Mining & Staking

This guide covers how to earn TALER rewards through Proof-of-Stake (PoS) staking using the GUI wallet.

Understanding TALER’s Consensus

TALER uses a hybrid Proof-of-Work (PoW) and Proof-of-Stake (PoS) consensus mechanism:

• Proof-of-Work (PoW): Miners generate blocks using computational power
• Proof-of-Stake (PoS): Coin holders stake their coins to generate blocks

This guide focuses on PoS staking, which is the recommended method for most users as it:

• Requires no specialized hardware
• Consumes minimal electricity
• Allows you to earn passive rewards on your existing TALER holdings
• Helps secure the network

What is PoS Staking?

How Staking Works

Proof-of-Stake allows you to earn rewards by holding TALER coins in your wallet. Instead of using computational power like PoW mining, PoS uses:

• Coin Age: How long you’ve held coins
• Coin Amount: How many coins you hold
• Probability: Older and larger amounts have higher probability of staking

When your coins successfully stake, you create a new block and receive:

• Block Reward: Base PoS reward (30% of current PoW block subsidy)
• Transaction Fees: All fees from transactions in your block

Staking Requirements

To stake TALER coins, you need:

1. Minimum Amount: At least 10 TLR per coin input
2. Minimum Age: Coins must mature for 48 hours after receiving them
3. Encrypted Wallet: Wallet must be encrypted for security
4. Unlocked Wallet: Wallet must be unlocked for staking
5. Running Wallet: taler-qt must be running and synced

Important: Coins with less than 10 TLR cannot stake. Coins are eligible to stake 48 hours after they are received and confirmed.

Setting Up PoS Staking

Step 1: Encrypt Your Wallet

Why encrypt first?

• Staking requires an encrypted wallet
• Protects your funds from unauthorized access
• Security best practice before staking

How to encrypt:

1. Open taler-qt wallet
2. Go to Settings menu
3. Click “Encrypt Wallet”
4. Enter a strong passphrase
   • Minimum 20+ characters recommended
   • Mix of letters, numbers, symbols
   • Write it down securely - you cannot recover forgotten passphrases
5. Confirm passphrase
6. Wait for encryption to complete

The wallet will restart after encryption.

Already encrypted? Skip to Step 2.

Step 2: Fund Your Wallet

To stake, you need TALER coins in your wallet:

1. Generate receiving address in the Receive tab
2. Transfer TALER to your wallet from an exchange or another wallet
3. Wait for confirmations (6+ recommended)
4. Wait 48 hours for coins to mature

Your coins must age for 48 hours before they become eligible for staking.

Step 3: Open Debug Console

The Debug Console allows you to execute commands to control staking.

To access the Debug Console:

1. Open taler-qt wallet
2. Go to Help menu
3. Click “Debug Window”
4. Select the “Console” tab

You’ll see a command-line interface where you can type RPC commands.

Step 4: Unlock Wallet for Staking

To enable staking, you must unlock your encrypted wallet using the console.

Command:

walletpassphrase "your-passphrase" timeout

Parameters:

• "your-passphrase": Your wallet encryption passphrase (in quotes)
• timeout: Number of seconds to keep wallet unlocked

Examples:

walletpassphrase "MySecurePassphrase123!" 2592000

This unlocks the wallet for 2,592,000 seconds (30 days).

walletpassphrase "MySecurePassphrase123!" 31536000

This unlocks the wallet for 31,536,000 seconds (1 year).

Timeout Guidelines:

• Short-term: 86400 (1 day)
• Medium-term: 2592000 (30 days)
• Long-term: 31536000 (1 year)
• Maximum: 100000000 (~3.17 years)

After unlocking:

• Staking begins automatically
• Wallet will automatically re-lock after timeout expires
• You’ll need to unlock again to continue staking after timeout

Monitoring Your Staking

Check Wallet Status

To verify your wallet is unlocked and ready for staking:

Command:

getwalletinfo

Important Fields:

• "unlocked_until": Timestamp when wallet re-locks (0 = locked)
• "balance": Your available balance
• "immature_balance": Pending staking rewards (need confirmations)

Example Output:

{
  "walletname": "",
  "walletversion": 169900,
  "balance": 1000.00000000,
  "immature_balance": 2.10000000,
  "unlocked_until": 1748362000,
  ...
}

If unlocked_until is 0, your wallet is locked - unlock it again with walletpassphrase.

