You stake PYTH by connecting a Solana wallet to the official Pyth staking app at staking.pyth.network, depositing tokens into a staking account, and either delegating them to a publisher pool under Oracle Integrity Staking (OIS) or locking them for governance votes. OIS pays rewards capped at 10% a year, with most pools earning roughly 1% to 8%, and carries a slashing risk; governance staking pays nothing but gives voting power in the Pyth Network DAO.
Both options run on weekly epochs, and both lock your tokens for at least one full epoch when you leave. The details below cover which one fits your goals and how to do it without surprises.
Two Kinds of PYTH Staking Compared
The two staking modes use the same token and the same app, but they do different jobs.
| Feature | Oracle Integrity Staking | Governance staking |
|---|---|---|
| Purpose | Backs publishers' price data with collateral | Grants voting power in the Pyth DAO |
| Rewards | Yes, up to a 10% annual cap set by the DAO | None |
| Slashing risk | Yes, up to 5% if the chosen publisher misreports | None |
| Voting power | Yes, OIS stake also counts for governance | Yes, one staked token equals one vote |
| Activation | Start of the next epoch | Start of the next epoch |
| Exit | One full epoch cooldown | One full epoch cooldown |
Epochs last seven days and begin every Thursday at 00:00 UTC. Everything that determines rewards, from pool sizes to rates, is captured at the start of each epoch and held fixed until the next one, as described in the Oracle Integrity Staking documentation.
Staking PYTH Step by Step
The process takes a few minutes if your tokens already sit in a Solana wallet.
- Move PYTH to a Solana wallet. PYTH is an SPL token, so any wallet that supports Solana tokens works. Keep a small amount of SOL for transaction fees.
- Open the official staking app. Go to staking.pyth.network directly rather than through a search result or social media link, since fake staking sites are a common phishing route.
- Connect and create a staking account. The app creates an on-chain account that holds your staked PYTH. Approving it costs a small SOL fee.
- Deposit PYTH into the account. Deposited tokens are still yours but now sit inside the staking program.
- Choose your mode. For OIS, pick one or more publisher pools and delegate an amount to each. For governance only, lock the tokens in the governance section.
- Wait for the next epoch. Your stake activates at the next Thursday 00:00 UTC. Rewards for OIS accrue per epoch and can be claimed in the app.
Unstaking works in reverse. You request the withdrawal, the tokens enter a one-epoch cooldown, and after that they can be moved back to your wallet. Depending on when in the week you start, the full exit can take up to about two weeks.
Picking a Publisher Pool
Choosing a pool is the only decision that affects both your reward and your risk, so it deserves a little homework.
Each publisher pool has a soft cap that grows with the number of price feeds that publisher supplies, a design Pyth set out when it introduced Oracle Integrity Staking. Stake above the cap earns nothing but can still be slashed, which makes an over-subscribed pool a poor deal. The staking app shows each pool's current stake against its cap, its recent reward rate and the publisher's data-quality record.
A delegation fee, set by the DAO and identical across pools, is taken from delegator rewards before they reach you. Pools that are well under capacity and run by publishers with long, clean track records tend to give the best balance. Spreading stake across two or three pools reduces the damage if any single publisher is penalized.
Rewards, Risks and What Staking Does to Supply
Staking rewards come from the DAO's publisher reward pool, one of the five genesis allocations described in our PYTH tokenomics breakdown. That pool is finite. Over the long run, staking yields depend on the DAO's budget and on protocol revenue rather than on new inflation.
The risks are specific:
- Slashing. If your chosen publisher submits data that harms a protocol, up to 5% of the pool, including delegated stake, can be slashed. The DAO decides what happens to slashed tokens.
- Liquidity lock. Staked PYTH has no receipt token, unlike liquid staking products, so you cannot trade it during the cooldown.
- Price exposure. A 6% yield does little against a token that has moved 20% in a week. Staking adds return to a long-term holding and offers no protection against a falling price.
That last point is why traders often size staking around the unlock calendar. The May 2027 cliff, and the scenarios it creates, are modeled in our PYTH price prediction.
Staking Versus Trading PYTH
Staking suits holders who plan to keep PYTH for months and want both a yield and a vote. It requires self-custody in Solana wallets and patience with weekly epochs.
Active traders usually prefer to keep PYTH liquid on an exchange, where they can exit in seconds or hedge with perpetual futures when volatility spikes. Some do both: a core stake on-chain for rewards, plus an exchange position they can adjust around news.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the APY for staking PYTH?
PYTH staking rewards are capped at 10% a year by the Pyth DAO, and most OIS pools have paid between about 1% and 8%. The actual rate depends on the pool's capacity, the publisher's performance and the delegation fee. Governance-only staking pays no rewards.
How long does it take to unstake PYTH?
Unstaking PYTH takes one full seven-day epoch after your withdrawal request. Because epochs start on Thursdays at 00:00 UTC, the wait can stretch to almost two weeks depending on when you request it.
Can I lose PYTH by staking?
Yes, staked PYTH in Oracle Integrity Staking can be slashed by up to 5% if the publisher you delegated to submits faulty data. Governance staking has no slashing risk. Spreading stake across several reputable pools limits the exposure.
Staking PYTH With Your Eyes Open
Staking PYTH is a low-effort way to earn a modest yield and a say in how the network is run, as long as you accept weekly lockups and a small slashing risk. The best results come from well-chosen pools and a clear view of why you are holding the token in the first place.
If you would rather keep your PYTH liquid, trade PYTH on the LeveX spot market or take a directional view with PYTH perpetual futures. You can find more token basics in Crypto in a Minute.