Non-custodial Tezos (XTZ) staking with P2P.org

Tezos is a decentralized, open-source blockchain platform designed to support smart contracts and decentralized applications (dApps). Launched in 2018 by Arthur and Kathleen Breitman, Tezos distinguishes itself through its self-amending protocol and on-chain governance model, enabling the network to evolve without hard forks by allowing stakeholders to vote on proposed upgrades .

The Network Reward Rate (NRR) denotes the potential annual reward rate for participants who contribute to network security and operations. Tezos offers two distinct mechanisms for earning rewards: delegation and staking, each with its own characteristics and network rewards.

It depends whether you're interested in delegation or staking. Delegation requires an activation period of approximately 2 cycles (2 days), after which rewards begin to accrue but remain frozen for an additional 5 cycles (~5 days), resulting in a total wait time of around 7 days for the first payout. The final payout timing, as well as subsequent ones, depends on the individual baker's payout schedule. In contrast, staking becomes effective immediately after the delegation activation—either after 2 days for new delegations or instantly if you were already delegating—since every stake must pass through delegation first. Staked funds begin earning rewards from the next cycle following activation, with rewards distributed daily, though they too are subject to a 5-cycle freeze. As a result, you can expect your first staking rewards after approximately 5 days or one week, with subsequent rewards distributed daily.

There is no unbonding period for delegation; delegated funds remain liquid and can be transferred or spent at any time. However, for staking, an unbonding period applies: when you initiate an unstake, your funds enter a frozen state for 4 cycles (~ 4 days) before they become available for transfer or spending.

Yes, for both delegation and staking, though there are slight differences. In the case of delegator rewards, the compounding effect depends on the baker’s payment schedule. That’s why it’s important to choose a baker with regular, timely payouts who also covers transaction fees (such as P2P.org). On the other hand, staking rewards are automatically distributed and compounded daily at the network level, maximizing your earnings without additional steps.

No, you can invest any amount of XTZ. However, given transaction fees on the network, we recommend staking amounts where the higher rewards will meaningfully outweigh the cost of transactions.