Are my ADA locked when staking?
Addressing the most common misconception about Cardano delegation.
No, absolutely not!
This is one of Cardano's greatest strengths compared to other Proof-of-Stake networks. When you delegate your ADA to a stake pool, your coins are never locked, frozen, or leaving your wallet.
You can think of Cardano delegation as pointing a flashlight at a pool operator to say "I vouch for them", while keeping the flashlight firmly in your own hand.
- You can send, sell, or trade your ADA at any moment without a "cooldown period".
- The network automatically takes periodic snapshots of your wallet balance to calculate your rewards.
- Because the ADA never leaves your wallet, you carry zero risk of the pool operator stealing your funds or getting hacked.