<p>There is an initial 2.17 ADA fee when delegating a wallet for the first time.</p>
<p>Here's the breakdown of that: 2 ADA deposit goes towards registering your stake address on the blockchain and ~0.17 ADA is the transaction fee.</p>
<p><em>Note: the 2 ADA deposit is refundable upon unstaking</em></p>
<p>Happy staking!</p>
<p>The 2 ADA (current configuration of &quot;keyDeposit&quot;) comes from <a href="https://hydra.iohk.io/build/3670619/download/1/mainnet-shelley-genesis.json" rel="noreferrer">the mainnet genesis file</a>.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-01-16T22:02:39.160Z
This is great.  Do you know the source of info for this, in the specs?
TheStophe
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-01-16T22:18:57.287Z
The 2 ADA deposit comes from the "keyDeposit" param [here](https://hydra.iohk.io/build/3670619/download/1/mainnet-shelley-genesis.json)
BETTR Stake Pool
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-01-16T19:28:14.903Z
2022-01-16T22:22:53.877Z
2022-01-16T22:22:53.877Z
BETTR Stake Pool
<p>There is no <em>staking</em> minimum, but there is a UTXO minimum. With current <a href="https://developers.cardano.org/docs/governance/cardano-improvement-proposals/cip-0009/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">protocol parameters</a>, any UTXO on Cardano must have a minimum of 1 ADA (minUTXOvalue).</p>
<p>So while possible in principle, there is currently no way to create a UTXO, and thus to stake, anything less than 1 ADA.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-01-16T17:11:12.507Z
Thanks. I helped onboard a friend to setup a Cardano wallet, had 2.83 Ada in there, had him setup staking.  The .833 Ada delegation fee went thru, however the 2 Ada never appeared back in his wallet, although on the blockchain the transaction went thru.  I opened up a ticket in ccvault wallet to perhaps fix this display or add a warning.  https://github.com/ccwalletio/tracker/issues/68
TheStophe
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-01-16T17:15:20.997Z
Just to be clear - the staking certificate (delegation) fee is 2 ADA. Whatever is leftover in the wallet will then be staked, plus whatever you add to the wallet. If you'd like to receive the 2 ADA back you would have to de-register your staking key. Think of the 2 ADA as a deposit for staking that you will get back if you choose to unstake.
zhekson
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-01-16T16:38:34.577Z
2022-01-16T16:38:34.577Z
zhekson
<p>What is the <strong>minimum</strong> (lowest) amount of Ada needed to <strong>stake</strong>?</p>
<p>Could you have the delegation fee + 0.00001 Ada?  Where is this referenced?</p>

<stake-pool><staking>
What is the minimum amount of Ada needed to stake?
# What is the minimum amount of Ada needed to stake?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2022-01-16)

What is the **minimum** (lowest) amount of Ada needed to **stake**?

Could you have the delegation fee + 0.00001 Ada? Where is this referenced?

**Tags:** stake-pool, staking

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## 2 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2022-01-16. Score: 6

There is an initial 2.17 ADA fee when delegating a wallet for the first time.

Here's the breakdown of that: 2 ADA deposit goes towards registering your stake address on the blockchain and ~0.17 ADA is the transaction fee.

*Note: the 2 ADA deposit is refundable upon unstaking*

Happy staking!

The 2 ADA (current configuration of "keyDeposit") comes from [the mainnet genesis file](https://hydra.iohk.io/build/3670619/download/1/mainnet-shelley-genesis.json).

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: This is great.  Do you know the source of info for this, in the specs?  
> **username_1**: The 2 ADA deposit comes from the "keyDeposit" param [here](https://hydra.iohk.io/build/3670619/download/1/mainnet-shelley-genesis.json)  

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### Answer by username_2 on 2022-01-16. Score: 2

There is no *staking* minimum, but there is a UTXO minimum. With current [protocol parameters](https://developers.cardano.org/docs/governance/cardano-improvement-proposals/cip-0009/), any UTXO on Cardano must have a minimum of 1 ADA (minUTXOvalue).

So while possible in principle, there is currently no way to create a UTXO, and thus to stake, anything less than 1 ADA.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Thanks. I helped onboard a friend to setup a Cardano wallet, had 2.83 Ada in there, had him setup staking.  The .833 Ada delegation fee went thru, however the 2 Ada never appeared back in his wallet, although on the blockchain the transaction went thru.  I opened up a ticket in ccvault wallet to perhaps fix this display or add a warning.  https://github.com/ccwalletio/tracker/issues/68  
> **username_2**: Just to be clear - the staking certificate (delegation) fee is 2 ADA. Whatever is leftover in the wallet will then be staked, plus whatever you add to the wallet. If you'd like to receive the 2 ADA back you would have to de-register your staking key. Think of the 2 ADA as a deposit for staking that you will get back if you choose to unstake.  

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