In Cardano, time is split up into Epochs where each Epoch is 5 days in duration. The following timeline dictates how long it will take to start earning rewards on your stake.
Assuming you registered and delegated at epoch N:
- At Epoch N + 1, your staking balance is included in a snapshot
- your staking balance is made up of the balance of all Payment Addresses linked to a Registered and Delegated Stake Key
- At Epoch N + 2, your stake activates
- At Epoch N + 3, your stake begins earning rewards
- At Epoch N + 4, your staking rewards are paid to your wallet automatically
- After this initial activation period, you will automatically receive staking rewards to your wallet every Epoch
No disruption to your rewards when changing delegationThe above timeline applies to new staking addresses. For an existing stake that is being re-delegated to Pier Two, there will be no disruption to your rewards.
You will continue to earn rewards from your old validator pool until epoch N+2, and the last payout of rewards from the old pool will occur in epoch N+3.
You will begin earning rewards from Pier Two in N+3 and will be reflected in your automatic rewards payouts from epoch N+4 onwards.