The Only Stake Pool With 0% Fee & Guaranteed Maximized Rewards

Frequently Asked Questions

Q. What do you mean by 100% guaranteed performance and rewards, and why does it matter?

A stake pool with low fees doesn’t guarantee you maximum rewards. This is because if their servers go down (even briefly), you can miss out on rewards. Even a server’s slow CPU can lead to missed rewards. Simply put, server downtime loses you rewards. “Performance” basically means “server uptime”.

Many stake pools run on budget servers or even home-Internet connections. This keeps the stake pool operator’s costs low, but you risk losing rewards. To maximize your rewards, a stake pool needs both low fees and high uptime.

We use premium servers and networks to ensure the highest uptime possible. The downside is it’s costly for us. The upside is we’re confident you’ll never miss out on rewards. So we guarantee if we ever miss a block, we’ll fully compensate you (see conditions). As far as we’re aware, we are the only stake pool offering this guarantee.

It’s also important to understand the difference between 100% uptime, and our 100% rewards guarantee. 100% uptime means servers will never have any downtime. 100% uptime is nearly impossible, but 99.99% is achieved with very high standards. Our 100% rewards guarantee means that if we miss any rewards, we’ll compensate you.

Q. Does your guarantee ensure a specific or predictable reward?

Your rewards are subject to the Cardano blockchain’s algorithm, which includes an element of randomness nobody controls. Our guarantee only addresses assigned blocks we miss. We do not and cannot guarantee any reward, because the only control we have is maintaining reliable servers.

Q. What’s an example of how the guarantee maximizes rewards?

100% performance means a stake pool never missed a block (assuming it has been allocated that many blocks, and there’s always some discrepancy). 99% performance means it missed 1% of blocks.

If you delegated ₳100,000 and the performance is 99%, then your rewards are:

• When the pool fee is 0%: ₳ 4,680
• When the pool fee is 1%: ₳ 4,632 (– ₳48 difference)

And if the performance is 100% performance, your rewards are:

• When the pool fee is 0%: ₳ 4,729 per year
• When the pool fee is 1%: ₳ 4,680 per year (– ₳49 difference)

Conclusion: 0% fee with 99% performance = 1% fee with 100% performance.

So low fees are just as important as ensuring blocks aren’t missed. But many stake pools miss blocks. Our stake pools have both low fees and guaranteed 100% performance.

NOTICE: Staking reward estimations are subject to change. Contact Cardano support or see their https://cardano.org/calculator/?calculator=delegator for current estimations.

Q. How can I start staking ADA?

Cardano’s guide is at https://cardano.org/stake-pool-delegation/ which explains how to stake. Basically move your ADA to Cardano’s Daedalus wallet, and let the software synchronize to the network (this can take minutes or even hours depending on your connection). Then go to the Delegation section and search for CNODE, FUND, FUND2 or FUND3 to find our stake pools. Select either pool and follow the prompts to begin delegating. That’s all you need to do. Remember it can take some time before your switch to our pool is complete, and begin maximizing your rewards.

Q. How can I stake with Yoroi wallet?

Go to the delegation tab, search for our pools (CNODE, FUND, FUND2, FUND3), press the delegate button, and follow the steps. If it’s the first time you delegate with Yoroi, you need to make a ₳2 deposit (which is returned to you when you undelegate and deregister your delegation key).

Q. How do you know we won’t suddenly change the fee without you knowing?

You can check our fees via the Daedalus wallet anytime. We’ll notify you well beforehand if they change. Subscribe to our mailing list to be informed.

Q. When am I paid rewards?

When you first start delegating to any stake pool, your first payout is 16-20 days. Then your payouts are regularly every “epoch”. An “epoch” is 5 days. It’s the same regardless of which stake pool you choose. Please note that rewards cannot be guaranteed by any pool, because no pool can control if or when blocks are assigned.

Q. Why are my rewards sometimes much lower or higher than expected?

Pools with high saturation give more predictable rewards than pools with low saturation, but the long-term rewards are almost identical (assuming the same fees for both pools). This is one of the least-understood parts of how staking works. See examples below:

Assume your average reward was ₳ 1,000 ADA per epoch.

If you delegated to a HIGH-saturation pool, your rewards may be:

• Epoch 1: ₳ 990
• Epoch 2: ₳ 1,010
• Epoch 3: ₳ 950
• Epoch 4: ₳ 1,050

Average rewards: ₳ 1,000

If you delegated to a LOW-saturation pool, your rewards may be:

• Epoch 1: ₳ 50
• Epoch 2: ₳ 1,950
• Epoch 3: ₳ 350
• Epoch 4: ₳ 1,650

Average rewards: ₳ 1,000

So the only difference is rewards with high-saturation pools are more predictable.

If your rewards are low with some epochs, it doesn’t mean your pool is a bad selection. It’s just random, and how Cardano’s algorithm works.