Check Available Coins for Staking

To see which coins are eligible for staking:

Command:

listunspent

This shows all unspent coins in your wallet with:

• amount: Coin value
• confirmations: Number of confirmations
• spendable: Whether coin can be spent/staked

Staking Eligibility:

• Amount >= 10 TLR
• Confirmations >= 288 blocks (~48 hours at 60 second blocks for PoW)
• Spendable = true

Understanding Coin Age

Coin Age determines staking weight:

• Minimum Age: 48 hours (coins become eligible)
• Maximum Age: 90 days (coins reach maximum weight)
• Age Tick: 1 day (weight increases daily)

How it works:

• Day 0-2: Not eligible to stake
• Day 2-90: Staking weight increases daily
• Day 90+: Maximum weight reached (no further increase)

The longer you hold coins without spending, the higher your staking probability.

Staking Rewards

Reward Calculation

PoS staking rewards are based on:

1. Coin Age: How long you’ve held the coins (in coin-days)
2. Coin Amount: How many coins you’re staking
3. Block Subsidy: Current PoS block reward (30% of PoW subsidy)
4. Network Supply: Total TALER supply

Formula:

Reward = (Coin Age × Coin-Year Reward Rate) + Transaction Fees

The reward is calculated automatically when you successfully stake a block.

Expected Returns

Typical Staking Rewards:

• Base PoS block reward: 2.1 TLR (30% of 7 TLR PoW block)
• Plus transaction fees from the block
• Adjusted for coin age and network conditions

Staking Frequency:

• Depends on your coin amount and age
• Larger holdings stake more frequently
• Network difficulty affects all stakers equally

Example:

• 1,000 TLR staked
• 90 days old (maximum weight)
• May stake every few days to weeks
• Each stake earns ~2.1 TLR base reward

When Rewards Appear

After Staking a Block:

1. Immediately: Reward appears in “Immature Balance”
2. Maturation: Requires 288 confirmations (~48 hours)
3. Available: After maturation, moves to available balance
4. New Age: Newly staked coins reset to 0 age, must mature 48 hours again

Check the Transactions tab to see staking rewards marked as “Mined” or “Generated”.

Staking Best Practices

Keep Wallet Running

Staking requires your wallet to be running:

• Wallet must be open and synced
• Wallet must remain unlocked
• Computer should remain on (or use dedicated staking node)

Tips:

• Disable screen saver/sleep mode
• Consider running on dedicated hardware
• Use VPS or always-on computer for 24/7 staking

Optimal Staking Setup

For Best Results:

1. Keep Wallet Synced: Ensure blockchain is fully synchronized
2. Maintain Connection: Stable internet connection required
3. Consolidate Small Amounts: Combine small coins into larger ones (10+ TLR each)
4. Long Unlock Timeout: Use 30+ day timeout to avoid frequent re-unlocking
5. Regular Backups: Backup wallet.dat before and after receiving rewards

Coin Management

Managing Your Staking Coins:

• Don’t spend recently staked coins: Let them age for better rewards
• Consolidate when needed: Merge small UTXOs into larger ones
• Reserve some liquid coins: Keep some coins for spending, others for staking
• Monitor maturity: Check immature balance for pending rewards

Security While Staking

Important Security Practices:

• Encrypted wallet required: Never stake with unencrypted wallet
• Strong passphrase: Use 20+ character passphrase
• Secure system: Ensure computer is malware-free
• Backup regularly: Backup wallet.dat after receiving rewards
• Limit remote access: Don’t expose RPC to public internet
• Monitor activity: Check transactions regularly for anomalies

Troubleshooting Staking

Wallet Not Staking

Problem: Coins not staking, no rewards

Check:

1. Is wallet encrypted?

   getwalletinfo
   

   Look for "walletversion" - should be encrypted

2. Is wallet unlocked?

   getwalletinfo
   

   Check "unlocked_until" - should be future timestamp, not 0

3. Do coins meet requirements?

   listunspent
   

   • Each coin >= 10 TLR?
   • Confirmations >= 288?
   • Age >= 48 hours?

4. Is wallet synced?

   getblockchaininfo
   

   Check if "blocks" equals "headers"

Solutions:

• Unlock wallet: walletpassphrase "passphrase" 2592000
• Wait for coin maturity (48 hours)
• Ensure wallet is fully synced
• Check you have eligible coins (>= 10 TLR each)

Wallet Locked Unexpectedly

Problem: Wallet re-locked, staking stopped

Cause: Unlock timeout expired

Solution:

walletpassphrase "your-passphrase" 2592000

Set longer timeout to avoid frequent re-locking.

