EOS staking: how to earn rewards on A with REX

6 min read

What EOS staking means today

The term used to mean something different. In the early years, "staking EOS" mostly meant locking tokens for CPU and NET bandwidth, and REX was a marketplace for renting those resources. In 2021 the network moved resource rentals to PowerUp, and in July 2024 REX was rebuilt as REX 2.0, a straightforward staking product paid from a fixed rewards reserve. If you read older guides that talk about staking for CPU, they describe a model that no longer applies. Our RAM, CPU and NET guide covers how resources work now.

After the Vaulta rebrand, the system contracts were updated so that staking, unstaking and claiming use A through the core.vaulta contract. If you still hold legacy EOS, swap it to A first.

Where do staking rewards come from?

In 2024 the network adopted new tokenomics: a hard cap of 2.1 billion tokens and a Staking Rewards Reserve of 250 million. That reserve is paid out on a halving schedule, much like Bitcoin’s block reward:

The flow behind the scenes: block producers claim rewards, which go to the eosio.saving account. From there, a share set by a 15-of-21 producer vote moves to eosio.reward, which donates it into the REX pool. Every staker’s REX gains value proportionally. The details of supply and halvings are on our EOS tokenomics page.

What APY can you realistically expect?

Because the yearly reward pot is fixed, your yield depends on how much everyone else stakes. The simple math with recent numbers: 31.25 million tokens a year divided by roughly 406 million tokens in REX gives about 7.7%. The EOS Nation proxy page showed 7.67% for REX at the time of our check.

• When REX 2.0 launched in 2024, very few tokens were staked, so early rates were reported at over 60%. That did not last, and it was never going to.
• If more people stake, the rate falls. If people unstake, it rises.
• At the next halving, the yearly reward pot halves, so the rate drops unless staked supply falls too.
• Third-party numbers vary. Some providers quote figures around 9–10% by adding voting rewards from proxies. Those extras are not guaranteed.

How to stake A step by step

The simplest path uses Unicove, the official web portal, with Anchor as your wallet. You need your own on-chain account; exchange balances cannot be staked this way.

1. Get a wallet and account

   If you do not have one, follow our EOS account guide or the Anchor setup guide. Withdraw some A from an exchange to your account name.

2. Open Unicove staking

   Go to unicove.com/en/vaulta/staking and log in with Anchor.

3. Check the live rate

   The page shows the current APR and the 21-day lockup. The rate is calculated live, so read it there rather than trusting a screenshot.

4. Enter an amount and stake

   Leave a small liquid balance in your account for resources and fees. Stake the rest.

5. Sign the transaction

   Anchor shows the actions you are signing. Approve, and your A moves into REX. Finality is around one second.

6. Unstake and withdraw later

   Click Unstake, wait 21 days, then Withdraw. The 21-day clock starts only when you unstake.

Staking vs voting: how they connect

Staked accounts can vote for up to 30 block producers. The top 21 produce blocks and run the network, so voting is how token holders influence who controls it. Since REX 2.0, voting is no longer required to stake, but it still matters for governance. You can also delegate your vote to a proxy, an account that votes on your behalf.

One quirk: EOS vote weight grows over time for new votes. An old vote effectively loses about half its relative weight each year unless you recast it. If you care about governance, re-vote occasionally. Our EOS block producers and DPoS guide explains voting in depth.

Can you mine EOS?

Short answer: no. EOS has never used Proof of Work. It uses Delegated Proof of Stake, where 21 elected producers take turns creating blocks, 12 blocks each, every half second. There is nothing for a GPU or ASIC to solve.

Searches for "EOS mining" usually lead to two things: cloud-mining apps that promise daily EOS payouts, and old articles that confuse staking with mining. The first are a classic scam pattern. The second is just loose wording. The only protocol-level ways to earn A are staking in REX and, for professional operators, running a block producer that gets elected.

Other ways people earn on EOS

For perspective: DefiLlama lists Vaulta REX as the largest pool of value on the chain by far, at around $32.9 million, with DEXs like WhaleEx and Defibox far behind. Native staking is where most of the network’s locked capital sits. You can explore DEXs and lending apps in our EOS dApp directory.

Pros and cons of staking A

Is EOS staking worth it?

If you already hold A for the long term and do not need instant access, staking is a low-effort way to grow your balance with a native, well-understood mechanism. If you are trading actively, the 21-day lock is a real cost. And if you are thinking about buying A purely for the yield, remember that the yield is paid in the same token whose price you are betting on. Our EOS price outlook lays out bull, base and bear scenarios without fake price targets.

Frequently asked questions

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