# Polkadot

Polkadot is a layer-0 protocol and multichain network founded by Dr. Gavin Wood, co-founder and former CTO of Ethereum. Polkadot provides security, scalability, and interoperability to a diverse ecosystem of use-case specific layer-1 blockchains and their dapps. Polkadot offers open governance, seamless upgradeability, energy efficiency, secure cross-chain interoperability, and more.

You can find the link to the block explorer below:

{% embed url="<https://explorer.polkascan.io>" %}

* [Staking Guide](#staking-guide)
* [Validator Address](#validator-address)
* [Staking Mechanics](#staking-mechanics)

### Staking Guide

{% embed url="<https://www.luganodes.com/blog/DOTSG/>" %}

### Validator Address

{% tabs %}
{% tab title="Mainnet" %}

<table><thead><tr><th width="200">Type</th><th>Address</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>Stash Address</td><td>1vTaLKEyj2Wn9xEkUGixBkVXJAd4pzDgXzz9CuVjhVqhHRQ</td></tr><tr><td>Controller Address</td><td>145wCKDUDhtZEFJPDc9izV7VMLjCCkvVKdChj71Vv8MwsfZ5</td></tr><tr><td>Reward Address</td><td>1vTaLKEyj2Wn9xEkUGixBkVXJAd4pzDgXzz9CuVjhVqhHRQ</td></tr></tbody></table>
{% endtab %}
{% endtabs %}

### Staking Mechanics

<table><thead><tr><th width="227">Metrics</th><th>Details</th><th data-hidden>Details</th><th data-hidden></th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>Reward Frequency</td><td>once every era (24 hours)</td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Auto-compounding</td><td>No (But can be done manually by validator or by a script)</td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Penalty</td><td>Yes if validator stops earning rewards for every block or era<br>If offline for a prolonged period the network will automatically "chill" the validator.<br>Chilling removes the validator from the active validator set and disqualifies them from the next election</td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Slashing</td><td>Yes with upto 100% penalty (equivocation or downtime)</td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Stake Lockup</td><td>Yes</td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Unbonding Period</td><td>28 eras (28 days)</td><td></td><td></td></tr></tbody></table>