How the Staking API works

The Stakely Staking API follows the same four-step model on every supported network: craft → sign → prepare → broadcast. Understanding this flow once is enough to integrate any chain, because only the payload details change between networks; the shape of the flow does not.

The API is non-custodial: Stakely crafts unsigned transactions and reads on-chain data, but signing always happens in your environment. Private keys, seed phrases, and custody secrets are never sent to Stakely.

Base URL

All endpoints are served from:

https://staking-api.stakely.io

Every authenticated request must include your API key in the X-API-KEY header, and may include an X-NETWORK header to target a specific chain/network. See Authentication for details.

The four-step flow

1. Craft

Call the network-specific action endpoint (stake, delegate, unstake, undelegate, withdraw, claim-rewards, compound, …). The API returns an unsigned transaction payload. The exact fields depend on the chain family:

Chain family	Unsigned payload fields returned
Cosmos	unsigned_tx_hex, tx_auth_info_hex, unsigned_tx_hash_hex
EVM (Ethereum StakeWise, Monad, Pharos)	serialized_tx_hex, raw_tx_hex_hash
Solana (native & JPool)	unsigned_tx_hex
Sui	unsigned_tx_b64

2. Sign

Sign the unsigned payload in your own environment. You can use a local private key, a browser wallet, a backend signer, or an external custodian/MPC service such as Fireblocks. Each network's Integration example page includes a full worked flow with both local-key and Fireblocks signing.

The signature format also depends on the chain family (a Cosmos signature hex, EVM r/s/v parts, a Solana signature, or a Sui base64 signature). See the per-network Integration example page for the exact format.

3. Prepare

Send the unsigned payload together with the signature(s) to the /action/prepare endpoint. The API assembles them into a single signed transaction, ready to broadcast. This step exists so you never have to re-implement chain-specific transaction serialization.

4. Broadcast

You have two options:

• Broadcast with Stakely: send the signed transaction to the /action/broadcast endpoint. The API submits it to the network and returns the transaction hash.
• Broadcast yourself: submit the signed transaction through your own RPC node if you prefer to keep broadcasting in-house.

Both are valid; broadcasting is the only step where using Stakely is entirely optional.

Reading on-chain data

Beyond crafting transactions, the API exposes read-only endpoints to display staking state:

• GET /networks: list the networks enabled for your API key and their X-NETWORK values.
• GET /stake-balance/{address}, GET /balances, GET /balance/{address}: active stake, rewards, unbonding/withdrawal state (fields vary per network).
• Vault, historic, and stats endpoints on networks that support them (e.g. Ethereum StakeWise).

Read endpoints are safe to call as often as you need and never change on-chain state.

What differs per network

The flow is identical everywhere, but a few protocol-level details change. Always check the network's own section for these:

Difference	Examples
Extra steps	Solana can use a durable nonce account for offline/multisig signing; StakeWise separates unstake (enter exit queue) from withdraw.
Unbonding / lock periods	Cosmos: 21 days · Solana: cooldown of several epochs · Pharos: 84-epoch withdraw window.
Rewards model	Solana native auto-compounds (no claim action) · Cosmos/Monad/Pharos expose explicit claim-rewards.
Minimums	e.g. Solana native 0.01 SOL, Magma 100 MON, JPool 0.003 SOL, Sui 1 SUI.

Validators and revenue share

By default, staking through the API delegates to Stakely's own validator infrastructure, configured per network for your account. You do not run or select nodes:

• By default, on every network the API stakes to the Stakely validator configured for that network; no validator field is required in the request.
• White-label validators: if you have a white-label validator (infrastructure that Stakely operates and maintains on your behalf but that you own), the API can offer methods to direct staking actions to your validator instead of Stakely's. Contact us to enable this for your account.

Rewards are produced and distributed by each blockchain protocol itself, not by Stakely. Revenue sharing (for example, a share of validator commission) is handled according to the private commercial agreement in place for your account; it is not configured through the API. To set up or discuss commercial terms, contact Stakely at [email protected].

Next steps

• Do it end to end in a few minutes on testnet: Quickstart.
• Set up credentials: Authentication.
• Understand error responses and how to handle broadcasts: Errors & responses.
• Jump into a specific network from the sidebar (Cosmos Hub, Ethereum StakeWise, Monad, Pharos, Solana, Sui).