Glossary · Wallets

Staking key.

The key in your wallet that controls delegation and reward withdrawal.

In depth

Cardano addresses contain both a payment part and a staking part. The staking key (one per account, derived at m / 1852′ / 1815′ / acct′ / 2 / 0) signs the certificates that delegate your stake to a pool and the transactions that withdraw rewards. The payment keys can rotate without disturbing your delegation.

Example

Switching stake pools is a single transaction signed by your staking key; your payment addresses keep working as before.

Next on this path

  1. Delegation Pointing your stake at a specific stake pool so it can produce blocks on your behalf.
  2. Staking rewards Ada paid out to delegators and pool operators for producing blocks.