It is now possible to stake FLR using the Flare Portal and MetaMask wallet or other Wallet Connect enabled wallets.

The Flare Portal is a multi-purpose dapp for wrapping native tokens (FLR/SGB), delegating to the FTSO system, participating in Governance voting, rewards claiming, and now staking on P-Chain to validators on Flare with the opportunity to earn staking rewards.

Staking on the Flare Portal is not intended to replace the FlareStake GUI (graphical user interface) or the Staking CLI (command line interface) for Ledger users, but rather provide an additional option for those who prefer MetaMask wallet. Additionally, FLR staking is also available on third party mobile wallets such as Bifrost Wallet and SolidiFi. The community should always weigh the benefits and risks of each option to decide which is most suitable for them.

Getting Started

To stake FLR using the Flare Portal with MetaMask, ensure you have:

1. Logged into your MetaMask mobile wallet or MetaMask Chrome extension.
2. Have added the Flare Network as a custom ‘Network’ in the settings tab and have selected the correct Flare account/address which holds the FLR tokens you want to stake.
3. Selected a native MetaMask wallet and not an imported one or other associated hardware device address such as Ledger, as the latter options will not work for staking in this initial iteration.

For additional MetaMask wallet setup info please refer to our official MetaMask User Guide in the documentation.

Enabling ‘Eth_sign Requests’ in MetaMask

Staking transactions require a form of blind signing and users must first enable the ‘Eth_sign request’ tab within MetaMask’s settings. There are risks associated with blind signing in that the user executing the transactions does not have full visibility of the data relevant to what they are about to approve. This elevates the potential for compromises due to viruses, bugs, and other attacks.

To mitigate these risks, a Transaction Verification Tool was created and is available on the official Flare GitHub page. After initiating a transaction, users can copy the transaction data by clicking the “Copy unsigned transaction” button on the Flare Portal and paste it into the CLI verification tool which will then decode the data by displaying specific parameters of each transaction.

The user should inspect the decoded info and verify if the messageToSign field is equal to the message shown in MetaMask. If so, then the right transaction will be signed. If any of the data does not match the user should immediately reject the transaction. In a future iteration of Flare Portal staking, transaction verification will be made even easier by scanning a QR code with a user-friendly mobile application.

In order to enable ‘Eth_sign Requests’:

1. Access MetaMask’s ‘Settings’ tab.
2. Select ‘Advanced’.
3. Toggle on ‘Eth_sign requests’.
4. Follow the subsequent prompts.

Staking

Now that your Metamask wallet is set up you are now ready to stake by completing the following steps:

1. Copy the link to the verified Flare Portal site into Metamask’s built in web browser or the Chrome extension connected browser of your computer.
2. Click ‘Connect’ in the upper right hand corner and select ‘Metamask’ to sync your wallet.
3. Select ‘Staking’ in the lower left hand corner of the portal interface
4. Be sure that your P-Chain address is displayed in the middle of the screen. If not, you’ll see an ‘Enable’ button which means you haven’t previously initiated a transaction from your MM wallet. In this case, simply press ‘Enable’ which will trigger a small transaction and generate your P-Chain address.
5. Next- select ‘Deposit’ to move FLR from your main account (C-Chain) onto P-Chain which is where staking occurs. Choose the amount of FLR you wish to move and again hit ‘Deposit.’ You will need to sign/execute two transactions, one on each chain. This will also be the case if you later decide to withdraw funds back to your main account on C-Chain. Please note that you cannot stake ‘WFLR’ and will need to unwrap them prior to sending FLR to the P-Chain.
6. Once you have finished moving your funds to P-Chain you are ready to stake. Select the ‘Stake’ button and input the FLR amount to stake ( 50,000 FLR minimum required), the length of time you want to stake for, and the NodeID of the validator you wish to stake to. The community can review specific Validator data on sites such as FlareBuilders, FlareMetrics, SolidiFi, and the FlareValidatorTracker to help choose. Once you’ve input all parameters, select ‘Stake’ and sign your transaction.
7. Be sure to use the tool to verify data of each transaction and then disable ‘Eth_Sign Requests’ in MetaMask settings once you have finished staking.

For additional staking information please visit our Flare Staking Guide in the Technical Documentation/User Guides section or review the ‘help section’ on the Flare Portal itself within the Staking tab.

Staking using MetaMask is also available via the FTSO AU website. Their blog includes more details and a tutorial video.

Staking with Wallet Connect

Staking FLR using Wallet Connect and the Flare Portal will only be possible if you connect a wallet that has support for eth_sign transactions.