How To Use Your WAX Account In 2021
Getting a WAX account is a relatively easy task, but actually using the account and all of its features can be a confusing task for inexperienced users. In this article we will explain some of the features of your WAX account and how you can use them, using the WAX Cloud Wallet or Scatter.
Prerequisites
Before you can start, it is important that you have a WAX account. WAX has various wallets, with the most popular (and easiest to use) wallet being the WAX Cloud Wallet. Creating a WAX Cloud Wallet account is very easy, and can be done using an account on any major social platform. If you do not have a WAX Cloud Wallet yet, you can find our complete guide to the WAX Cloud Wallet here!
If you want to have more control over the keys of your WAX account, the Scatter wallet is another option. Before you continue, make sure this is the case (if you want to use Scatter):
- Scatter has been downloaded and installed
- You have a WAX account
- The keys of your WAX account are in Scatter
If you do not have a WAX account yet, or if the keys of your account are not in Scatter yet, you can follow our guide here.
Introduction to Bloks
Once that is done, make sure your WAX Cloud Wallet or Scatter is unlocked and go to Bloks. Bloks is a tool used to perform actions such as staking, unstaking, voting for Guilds, claiming rewards and much more. We will use Bloks to perform all the actions explained in the article.
To continue, you will have to connect your wallet to Bloks by clicking on the ‘Login’ button on the top right of the page, then select ‘WAX Cloud Wallet’ or ‘Scatter’ from the menu and follow the instructions. You can now go to the ‘Wallet’ section of Bloks.
Staking and unstaking
The first feature of WAX accounts is staking (and unstaking). Staking your WAX tokens allows you to do several things, such as sending transactions, voting for Guilds, and earning rewards. By default, the WAX Cloud Wallet has some resources staked to it, meaning you can perform a couple of transactions each day.
Staking your WAX tokens essentially means you lock your tokens for a certain period of time in order to gain access to resources and more on the WAX blockchain. This locked period is followed by an unlocking period of 72 hours, after you unstake your WAX tokens.
After you stake your tokens for either CPU or NET, you will immediately gain access to these resources (allowing you to perform the aforementioned actions) and you will continue to have access to these resources until you unstake your tokens. After the unstaking period of 72 hours has expired, your tokens will be transferable again.
If you’d like to learn more about WAX staking, we recommend reading this article.
Staking your tokens
Now you understand staking, it’s time to learn how you can actually stake your tokens. Make sure your WAX Cloud Wallet/Scatter is still open and unlocked, and you are logged in on Bloks. Then navigate to the ‘Stake CPU/NET’ page of the wallet.
On this page, you can decide how much you want to stake. We recommend staking your tokens in a 4/1 ratio for CPU/NET, as CPU is generally consumed at a much faster rate than NET, although any ratio works.
After you have filled in the amounts of WAX you would like to stake, click the ‘Stake’ button and accept the transaction.
Unstaking your tokens
If you would like to have access to your tokens again, you need to unstake them. Unstaking your tokens happens in the same way as staking your tokens, but on the ‘Unstake’ page of the wallet.
*Keep in mind that once a Genesis WAX token is unstaked, it permanently becomes a regular WAX token, which means it can never become a Genesis WAX token again (also meaning it is never able to earn GBM rewards again). Do NOT unstake your Genesis WAX tokens if you would like to continue earning GBM rewards. Use this page to view how much Genesis WAX tokens are staked for each resource.
Since we recommend staking your tokens in a 4/1 ratio for CPU/NET, we also recommend unstaking your tokens in a 4/1 ratio for CPU/NET. Pick your account from the list and fill in how much WAX you would like to unstake for each resource. Once that is done, click on the ‘Unstake’ button in the middle. Keep in mind that it will take 72 hours before these tokens are added to your liquid (transferable) token balance.
*Make sure you do not unstake 100% of your tokens, as this will make your account impossible to use without the help of other accounts. Always leave at least 0.1 WAX staked for both CPU and NET, as this will usually suffice for a couple of transactions per day and ensures you are able to transfer your tokens*
Voting for Guilds
Another key feature of your WAX account is the ability to vote for WAX Guilds. The WAX blockchain is operated by 21 Guilds and 36 standby Guilds. These Guilds produce blocks, operate the WAX blockchain, and contribute to the WAX ecosystem. Through voting, you can have a say in who gets to be a (paid) Guild.
There are 2 different ways to vote for Guilds. The first way to vote for Guilds is by selecting at least 16 and up to 30 Guilds and voting for them using your account. The second way to vote for Guilds is by selecting a proxy, which will vote for you. These proxies are managed by community members, and are an easy and quick alternative to voting for Guilds yourself. We will explain both ways below.
Keep in mind, that the strength of your vote slowly decays over time. After you vote, your vote strength is 100%, after which it will slowly start to decay to 0%. When your vote strength lowers, the weight/influence of your vote goes down (and it reduces your staking rewards as well). To reduce the impact of this vote decay, we recommend voting at least once a week, in order to maintain a high vote strength.
Voting for Guilds by yourself
As said above, the first way to vote for Guilds is by selecting at least 16 and up to 30 Guilds and voting for them using your account.
To do so, navigate to the ‘Vote’ section of Bloks and select the Guilds you want to vote for. After you have selected your Guilds, click on the ‘VOTE’ button and accept the transaction.
If you would like to refresh your vote to maintain a high vote strength, you can revisit the page, click ‘VOTE’ and then accept the transaction. This will refresh your vote (you will still vote for the same Guilds) and get your vote strength back to 100%.
Voting for Guilds using a proxy
The second, and easiest way to vote for Guilds, is through a proxy.
To select a proxy, go to the ‘Proxies’ section of Bloks and select a proxy from the list. By clicking on the proxy, you can read their values and voting guidelines (if they have added any information), allowing you to choose a proxies which shares your core values. After you have chosen your proxy, click on the ‘Proxy to …’ button and accept the transaction.
Do not forget to refresh your proxy vote as well, as your vote strength will still decrease over time if you vote for a proxy. To refresh your proxy vote, navigate to the proxy page and perform the same actions as earlier.
Claiming your rewards
WAX rewards are the final feature of WAX accounts which we will explain in this article. In short, there are 2 types of WAX rewards available to ‘regular’ WAX users, namely the staking rewards and the GBM rewards. These rewards are not automatically added to your account meaning you automatically have to claim them. They can be claimed every 24 hours although you do not need to claim these rewards every 24 hours, since they stack. If you’d like to learn more about WAX rewards, read our article here.
To claim the rewards, go to the ‘Claim GBM Rewards’ section of the wallet, and click on the ‘Claim Both’ button and accept the transaction.
If your page looks different from the image, you are not eligible for (some of) the rewards. If only one of the buttons appears, use that button to claim the rewards. More information on the requirements to become eligible to receive these rewards can be found in our article on WAX rewards.
NFTs on WAX
Viewing, trading, and using your NFTs is another great feature of WAX accounts. Since this is such a big topic, we have written a complete guide to NFTs on WAX here.
About us
Founding block producer for the EOS mainnet. Telos, Proton, BOS, FIO, and Instar Block Producer. Active top WAX Guild. Partner in the Europechain sister chain. Investor in blockchain projects. Governance, intercultural cooperation, and security specialist. You can find us here:
EOS, Europechain, Proton, and Instar Block Producer name: eosamsterdam
BOS Block Producer name: amsterdambos
Telos Block Producer name: amsterdam
FIO Block Producer name: bp@eosamsterdam
WAX Guild name: amsterdamwax
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Written by Yannick Slenter for EOS Amsterdam
