# Staking Guide (Phase-1)

A step-by-step guide to staking SOL on Toby, earning genSOL, and starting to accumulate staking yield, MEV rewards, and Pearls.

## What You Need

* **A Solana wallet** (Phantom, Solflare, or any compatible wallet)
* **SOL to stake:** the amount you want to deposit
* **A small amount of SOL for gas fees.** Transaction costs on Solana are minimal but not zero.

## How to Stake

1. Visit the Toby staking page at [app.toby.so](https://app.toby.so)
2. Connect your Solana wallet on mainnet
3. Open the **Stake** tab and enter the amount of SOL to deposit
4. Click **Stake** and confirm the transaction in your wallet
5. Receive **genSOL** (1:1 ratio) in your wallet once the transaction finalizes
6. Start earning staking yield + MEV rewards automatically. No further action needed.

Minting is immediate as long as the current tranche cap hasn't been reached. Zero deposit fees.

## What You Earn

Staking SOL on Toby gives you three streams of value:

* **Staking yield:** Standard Solana staking rewards, accrued automatically while you hold genSOL.
* **MEV rewards:** Your share of OpenMEV revenue generated through Toby's Validator Optimizer.
* **Pearls:** Daily reward points that unlock priority allocation in the $TOBY public sale and future benefits ([learn more](/toby-token/pearls.md)).

All three start accruing the moment you hold genSOL. No claiming or compounding required.

## Tranche System

genSOL supply is managed through capped tranches to control growth:

* The first tranche starts at **10,000 genSOL**
* Once a tranche fills, there's a short cooldown for snapshot and refill
* Multiple tranches will open over time, but **early tranches carry the greatest benefits** (higher Pearl rates, Black Pearl eligibility)
* If the current tranche is full, wait for the next one to open

You can hold genSOL for rewards, or deploy it across DeFi platforms integrated with Toby.

## How to Unstake

Open the **Unstake** tab and choose your method:

| Method                     | Speed        | Fee         | Best For                      |
| -------------------------- | ------------ | ----------- | ----------------------------- |
| **Instant** (Sanctum swap) | Immediate    | Market rate | Need SOL now                  |
| **Delayed** (Unbond)       | End of epoch | 0.1%        | No urgency, zero price impact |

**Instant Unstake:** Get SOL back immediately at the current pool quote. One transaction, no swap steps. Review the net amount, approve, and SOL returns to your wallet.

**Delayed Unstake:** Start an unbond and claim at the next epoch boundary. The 0.1% fee is included in the quote upfront. Choose this when you're comfortable waiting through the unbond cycle to avoid any price impact.

## What's Next

genSOL is Toby's Phase-1 staked token. When **tSOL** (Toby's native LST) launches in Phase-2, the app will offer a one-click migration path. For now, mint, hold, and use [genSOL](/products-and-infrastructure/gensol.md). Stack your [Pearls](/toby-token/pearls.md) while the rates are highest.

***

**Related:**

* [genSOL](/products-and-infrastructure/gensol.md)
* [Pearls](/toby-token/pearls.md)


---

# Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation

If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question.

Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter:

```
GET https://learn.toby.foundation/toby-token/staking-guide.md?ask=<question>
```

The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language.
The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation.

Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.