Getting Started

The staking process for Polkadot in the Staking API with a public node consists of several main steps:

Submit Bond: Submit a bond to the Polkadot network. It's important to note that there is a dynamic minimum threshold to stake.
Submit Nomination: The process of selecting validators within the Polkadot network.

Get an authentication token to start using Staking API. While staking, it's essential to keep a minimum deposit of 1 DOT on the account.

A request example is provided using cURL.

1. Submit Bond

Send a POST request to /api/v1/polkadot/{network}/staking/bond.

Example request (for westend network):
```
curl --request POST \
     --url https://api.p2p.org/api/v1/polkadot/westend/staking/bond \
     --header 'accept: application/json' \
     --header 'authorization: Bearer <token>' \
     --header 'content-type: application/json' \
     --data '
{
  "stashAccountAddress": "5H6ryBWChC5w7eaQ4GZjo329sEnhvjetSr6MBEt42mZ5tPw5",
  "rewardDestinationType": "account",
  "rewardDestination": "5H6ryBWChC5w7eaQ4GZjo329sEnhvjetSr6MBEt42mZ5tPw5",
  "amount": 3
}'
```
- stashAccountAddress — main stash account address which keeps tokens for bonding.
- rewardDestinationType — rewards destination type:
  - staked — Rewards will be sent to your Stash account and added to your current bond (compounding rewards).
  - stash — Rewards will be sent to your Stash account as a transferrable balance (not compounding rewards).
  - account — Rewards will be sent to any account you specify as a transferrable balance.
- rewardDestination — rewards destination account address.
- amount — amount of tokens to bond. DOT is used for the main network, KSM for Kusama, and WND for Westend.
Example response:
```
{
  "result": {
    "unsignedTransaction": "0xac0406000b00487835a302032c6eca5cdaa3e87d7f8e06d10015bf0508b52d301c8991af113d5cf49a53553f",
    "stashAccountAddress": "5H6ryBWChC5w7eaQ4GZjo329sEnhvjetSr6MBEt42mZ5tPw5",
    "rewardDestinationType": "account",
    "rewardDestination": "5H6ryBWChC5w7eaQ4GZjo329sEnhvjetSr6MBEt42mZ5tPw5",
    "amount": 3,
    "createdAt": "2023-08-15T15:07:54.795Z"
  }
}
```
- unsignedTransaction — unsigned transaction in hex format. Sign the transaction and submit it to the blockchain to perform the called action.
- stashAccountAddress — main stash account address which keeps tokens for bonding.
- rewardDestinationType — rewards destination type:
  - staked — Rewards will be sent to your Stash account and added to your current bond (compounding rewards).
  - stash — Rewards will be sent to your Stash account as a transferrable balance (not compounding rewards).
  - account — Rewards will be sent to any account you specify as a transferrable balance.
- rewardDestination — rewards destination account address.
- amount — amount of tokens to bond. DOT is used for the main network, KSM for Kusama, and WND for Westend.
- createdAt — timestamp of the transaction in the ISO 8601 format.
Sign and broadcast unsignedTransaction to the Polkadot network.

2. Submit Nomination

Send a POST request to /api/v1/polkadot/{network}/staking/nominate.

Example request (for westend network):

curl --request POST \
     --url https://api.p2p.org/api/v1/polkadot/westend/staking/nominate \
     --header 'accept: application/json' \
     --header 'authorization: Bearer <token>' \
     --header 'content-type: application/json' \
     --data '
{
  "stashAccountAddress": "5H6ryBWChC5w7eaQ4GZjo329sEnhvjetSr6MBEt42mZ5tPw5"
}'

stashAccountAddress — main stash account address which keeps tokens for bonding.

Example response:

{
  "result": {
    "unsignedTransaction": "0x2102040605100096b33e0a9647f13198ad16a2812c549a363646a3a7ddbdcc5590f5839c408c6200767f36484b1e2acf5c265c7a64bfb46e95259c66a8189bbcd216195def43685200c21ad1e5198cc0dc3b0f9f43a50f292678f63235ea321e59385d7ee45a7208360018164fa6f9ce28792fb781185e8de4e6eaae34c0f545e5864952fe23c183df0c",
    "stashAccountAddress": "5H6ryBWChC5w7eaQ4GZjo329sEnhvjetSr6MBEt42mZ5tPw5",
    "targets": [
      "5FUJHYEzKpVJfNbtXmR9HFqmcSEz6ak7ZUhBECz7GpsFkSYR",
      "5Ek5JCnrRsyUGYNRaEvkufG1i1EUxEE9cytuWBBjA9oNZVsf",
      "5GTD7ZeD823BjpmZBCSzBQp7cvHR1Gunq7oDkurZr9zUev2n",
      "5CcHdjf6sPcEkTmXFzF2CfH7MFrVHyY5PZtSm1eZsxgsj1KC"
    ],
    "createdAt": "2023-09-18T14:49:23.998Z"
  }
}

unsignedTransaction — unsigned transaction in hex format. Sign the transaction and submit it to the blockchain to perform the called action.
stashAccountAddress — main stash account address which keeps tokens for bonding.
targets — selected validators in the targets.
createdAt — timestamp of the transaction in the ISO 8601 format.

Sign and broadcast unsignedTransaction to the Polkadot network.

What's Next?

Staking API reference.
Withdrawal.