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Delegation InstructionsAlert:
As of Aug 6, 2021, the Polkadot network is close to reaching its maximum nominator parameter. If/when the network’s maximum nominator capacity is reached you will not be able to delegate DOT to any Polkadot validator, including Bison Trails’ public validators.
The Polkadot community is preparing a proposal to increase this capacity limit via on-chain governance. This alert will be removed when the Polkadot network is no longer near its maximum nominator capacity.
Please be sure you have claimed your DOTs. If you need help claiming your tokens, follow this guide.
You may delegate your DOT using the Polkadot UI, or on Ledger Live with a Ledger S or X hardware device.
Tip: If you are a Coinbase Custody customer, you can delegate your DOT in one-click from your Coinbase Custody management console. Learn more.
There are two different types of accounts for managing your delegation funds in Polkadot:
A controller is used to make staking decisions, like nominating and bonding funds, but does not have direct control over the funds themselves.
A stash directly controls the funds, and designates a controller to be used to make staking decisions. The stash/controller system is used to maintain secure control over one’s funds while still enabling users to make and change staking decisions easily. You must import your stash to the Polkadot UI in order to conduct the steps needed to delegate your funds, including nominating them to the Bison Trails public validator.
STEP ONE: INSTALL POLKADOT APP AND CREATE ACCOUNT
ManagerAccounts within Ledger Live and click Add account
Add AccountSTEP TWO: TRANSFER DOT
Receive within Ledger Live
Account to credit select the Polkadot account you just createdAccept on your Ledger hardware deviceDone on the confirmation screenSTEP THREE: BOND YOUR DOT
Accounts within Ledger Live and open your Polkadot account
Earn RewardsContinue
Bonded Balance to compound your rewards on your Stash account (most common), orAvailable Balance to leave your rewards un-bonded and spendable in your Polkadot accountAmount to bond enter the amount you would like to delegate. You must leave enough DOT in your account for future transactions, such as sending and withdrawing your delegationContinue and follow the on-screen prompts to confirm the transaction on your Ledger device
STEP FOUR: DELEGATE YOUR DOT
NominateBison Trails
ContinueAccept to confirmCongratulations! You are now delegating to Bison Trails' validators.
You may delegate your DOT from the Polkadot UI by importing your DOT stash using a controller, or importing via the Polkadot app on a Ledger S or X hardware device.
Note: IF YOU HAVE ALREADY IMPORTED YOUR POLKADOT STASH TO THE POLKADOT UI, SKIP TO THIS STEP.
STEP ONE: IMPORT YOUR STASH
The current version of the Polkadot.js extension requires you to first create an account before you can import your own stash account. You may delete this account after you have imported your stash.
Add the account with the generated seedImport account from pre-existing seedAdd the account with the supplied seedSTEP TWO: IMPORT OR CREATE YOUR CONTROLLER*
YOU CAN USE YOUR STASH AS YOUR CONTROLLER, HOWEVER, FOR SECURITY REASONS, THE POLKADOT TEAM RECOMMENDS YOU CREATE A SEPARATE CONTROLLER ADDRESS. IF YOU ARE IMPORTING AN EXISTING CONTROLLER ACCOUNT, REPEAT STEP 1 WITH YOUR CONTROLLER MNEMONIC.
+Create New AccountCreate derived accountCreate derived accountSTEP THREE: TRANSFER DOT TO YOUR CONTROLLER TO PAY FOR TRANSACTION FEES*
*IF YOUR CONTROLLER ALREADY AT LEAST 5-10 DOTS IN IT, SKIP TO STEP 4.
send from accountsend to addressMake TransferSign and SubmitSign the transactionSTEP ONE: IMPORT YOUR STASH*
Starting conditions: The user should have the Polkadot app installed on their Ledger S or X, and be using Chrome or an equivalent browser.
Attach Ledger via WebUSB and select SaveAdd via LedgerAdd via Ledger
Save
Connect. You should now see your newly created account.
Show address on hardware device. This should show you the address on your Ledger.
STEP ONE: BOND YOUR DOT AND NOMINATE BISON TRAILS’ VALIDATORS
STAKING under NETWORK in the top navigation 
ACCOUNT ACTIONS in the Staking navigation at the top+ Stash at the top right of the screen 
Note: For most people using their single Ledger account for both the Stash and Controller accounts is the best choice. More advanced users can select a non-Ledger account as their Controller for easier access to their nominations while they keep their DOTs in the Stash on the Ledger.
value bonded field, input the amount of DOTs you’d like to bond. If you’d like to bond all of your DOTs, leave 5-10 DOTs in your stash account for transaction fees.Bond
Sign and Submit. this should prompt you to sign the Bond transaction with your Ledger, if using. Review the prompt and sign if it matches your inputs. 
Nominate 
Nominate
Congratulations! You are now nominating the Bison Trails validators.
We are available to answer your questions 9am–6pm ET Monday-Friday. Please contact us: support@bisontrails.co
Polkadot’s inflation rate is dependent on the staking rate of the network. It increases to 10% as the staking ratio approaches 50% (for a reward rate of 20%) and then declines sharply thereafter.