To maximize your rewards, choose pools with low fees and high performance. But the pool most not be too saturated, or you risk losing rewards, and it will make a low fee pointless.

The two fee types are the “fixed fee”, and “margin fee”. And high performance means blocks aren’t missed. We are the only pool offering both the lowest fees allowed, and 100% guaranteed performance.

Q. Are there delays in rewards when I delegate to Cardanode?

No, you’ll still get rewards every 5 days from your previous pool. You start getting rewards from our pool after 16-20 days. This time period is the same for every stake pool.

Q. How do I know if I’ve successfully started staking?

In the Daedalus wallet’s staking area, you will see the pool you’re delegating to.

Q. How do you ensure 100% rewards and performance?

Our block-producer has multiple redundant “automatic failover” connections to each relay, and synchronized backups ready at all times. Furthermore, a camera from a separate machine is aimed at the physical terminal to monitor it, using computer vision technology. It checks the “transactions processed”, block number, slot number, and “number of peers” are as they should be.

Relays also have redundant connections, and connect to 30 different hand-picked peers to ensure rapid propagation. All machines use an uninterruptible power supply and off-grid power backups. Automated monitoring software checks occur every 10 seconds for the block-producer, and every 60 seconds for relays. In the event of a technical problem, all staff are notified by SMS and email, although the on-duty staff can immediately rectify the issue.

The worst case scenario would be a hardware failure for the block-producer. In this case, the relays would switch to the live backup. The maximum downtime would be 30-40 seconds. The chances of missing a block in this time are very small.

Q. Is delegation the same as investing?

Delegating for rewards is not the same as investing. Rewards from delegation occur from the Cardano ecosystem. Besides setting the fees, and ensuring server uptime, we have no control over rewards you receive from the Cardano ecosystem. Our guarantee only applies to situations where we missed a block assigned to our stake pools. We have no control over the Cardano ecosystem, so we do not and cannot guarantee “returns” or “rewards”.

Q. I can’t find your pools, or they appear unlisted after I’ve delegated. What’s wrong?

Whenever a pool’s description changes, the changes are moderated by Cardano’s staff. Before the changes are approved, a pool’s listing is hidden in wallets (usually for a few days). After the pool’s changes are approved, the pool appears in listings again. At no time are delegator’s rewards affected. For some users, even after a pool’s changes are approved, a pool still won’t appear in searches (or it appears you’re delegating to an “unknown” pool). This happens only for some users. It’s the same for every stake pool. Cardano’s staff are aware of the issue, but it hasn’t been fixed yet. But again importantly, it does not at all affect your rewards. If you’re affected by this issue, please contact IOHK support. You can also see the current status of our pools on websites like here: CNODE | FUND | FUND2 | FUND3

Q. What are the “margin fee” “fixed fee”?

There are two types of fees: the “margin fee” and “fixed fee”.

The “margin fee” is 0 to 100%, and it’s basically the stake pool operator’s cut of your rewards. So if your rewards were 1,000 ADA and the “margin fee was 2%, then you get 980 ADA, and the stake pool operator gets 20 ADA. Our margin fee is the minimum possible (0.00%).

The “fixed fee” is a compulsory fee the stake pool must charge for each epoch (every 5 days). This amount comes from the rewards from all delegators. So if the rewards from all delegators combined were 20,000 ADA in an epoch, the stake pool operator receives 395, and the remaining 19,660 is split between delegators (depending on how much you delegated). Because the “fixed fee” comes from all delegator’s rewards, it doesn’t make a big difference to your rewards. Our “fixed fee” is 395 ADA.

Q. What makes one stake pool more profitable than another?

See https://cardano.org/calculator/?calculator=delegator for current estimations from Cardano foundation. Random fluctuations make some stake pools temporarily more or less profitable than average, but only in the short-term. It’s random, and just how Cardano’s algorithms work. In the long-term, your maximum possible rewards still come back to about the same per year.

However, every stake pool operator charges fees, which are their cut of your rewards. Our fees are currently 0.00%, so you get 100% of your rewards. From this perspective alone, our stake pool gives you the maximum rewards possible.

But low fees alone don’t guarantee maximum rewards. The other considerations are explained below:

1. OVER-SATURATED POOLS HAVE REDUCED REWARDS

The more saturated a pool is, the higher your rewards. But if a pool is over 100% saturated, then its rewards dimish. Saturated pools have a full green bar. And over-saturated pools appear with an orange bar in Daedalus. See examples below:

So it’s preferable to delegate to “less saturated” pools. This is Cardano’s way of encouraging decentralization. Our original pool (CNODE) became too saturated, so we created additional pools.

2. SERVER DOWNTIME REDUCES YOUR REWARDS

You’re only paid rewards if your stake pool mints blocks. If it misses blocks due to server downtime, you lose rewards. A stake pool with 100% performance means it has never missed a block. We guarantee 100% performance. If other stake pools miss blocks, you may not even know for 16-20 days – or at all. So stake pools must use best practices to ensure uptime.