> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.inkwell.finance/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# How It Works

> The staking flow from deposit to rewards.

# How IKA Staking Works

## The staking lifecycle

```mermaid theme={null}
graph LR
    A[Deposit IKA] --> B[Allocate across validators]
    B --> C[Earn staking rewards]
    C --> D{Rebalance?}
    D -->|Yes| B
    D -->|No| C
    C --> E[Unstake]
    E --> F[Wait 1 epoch ~24h]
    F --> G[Withdraw IKA]
```

### 1. Deposit and allocate

When you stake, the allocation engine splits your IKA across multiple validators based on their composite score. You can:

* **Auto-allocate** — let the engine decide the split (recommended)
* **Manual select** — pick specific validators and amounts yourself

The engine enforces diversification: no single validator receives more than 40% of your total stake by default.

### 2. Earn rewards

Staking rewards accrue every epoch (\~24 hours). Your effective APY is the stake-weighted average across all your validators. The dashboard shows:

* Per-validator APY
* Weighted portfolio APY
* Historical APY trends

### 3. Rebalance

Validator performance shifts over time. The rebalance planner compares your current positions against optimal allocation and generates a step-by-step plan:

1. **Unstake** from underperforming validators
2. **Wait** one epoch for the cooldown
3. **Withdraw** the IKA
4. **Re-stake** with better-performing validators

### 4. Unstake and withdraw

Unstaking is a two-step process due to the Ika network's cooldown mechanism:

| Step | Action          | Wait time                  |
| ---- | --------------- | -------------------------- |
| 1    | Request unstake | Immediate                  |
| 2    | Withdraw        | After 1 epoch (\~24 hours) |

During the cooldown your tokens are locked — they don't earn rewards but cannot be lost.

## Amounts and decimals

IKA uses 9 decimal places. The minimum stake is 1 IKA.

| Human-readable | Base units (MIST) |
| -------------- | ----------------- |
| 1 IKA          | 1,000,000,000     |
| 10 IKA         | 10,000,000,000    |
| 100 IKA        | 100,000,000,000   |

The API and smart contracts always work in MIST. The frontend converts for display.