks to delegated coins, the network ensures the validity of every new transaction which will be written to the blockchain.

What is Cardano?

Cardano is a cryptocurrency network and open source project that aims to run a public blockchain platform for smart contracts. Cardano's internal cryptocurrency is called ADA. The development of the project is overseen and supervised by the Cardano Foundation based in Zug, Switzerland. Cardano was created by co-founder of ethereum Charles Hoskinson

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Why Cardano?

• cardano is the first blockchain that is peer-reviewed and academically-developed by a group of experts in the field. At this moment 102 papers. All parers can be found here
• 257 transactions per second(TPS), which can be easily scaled up when needed. Bitcoin can only process 4.6 TPS.
• Environmental friendly blockchain. Cardano is based on Proof-of-stake (PoS) protocol. Nodes connected to PoS based blockchain consume as much energy as standard home PCs.
• Cardano is a third-generation cryptocurrency
• it’s one of the most decentralised project
• large community
• cheap transaction fees (avg. 0.188821 ADA per transaction)

What creates the value of Cardano?

1. limited supply - In contrast to fiat money which can be printed without any limits (e.g. Venezuela) the Cardano supply is limited. This is written in the protocol and cannot exceed 45 B. The current supply is equal to 32 B. So cryptocurrencies can be used as a hedge against volatile fiat and a potential increase of volatility if a crisis hits us
2. adoption - Cardano is currently on its way for mass adoption.There are almost 400 thousand stake addresses and there will be much more → https://pooltool.io/
3. functionality - Cardano is a multi-asset blockchain so it can support more than one cryptocurrency at the same time. Moreover it offers much faster transaction processing than Bitcoin or Ethereum. In addition developers can create a token* without a need to use smart contracts so he/she can avoid high fees for every transaction made on the chain. Developers can also import projects from other blockchains so when only smart contracts will be available we can expect much more sophisticated services within the network and this will happen very soon. (TODO)
4. fundamentals - right now Cardano has published over hundred peer reviewed academic researches related to blockchain technology created by one of the most bright people in the cryptographics and mathematics world.
5. inclusion - providing equal access to opportunities and resources for people who might otherwise be excluded or marginalized, such as those who have no possibilities to use the banking system. This is especially applicable to people from poor regions like Central Africa, India or East Asia.
6. speculations - traders make purchase of an asset with a solid fundamentals counting on increase in value.

Why should I stake?

If you deposit your Fiat Money on your bank account you will receive 1-3 % profit which will be paid after at least a few months. In Cardano it is the opposite: you receive high profits as high as 5-8 % which is paid every 5 days!

Is staking safe?

It is completely safe, when you delegate your coins these are locked but they are still in your wallet and you can unlock them at any time. In the worst case scenario you may not get the reward for staking if your stake pool operator will not perform his job properly.

When reward/interest rate is paid?

If you have just delegated your ADA then the interest rate will be paid after the current epoch and the next one. After that time the interest rate will be paid every 5 days. Also when you stop delegating, the reward will be paid for the next two epochs to compensate the first two epochs. There might be a circumstance when the reward is not paid per epoch. To get more information read about slot leaders.

From where block reward came from?

The block reward in Cardano ecosystem come from:

• All transaction fees: collated from the set of transactions included in a block that was minted during that epoch.
• Monetary expansion: involves distinguishing between the total supply of ada and the maximal supply of ada. The total supply consists of all ada currently in circulation, as well as the ada in the treasury. The maximal supply is the maximal amount of ada that can ever exist. The difference between these two figures is called the reserve. During each epoch, a fixed, (but parameterizable) percentage of the remaining reserve is taken from the reserve and used for epoch rewards and treasury, where the amount being sent to the treasury is a fixed percentage of the amount taken from the reserve.

Why stake with us?

1. Security first. Our main goal is to provide a high level of security. For more information have a look on our security page.
2. Fee at Vivid Stake Pool is equal 2.9 % and this is significantly lower than in any cryptocurrency exchange which offers staking. Binance exchange for example offers 6 % fee.
3. Reliability. Our nodes are cloud based and they are distributed between three different VPS providers. Additionally there exist three different sets of physical keys located in three different cities in two different countries, so there is a very little chance that the keys will be lost or destroyed.
4. Technological know-how, we have a complementary set of skills which enable us to provide high quality service.