What is Coldstaking
Coldstaking is a mechanism that eliminates the need to keep the coins in a hot wallet. With Coldstaking implemented, the miner still needs to be online with a running node and an open wallet, but the keys to spend the coins that are used for staking can be safely stored in cold storage.
During Coldstaking coins are held in two separate keys:
- Spending key: keys that can spend the coins to any address just like a regular transaction.
- Staking key: keys that can strictly send coins to the same address during staking
Coldstaking is like regular staking but with the extra security where the miner does not need to have the wallet with the spending keys open and unlocked.
Users who are staking by running their own staking node but want the extra security can Cold Stake.
Coldstake Wallet
When Coldstaking a user will create an additional wallet for Coldstaking and send the funds from the main wallet to the Coldstaking wallet
Enabling Coldstaking will add two new HD accounts to the wallet:
Cold Account - Is the wallet account that holds the keys that can spend coins
Hot Account - Is the wallet account that holds the keys that can stake coins
The wallets can be hosted on the same node or on separate nodes
For Advanced Users:
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Coldstake hosting options
A user can cold stake on their own just like regular staking but with enhanced security because the spending key doesn't need to be present in the node when staking
There are two main options to use cold stake:
1. Coldstake at home - Run both wallets on the same node, this is useful for a miner that is operating a staking node at home.
2. Coldstake in the cloud or with a pool - The main wallet stays offline and only needs to come online to spend or receive coins, this is useful for users that don't want to deal with running a physical pc.
Coldstake script types (PayToScript)
Coldstake can have two script types Coldstake or PayToScript which are P2SH/P2WSH (depending on the wallet type)
The main difference is that using P2SH/P2WSH will create a single address to represent the coldstake utxo, this is easier to search for on explorers however it will add an additional opreturn on the setup trx.
Coldstake pool
Coldstaking enables secure staking pools, a user can let someone else like a company or friend to stake without risking their coins
Advanced reading
For more in depth look in to the Coldstaking protocol
blockcore/blob/master/Documentation/Features/Coldstaking
Issues problems and FAQ
How long does it take to withdraw? Withdrawing coins that are in coldstake is immediate (unless they need to be mature)
Withdraw all the coins
Sometimes not all funds are available to withdraw, this is because if coins where used to find a block they will need to wait for maturity (a certain amount of confirmations before they can be moved) right now the UI does not support showing immature coins.
To solve this just stop the mining processes and wait for some time, if using a pool contact the operator and ask them to expire your staking address (you may be lucky and be able to withdraw from a pool if your coins did not find a block before you withdraw)
How long does it take to stake?
Staking is like a lottery, how often your coins will find a block will depend on the amount of coins being staked and the amount of coins that are staked on the network
What happens if the Coldstaking wallet goes down, or disappears?
If the hot wallet is lost it can be recovered with the seed, if the seed is lost the worst outcome is that the coins can not be staked, the user can always move the coins to a new wallet using the cold wallet
If the cold wallet is lost and the seed is lost the coins are lost it's important to treat the seed of a cold wallet as any other wallet
How do you recover those funds from cold staking?
Just use the cold wallet to move the coins to a new wallet