Low Staking Frequency

Problem: Rarely staking blocks

Causes:

• Small coin amounts (< 100 TLR)
• Young coin age (< 7 days)
• High network difficulty

Solutions:

• Accumulate more coins: More coins = higher probability
• Wait for age: Coins gain weight over 90 days
• Consolidate inputs: Combine small amounts into larger ones
• Be patient: Staking is probabilistic, may take time

Immature Balance Not Confirming

Problem: Immature balance stuck

Cause: PoS rewards require 288 confirmations (~48 hours)

Solution: Wait for confirmations. Check:

getblockchaininfo

If blockchain is synced and moving, immature balance will eventually mature.

Advanced Staking

Command-Line Staking

For advanced users running talerd (daemon without GUI):

Start talerd with staking enabled:

talerd -stakegen=1

Unlock wallet:

taler-cli walletpassphrase "your-passphrase" 2592000

Monitor staking:

taler-cli getwalletinfo
taler-cli listunspent

Configuration File

Create taler.conf in your data directory:

Windows: %APPDATA%\TALER\taler.conf macOS: ~/Taler/taler.conf Linux: ~/.taler/taler.conf

Example staking configuration:

# Enable PoS staking (default: 1)
stakegen=1

# RPC for remote management (optional)
server=1
rpcuser=stakinguser
rpcpassword=your_secure_rpc_password
rpcallowip=127.0.0.1

# Network
listen=1
maxconnections=128

Dedicated Staking Node

For serious stakers, run dedicated staking node:

1. Use dedicated hardware: VPS, Raspberry Pi, or always-on PC
2. Install TALER: Follow Node Setup guide
3. Sync blockchain: Wait for full synchronization
4. Transfer staking coins: Send coins to node wallet
5. Unlock wallet: Use long timeout (months/years)
6. Monitor remotely: Use RPC to check status

Benefits:

• 24/7 staking without keeping personal computer on
• Higher uptime = more staking opportunities
• Reduced electricity costs (vs mining)
• More reliable staking

Understanding PoS vs PoW

Comparison

Why PoS is Recommended

For Individual Users:

• No expensive hardware required
• Earn passive rewards on holdings
• Helps secure network
• Low energy consumption
• Can run on personal computer

Environmental Benefits:

• Minimal electricity usage
• No electronic waste from obsolete ASICs
• Sustainable long-term

Staking Economics

Network Distribution

TALER block rewards are split:

• 70% to PoW miners: 4.9 TLR per block
• 30% to PoS stakers: 2.1 TLR per block

Long-Term Strategy

Staking as Investment:

1. Acquire TALER: Buy from exchanges or earn through work
2. Hold in wallet: Transfer to personal wallet
3. Enable staking: Encrypt and unlock wallet
4. Compound rewards: Stake earned rewards for compounding
5. Long-term growth: Benefit from coin age and compounding

Compounding Effect:

• Staking rewards are automatically stakeable after 48 hours
• Larger balance = more frequent staking
• Rewards add to balance, increasing future rewards
• Compounding grows holdings over time

Frequently Asked Questions

Does staking lock my coins?

No. Coins are not locked during staking. You can spend them anytime, but:

• Spending resets coin age to 0
• You lose accumulated staking weight
• Coins need another 48 hours to re-stake

Can I stake from multiple wallets?

Yes. Each wallet stakes independently. You can:

• Run multiple wallet instances on different computers
• Split coins across wallets for redundancy
• Each wallet competes for blocks independently

Do I need to keep wallet open 24/7?

For best results, yes. Staking requires:

• Wallet running and synced
• Wallet unlocked
• Internet connection active

More uptime = more staking opportunities.

What happens if I miss a staking opportunity?

Nothing bad. Staking is probabilistic:

• You’ll have another chance next block
• Missed opportunities don’t penalize you
• Coin age continues accumulating
• Just keep wallet running and unlocked

Can I lose money staking?

No risk of losing coins through staking itself. However:

• Computer security risks (malware, theft)
• Forgotten passphrase = lost access
• No guarantees of rewards (probabilistic)

Next Steps

• Learn Security: Review Security Best Practices
• Monitor Transactions: Track rewards in Sending & Receiving
• Community Support: Get help in Community Channels

Start staking today and help secure the TALER network while earning rewards!