Key concepts

Solana staking involves delegating SOL tokens to a validator, like Figment, which operates nodes that help secure the network. Rewards are earned based on the validator's performance and the amount of SOL staked. Key points:

Stake account: A new stake account is created for each new stake, thus there is a one-many relationship between your main wallet and stake accounts. When staking, SOL is moved from your main wallet to this new stake account. When unstaking, SOL is moved from a stake account back into your mainnet wallet. Both are logically and technically in your custody within the entire staking lifecycle (Read more in What's Next)
Delegation: When delegated to a validator, funds remain in the stake account and earn rewards by pointing to the validator
Stake account lifecycle: Stake accounts have various states: inactive , activating , active or deactivating
Rewards: Rewards accrue proportionally based on active stake. There are 3 types of rewards:
- Inflation: Earned each epoch and are generated from new SOL issuance. Validators earn inflation rewards when they vote on blocks created by other validators. Inflation rewards accrue to the stake account's active_balanceand are thus automatically compounded.
- MEV: Earned epochly and contains Jito tips from MEV searchers hoping to have their transactions included in the block. Increases with network activity. Earned when a validator is selected to propose a block as the “leader” (Solana creates ~216,000 blocks/day). Accrues to stake account inactive_balance thus not automatically compounded. Check if your custodian supports MEV reward claiming to benefit from compounding
- Priority fees: Earned blockly and contains transaction fees from users looking to prioritize their transactions. 100% earned by the validator's identity account. Validator may sweep these back to delegators periodically net of voting costs (~400 SOL/year) until SIMD-0123 is implemented.

Stake account lifecycle

Status	Description	Action Needed
`inactive` (before staking)	Stake account created but not delegated to Figment, thus no rewards	Delegate to Figment's mainnet validator or Figment's devnet validator
`activating`	Stake account will be activated at the next epoch boundary, and earn rewards the epoch after that	⌛
`active`	Accrue inflation and MEV rewards every epoch in the stake account balance	Optional: Periodically withdraw MEV rewards using Jito UI or POST /withdraw
`deactivating`	You've broadcasted your signed undelegation transaction and continue earning rewards until the end of the epoch	⌛
`inactive` (after staking)	Funds are withdrawable in the epoch following deactivation	Withdraw rewards and principal from stake account

Extra credit: compound MEV rewards

MEV rewards accrue to your stake account's inactive balance and don't auto-compound like inflation rewards. To earn on them, Solana requires you to manually activate them by signing a transaction from your delegating wallet:

Withdraw your MEV rewards on an active stake account with POST /withdraw. Omitting amount_sol withdraws all of your MEV rewards and keeps your existing stake active
Delegate your withdrawn SOL with POST /stake
Earn rewards next epoch!

Start staking in minutes

Try these recipes to programmatically create, sign and broadcast SOL staking transactions now: