Validator Staking

Learn how to stake NEAR, delegate to validators, track rewards, and withdraw staked tokens safely.

NEAR uses a Proof-of-Stake (PoS), meaning that users chose the active node validators by delegating their tokens to them.

In this article you’ll find a detailed explanation of the staking process, including delegating, viewing balances, and withdrawing using the NEAR CLI.

Contract source code

You can review the Staking pool smart contract source code in this GitHub repository.

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Delegate NEAR tokens

Before delegating, you need to choose a validator (a node that participates in staking).

Check NearBlocks, Pikespeak or Near Staking, and look for validators with a good track record, uptime, and reasonable commission rates.

List validators using CLI

If you prefer, you can get the list of current validators by using the near-validator CLI:

near-validator validators network-config mainnet now

Stake Tokens

Staking CLI

near staking delegation <user-account.near> deposit-and-stake '100 NEAR' <my_validator> network-config mainnet sign-with-keychain

Function Call

near call <my_validator> deposit_and_stake --useAccount <user-account.near> --deposit 100

Lantstool

You will start earning staking rewards after the next epoch (approximately 12 hours)

Staked Balance

To check your staked balance on the <my_validator> pool for the <user-account.near> account, run the following command:

Staking CLI

near staking delegation <user-account.near> view-balance <my_validator> network-config mainnet now

Function Call

near view <my_validator> get_account_staked_balance '{"account_id": "<user-account.near>"}'

Lantstool

Staking pool balances

You can view additional information and balances from the staking pool using the following CLI commands:

Total staked balance of the entire pool

🖥️ CLI

near view <my_validator> get_total_staked_balance '{}'

Lantstool

Owner of the staking pool

🖥️ CLI

near view <my_validator> get_owner_id '{}'

Lantstool

Current reward fee

🖥️ CLI

near view <my_validator> get_reward_fee_fraction '{}'

Lantstool

Owner’s balance

🖥️ CLI

near view <my_validator> get_account_total_balance '{"account_id": "owner"}'

Lantstool

Staking key

🖥️ CLI

near view <my_validator> get_staking_key '{}'

Lantstool

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Withdrawing Staked Tokens

To withdraw your staked tokens, you will first need to “un-delegate” them from the validator.

Your tokens will enter a 4 epoch (~24 hours) unbonding period before they can be withdrawn.

Unstake Tokens

Staking CLI

near staking delegation <user-account.near> unstake '1 NEAR' <my_validator> network-config mainnet sign-with-keychain

Use the unstake-all command to to unstake all tokens at once:

near staking delegation <user-account.near> unstake-all <my_validator> network-config mainnet sign-with-keychain

Function Call

near call <my_validator> unstake '{"amount": "100000000000000000000000000"}' --useAccount <user-account.near>

Call the unstake_all method to unstake all tokens at once

Lantstool

Query Unstaked Balance

Staking CLI

near staking delegation <user-account.near> view-balance <my_validator> network-config mainnet now

Function Call

near view <my_validator> get_account_unstaked_balance '{"account_id": "<user-account.near>"}'

Lantstool

Withdraw Tokens

Once the unbonding period has passed, you can withdraw your unstaked tokens:

Staking CLI

near staking delegation <user-account.near> withdraw '1 NEAR' <my_validator> network-config mainnet sign-with-keychain

If you want to withdraw all available tokens, you can use the withdraw-all command:

near staking delegation <user-account.near> withdraw-all <my_validator> network-config mainnet sign-with-keychain

Function Call

near call <my_validator> withdraw '{"amount": "100000000000000000000000000"}' --useAccount <user-account.near>

Lantstool

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Sunsetting a Stake Pool

If you are a stake pool owner and want to wind down your validator service, follow these steps to ensure delegators can safely recover their funds.

Step 1: Notify Delegators

Before making any changes, inform your delegators that the pool is shutting down. Give them enough time to unstake and withdraw their tokens. They need to:

1. Call unstake_all on the pool.
2. Wait for the 4-epoch unbonding period (~48 hours).
3. Call withdraw_all to retrieve their tokens.

You can share the commands from the Withdrawing Staked Tokens section above with them.

Step 2: Pause Staking

Call pause_staking from the pool owner account. This causes the contract to unstake everything (stake 0) and stop restaking, without affecting share balances or reward calculations.

near call <my_validator> pause_staking '{}' --useAccount <owner-account.near> --depositYocto 1 --networkId mainnet

The contract will unstake all tokens at the next epoch boundary. Delegators will still see their shares and can unstake and withdraw normally.

Step 3: Withdraw Owner Balance

Once your own staked tokens are unstaked and the unbonding period has passed, withdraw them:

Staking CLI

near staking delegation <owner-account.near> withdraw-all <my_validator> network-config mainnet sign-with-keychain

Function Call

near call <my_validator> withdraw_all '{}' --useAccount <owner-account.near> --networkId mainnet

Step 4: Resume (Optional)

If you decide to keep the pool running again, you can re-enable staking at any time:

near call <my_validator> resume_staking '{}' --useAccount <owner-account.near> --depositYocto 1 --networkId mainnet

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Tools and Resources

• Supported wallets for staking and managing your tokens:
  • Ecosystem Wallets
• To explore validators and staking pools:
  • NearBlocks
  • Pikespeak
  • NEAR Staking