Skip to main content
Unstaking is not instant. When you request to unstake, your position enters a cooldown — a waiting period before you can withdraw your principal.

​
Cooldown by tier

RoleCooldown
Compute Node1 day (24h)
Validator2 days (48h)
Yield Enjoyer12 hours
Validators have the longest cooldown because their attestations back other participants; compute nodes sit in the middle; pure-yield positions have the shortest.

​
How it works

1

Unstake

You call unstake. The position flips to unstaking and the engine snapshots an absolute unlock time = now + your tier’s cooldown.
2

Wait

Your principal stays locked in the vault for the cooldown window. The position no longer earns new rewards (already-accrued rewards remain claimable).
3

Withdraw

After the unlock time passes, you withdraw your principal back to your wallet.

​
Why it can’t be changed on you

The unlock time is snapshotted at the moment you unstake and stored on your position. Even if the network later changes the cooldown parameter, an in-progress unstake uses the value captured when you started — it can never be retroactively extended (or shortened). What you signed up for is what you get.
Cooldowns protect the network from instant mass-exits and give validators/operators a predictable window. They are enforced on-chain by comparing the current time against your stored unlock time — there is no off-chain trust involved.
See the full flow in Unstake & Cooldown.