The minimum amount of DOT required to delegate is dynamic and changes every era (~24 hours). Delegators should also always leave 0.1 - 1.0 DOT in their account un-nominated to cover the cost of transaction fees.
You can find the current minimum required stake to delegate by identifying the least “other stake” amount nominated to the smallest validator in the active set. On a Polkadot validator explorer such as Polkadot.js, scroll to the bottom of the validator list and locate the last validator on the list (this is the smallest validator). Select the drop-down arrow to view all “other stake” delegated to the validator. The smallest quantity of DOT listed is the minimum required to stake in the current era.
Validators can be slashed for misbehavior (e.g. being offline, equivocation). The slashed amount is a fixed percentage. A validator with more stake gets slashed more total DOTs. Since rewards are evenly distributed among validators elected to the consensus group, there is no economic advantage in staking more DOTs than required to be in the active set. In fact, because slashing is proportional, staking excess DOTs increases the loss in the event of slashing.
In general, Polkadot slashing is based on security threat levels:
THREAT LEVEL |
SLASHABLE BEHAVIOR |
MAX % SLASHED |
| Level 1 | Low security threats such as isolated cases of unresponsiveness | 0.1% (or kicking the validator out of the active set) |
| Level 2 | Misconduct that occurs in good faith but is due to bad practices | 1% |
| Level 3 | Misconduct unlikely to happen in good faith or by accident, but does not lead to serious security risks or resource use | 10% |
| Level 4 | Misconduct that a) poses a serious security risk to the system, b) shows large levels of collusion among validators, and/or c) forces the system to spend a large amount of resources to deal with them | 100% |
Bison Trails charges a percentage service fee on all rewards earned by tokens delegated to our validator. The service fee is paid to Bison Trails automatically by the protocol. You can then withdraw your rewards from the protocol directly.
A controller is a 1-to-1 proxy for your stash (where your tokens live). A controller can act on behalf of the tokens in your stash to nominate validators and participate in consensus, without being able to send transactions. This helps protect your funds because your stash account will not need to be accessed often.
Managing a Polkadot controller yourself is time-consuming and difficult. It requires you to take frequent actions to maintain and properly manage your participation effort. If done incorrectly, self-management of your controller and validators puts your funds at risk of slashing due to the liveness requirements of the protocol.
Bison Trails’ managed controllers provide increased security, stability, and convenience, while reducing the risks of slashing. In addition, Bison Trails’ can optimize your participation in the network by spinning up and down validators on your behalf. You retain custody and control of your stash and nominations.
Choosing to delegate to another controller account is a simple 2-step process within the PolkadotUI. Keep your stash in cold storage where it’s safest and choose a Bison Trails managed controller for accessibility and security.
Follow the above instructions to bond to our validators directly or contact us if you have questions about getting started bonding to a non-custodial Bison Trails controller, managed on your behalf.
We offer multiple ways for DOT holders to earn Polkadot participatory rewards by securing the network:
Bison Trails Managed ControllersA controller is a 1-to-1 proxy for your stash (where your tokens live). A controller can act on behalf of the tokens in your stash to nominate validators and participate in consensus, without being able to send transactions. This helps protect your funds because your stash account will not need to be accessed often.
Managing a Polkadot controller yourself is time-consuming and difficult. It requires you to take frequent actions to maintain and properly manage your participation effort. If done incorrectly, self-management puts your funds at risk of slashing due to the liveness requirements of the protocol.
Bison Trails’ managed controllers provide increased security and convenience, while reducing the risks of slashing. You retain custody and control of your stash and nominations. Choosing to bond to another controller account is a simple 2-step process within the PolkadotUI. Keep your stash in cold storage where it’s safest and choose a Bison Trails managed controller for accessibility and security.
Follow the above instructions to bond to our validators directly or contact us if you have questions about getting started bonding to a non-custodial Bison Trails controller, managed on your behalf.
Contact us
Our new staking dashboard for Substrate networks Polkadot and Kusama offers insights about the performance of your validators, so you can be confident about your participation.
Our eighth edition of the most important developments in the Substrate Ecosystem curated by Elias Simos, Protocol Specialist at Bison Trails.
Our seventh edition of the most important developments in the Substrate Ecosystem curated by Elias Simos, Protocol Specialist at Bison Trails.
Our sixth edition of the most important developments in the Substrate Ecosystem curated by Elias Simos, Protocol Specialist at Bison Trails.
Our fifth edition of the most important developments in the Substrate Ecosystem curated by Elias Simos, Protocol Specialist at Bison Trails.
Have tokens on other networks? Learn more about delegating to our public validators on Celo, Cosmos, Edgeware, Kusama, Livepeer, Ontology, Solana, and more. We also offer dedicated participation clusters.
Learn more about delegation in our guide to delegating digital assets.
If you have questions, or if you are interested in running a validator, please contact us. Our protocol specialists are happy to assist you.