🔬Cardano SRB
Learn how Cardano staking rewards are calculated. ADASRB formula covers epoch rewards, active staked tokens, pool performance, and commission rates.
ADASRB is a benchmark representing the mean, annualized staking rate across all active Cardano validators.
ADASRB is calculated and published by Staking Rewards via the Cardano Profile and Data API.
TL;DR: Cardano staking rewards are determined by dividing epoch rewards by total active staked tokens and annualizing over 365 days (each epoch is 5 days). Validator-level rewards factor in pool performance, stake amount, and commission rate. Cardano has no slashing mechanism.
er
Epoch Rewards
The rewards to be distributed among all staking pools within the protocol. Each epoch lasts 5 days.
ast
Active Staked Tokens
The sum of all staked tokens that are eligible for reward distribution. There is a 2-epoch delay period where new tokens do not qualify for distribution.
Slashing
Cardano does not have a slashing mechanism.
ADA Validator Staking Reward Rate: ADASRB(v)
Staking Rewards calculates the ADASRB for each validator based on their individual performance, commission (fixed cost and margin), and luck factor. The rate is what the pool's delegators receive under the Cardano reward rules: the pool first takes its fixed cost, then its margin of the remainder. When a pool's rewards do not cover its fixed cost, its delegators receive nothing and ADASRB(v) is 0.
pr
Pool Rewards
The rewards attributed to a specific pool for the epoch, given its uptime, staked tokens, and luck factor.
fc
Fixed Cost
The fixed amount of ADA per epoch the pool takes before its margin.
m
Margin
The share of the remaining rewards the pool takes.
pst
Pool Staked Tokens
The pool's active stake (self-staked plus delegated tokens) in the same epoch as the pool rewards.
The published validator commission is the pool operator's share of its epoch rewards, min(1, (fc + m * max(0, pr - fc)) / pr), or m when the pool earned no rewards. A pool whose rewards do not cover its fixed cost takes all of them, so its commission is 100%. The commission can never exceed 100%.
Observation Period:
The ADASRB is determined based on the latest generated block at the point of evaluation.
This data is then annualized for a comprehensive year-long projection.
Calculation
The calculation happens every 2 hours and is immediately published via Data API.
Limitations
ADASRB employs a 365-day convention for annualizing current slot times. This convention remains consistent and does not accommodate adjustments for leap years.
ADA Real Reward Rate: ADASRB^R
The real reward rate calculates the ADASRB adjusted for inflation in the network.
ir
Inflation Rate
The annualized net growth of the total ADA supply, divided by the circulating supply. Total supply grows as ADA leaves the reserve on its way to a maximum supply of 45 billion ADA. See the formula below.
Inflation Rate: ir
er
Epoch Rewards
The rewards paid to the pools' registered reward accounts for the epoch.
τ
Treasury Growth Rate
The protocol parameter tau: the share of the epoch reward pot (E + F) that goes to the treasury (0.2).
E
Monetary Expansion
The ADA released from the reserve in the epoch.
ρ
Monetary Expansion Rate
The protocol parameter rho: the fraction of the ADA reserve released per epoch (0.003).
b
Blocks Produced
The number of blocks produced in the epoch. Its ratio to the expected 21,600 blocks per epoch (432,000 slots x active slot coefficient 0.05) scales the expansion, capped at 1.
R
ADA Reserves
The ADA not yet released: the maximum supply of 45 billion ADA minus the total supply.
F
Epoch Transaction Fees
The transaction fees collected in the epoch.
cs
Circulating Supply
The number of ADA tokens in circulation.
Inflation Rate Behavior
ir is the net growth of the total ADA supply per epoch, which is the decrease of the ADA reserve. It counts the rewards paid out plus the treasury's cut of the monetary expansion, minus the fees that were already in circulation. The result is annualized (365/5, one epoch lasts 5 days) and divided by the circulating supply.
Each epoch, the reward pot is the monetary expansion E plus the fees F. The treasury takes τ of the pot, the rest is shared out to pools, and any rewards not distributed return to the reserve. The reserve therefore shrinks by less than E, and supply growth declines as the reserve is depleted.
All terms refer to the latest epoch whose rewards are final (two epochs before the current one).
Rewards owed to unregistered reward accounts, which go to the treasury, are not counted. They are about 0.7% of the reserve decrease.
R is the reserves snapshot at the start of the current epoch, one epoch after the ledger's reference point. This understates ir by about 0.06% (relative).
Other Cardano metrics calculated by Staking Rewards:
Benchmark Commission
The average validator commission (the operator's share of the epoch rewards, see ADASRB(v)) across all active pools, weighted by each pool's live stake. Pools that take 100% of their rewards are included at 100%.
Delegated Tokens
The number of ADA tokens delegated to validators: a pool's live stake minus its self-staked tokens.
Self Staked Tokens
The number of ADA tokens staked by the pool owners in their own pool: the owners' live stake, capped at the pool's live stake.
Staking Wallets
Total number of unique delegations on-chain. It doesn't distinguish based on unique delegator addresses.
Stake Saturation Amount
The saturation point of a pool: the stake above which its rewards stop growing. It is the total supply (the maximum supply of 45 billion ADA minus the reserves) divided by the protocol parameter k, the target number of pools.
Expansion Rate
The protocol parameter rho: the fraction of the ADA reserve released as monetary expansion per epoch (0.003 = 0.3% per epoch). Published as a raw fraction.
Lockup Time
Cardano never locks staked ADA — it stays spendable in the wallet — so this is 0 seconds.
Unstaking Time
Undelegation on Cardano is instant with no unbonding period, so this is 0 seconds.
Data Sources:
Staking Rewards from indexed Cardano Blockchain RPC Endpoints
References:
📚 Learn more about ADA Staking
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