> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.surgecardano.com/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.surgecardano.com/fees-tiers-and-staking/staking.md). # Stake SURGE Staking is an opt-in that lets Surge count the SURGE tokens you already hold in your own wallets. In return you receive a share of the Surge fees collected each Cardano epoch, **paid in ADA**, and a [tier discount](/fees-tiers-and-staking/tiers-and-discounts.md) on your own fees. Nothing is locked, nothing is transferred, and you can unsubscribe at any time. ### What staking is and is not * **Your SURGE stays in your wallet.** Subscribing only gives Surge permission to read your balance. There is no lock-up and no unbonding period. * **It is not Cardano delegation.** Your ADA stake and your stake pool are untouched. Surge uses your wallet's stake address purely as a way to find all the addresses in that wallet. * **Rewards are ADA**, funded from the Surge fees paid by all users during the epoch. ### Who can subscribe Your connected browser wallet must use a **base address** — one that includes a stake key (most wallets' default). An "enterprise" address without a stake key is refused at subscribe time. `[ENV: subscribing is enabled in production only.]` ### How rewards are calculated **Snapshots.** Every six hours (00:00, 06:00, 12:00, 18:00 UTC) Surge records each subscribed user's SURGE balance, summed across the connected wallet's stake address and every verified strategy wallet. Duplicate coins are counted once. The same snapshot updates your fee tier. **Epochs.** Rewards are settled per Cardano epoch (five days). Three minutes after each snapshot Surge checks whether the chain has moved to a new epoch; if so it finalises the one that just ended. **Reward pool.** All Surge fees on orders that reached the chain during the epoch, multiplied by the staker share. `[ENV: the staker share is set per environment; the server default is 50% of fees. Tokenomics specify 100%. Confirm the production value.]` **Your share.** 1. Your **average balance** for the epoch = the plain average of your snapshot balances in that epoch. 2. Multiplied by your **participation** = the fraction of the epoch you were subscribed for (subscribing on day 3 of 5 gives 40%). 3. Your reward = reward pool × (your weighted average ÷ the sum of everyone's weighted averages), rounded down to the lovelace. **Worked example.** During an epoch users paid 1,000 ADA of Surge fees. With a 50% staker share the pool is 500 ADA. Your snapshots average 10,000 SURGE and you were subscribed for the whole epoch; all stakers' weighted averages sum to 1,000,000 SURGE. Your reward is 500 × 10,000 ÷ 1,000,000 = **5 ADA**. Had you subscribed halfway through, it would be 2.5 ADA. The Staking page shows the current epoch's live estimate ("estimated pool at distribution"), refreshed every 15 minutes, and a countdown to epoch end. ### When and how rewards are paid 1. At epoch end, rewards are written for every staker and marked **claimable**; you get a "New rewards available" notification. 2. Click **Claim** on the Staking page. Surge adds up all your claimable rewards, subtracts one network fee (\~0.2 ADA), and — if the result is at least **0.978 ADA** (Cardano's minimum output) — marks them **queued**. Below that minimum the claim is refused; wait for another epoch. 3. Every two minutes Surge pays out queued claims in batches (up to 25 users per transaction) from its treasury wallet to your connected wallet address. Your rewards show **claiming**, then **claimed** with the transaction hash, and you get a "Rewards sent" notification. 4. If a payout fails, it is retried up to 3 times, then marked **failed** for Surge to resolve manually. Reward statuses you may see: pending, claimable, queued, claiming, claimed, failed. You cannot claim while a previous claim is still queued or claiming. ### Unsubscribing Immediate. Your snapshots for the current epoch are removed, so you earn nothing for it. Rewards already marked claimable remain claimable. `[VERIFY: your fee rate is not recomputed after unsubscribing — it stays at its last snapshotted value.]` ### Where to see everything The Staking page shows: subscription status, current epoch and countdown, your latest snapshotted balance, your tier and progress, claimable and lifetime rewards, a reward history with per-epoch amounts and statuses, total distributed to all stakers, and the estimated pool for the current epoch. It also cross-checks the SURGE balance it sees in your strategy wallets against what the snapshot recorded. ### FAQ **I hold SURGE but my fee is not discounted.** You must subscribe, and then wait for the next six-hourly snapshot. **Why is my snapshot balance lower than my wallet?** Only the connected wallet's stake address and *verified* strategy wallets are counted, as of the last snapshot time. **Why did I get less than my share of the pool?** Participation: joining mid-epoch scales your share down. Also a tiny rounding remainder is dropped from each user. **Can I claim to a different address?** No — payouts go to the wallet address on your account. **Is my reward taxed or converted?** Surge pays ADA and does nothing else. Tax treatment is yours to determine. --- # Agent Instructions This documentation is published with GitBook. GitBook is the documentation platform designed so that both humans and AI agents can read, navigate, and reason over technical content effectively. 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