Polkadot is no longer using 28-day unbonding for new pool exits

Joining a pool with a small DOT balance

One DOT is the minimum bond for joining a Polkadot nomination pool through a funded account.

After the Asset Hub migration, an active Polkadot account requires 0.01 DOT, and the join transaction also needs a separate network fee. Leaving a modest free balance prevents underfunding when the fee is estimated at submission. The Polkadot Staking Dashboard presents the pool list and sends the signed join call. Talisman, SubWallet and Nova Wallet provide account interfaces, while Ledger and Polkadot Vault offer separate signing arrangements.

The amount entered on the join screen becomes bonded rather than transferable after settlement. Before signing, retain the account-preserving balance and enough DOT for the displayed fee. The dashboard should then label the account as a pool member and show the delegated amount separately from free funds. The member still owns the DOT; the Delegated Staking pallet restricts its movement while the pool uses it for Nominated Proof-of-Stake.

Pool membership differs from solo nomination and liquid staking

One account can belong to only one nomination pool, so selection determines the validator set and commission applied to that position.

Direct nomination gives the account control over nominees, subject to a separate minimum bond and the election system’s active threshold. A nomination pool combines member stake and lets its nominator role choose as many as 16 validators. Liquid-staking protocols take another route: Bifrost issues vDOT and Acala issues LDOT as transferable representations of staked DOT. Native pool membership issues accounting points rather than a transferable token, keeping the lifecycle inside Polkadot staking calls. Moving between native pools requires a full exit first.

Pool status and commission shape the join decision

Three on-chain states - open, blocked and destroying - show whether joining is possible and who can initiate member exits.

An open pool accepts a join call. A blocked pool rejects new members, while its authorised role may start an existing member’s unbonding. Destroying is irreversible: the pool accepts no new members and progresses toward removal. The Polkadot Staking Dashboard also exposes whether the pool is nominating and earning, which matters because an inactive pool accrues no member reward for that era. Its member count and total bonded value provide scale, but neither proves future election activity. Validator choices still decide whether the combined position backs an active validator during the next era.

• Read the current commission before signing.
• Inspect any declared maximum commission and change-rate limit.
• Review the selected validator accounts and their active status.
• Check the depositor, root, nominator and bouncer accounts.
• Confirm that the pool state is open.

Commission is deducted from pool rewards before the remainder is divided among members. A maximum commission, once set, can only move lower, while a configured commission-change rule can only become more restrictive. Those commitments improve predictability, although the current rate still controls the next allocation. The choice changes when a pool stops nominating or enters a state that no longer accepts members.

Points translate the pool position into a DOT balance

One pool point starts with a 1:1 relationship to one smallest balance unit, giving a new pool straightforward ownership accounting.

The Nomination Pools pallet calculates each member’s DOT value from the pool’s balance-to-points ratio rather than treating every point as permanently equal to one DOT. A member page should therefore show bonded points, their DOT value, unbonding points and claimable rewards as separate fields. Historical pool adjustments can change the ratio, while current pure nominators are outside validator slashing. Reading only the point count misses the conversion that controls the amount available for unbonding.

DOT uses 10 decimal places, and one Planck equals 0.0000000001 DOT. Interfaces round for readability, but the runtime records integer Planck amounts. Small display differences around a full exit can therefore come from presentation precision. The all-funds option is preferable when the intent is to leave the pool, because it targets the complete recorded position rather than a rounded value typed from the screen.

Four claim permissions control reward handling

Four claim-permission settings decide who may trigger a member’s payout and whether the payout stays free or returns to the bond.

Two destinations serve different balance goals

Withdrawing to free balance

The claimPayout route transfers accrued rewards to the member account as transferable DOT. Rewards accrue pro rata from the member’s active points after pool commission. A first claim covers eligible rewards from the era after joining; later claims use the reward counter recorded at the previous payout. Pool rewards do not expire merely because the member waits to claim.

Compounding into pool points

The bondExtra route takes accrued rewards and adds them to the active pool position. That increases the member’s points at the prevailing conversion ratio. Compounding is not automatic by default, so an interface needs a signed action or a permission setting that lets another account trigger it.

Permission scope determines who presses the button

Permissioned keeps both actions with the member. PermissionlessCompound opens only compounding, PermissionlessWithdraw opens only payout to free balance and PermissionlessAll opens both triggers. In every case, the destination remains the member’s free balance or bonded position; the permission changes the caller, not the beneficiary.

Bonding more settles rewards before recording new points

One bondExtra action changes the active point balance and automatically settles rewards accrued against the previous balance.

This checkpoint prevents earlier rewards from being calculated with newly added stake. When extra DOT comes from free balance, the runtime pays the pending amount to the member and then issues points for the addition. When the member selects accrued rewards as the source, those rewards become extra bond. A dashboard can show the pending-reward field dropping to zero after either route, even though value was paid or compounded. The transaction event and free-balance change distinguish those outcomes.

A routine adjustment therefore starts by recording three fields: active DOT value, pending reward and free balance. After confirmation, compare all three again and note the new point count. That sequence explains a reward-field reset without treating it as lost accrual. The calculation changes if the pool commission or point conversion changed before the call entered a block.

A worked payout example connects commission to member rewards

Three variable inputs determine a pool member’s allocation: the pool reward, the commission rate and the member’s share of active points.

For this hypothetical calculation, all three changing inputs are hypothetical: a 100 DOT pool reward, a 5% commission and a 2% member share. The pool first retains 5 DOT as commission, leaving 95 DOT for members. Multiplying 95 DOT by 2% gives the member 1.9 DOT. That 1.9 DOT appears as accrued reward until a payout, compounding action or bonded-balance change settles it.

The example isolates pool-level allocation and omits the network fee for the later signed call. A live reward changes with validator performance, era payout, the member’s active-point share and the commission that the pool charges. The member should read the accrued amount from runtime-backed account data before choosing free balance or additional bond.

Partial unbonding creates a scheduled exit chunk

A 32-request limit applies to simultaneous partial unbonding chunks for one pool member, with each chunk recording its own future unlock era.

An unbond call converts the selected active points into an unbonding claim using the pool’s current balance-to-points ratio. The balance stops contributing to later staking rewards, while any points left active continue to accrue their share. Starting the request also settles rewards earned under the old active balance. During the waiting window, a pool member cannot rebond that scheduled chunk. A change of mind therefore still leads through withdrawal before those funds can support a new pool position. Fees apply separately to unbonding and withdrawal because each is an on-chain transaction with its own signature.

Partial unbonding preserves membership when active points remain. A full unbond starts the path to closing it. Status screens should separate active, unbonding and unlocked amounts, because their totals answer different questions. The relevant unlock era belongs to each chunk, so requests created under different rules can mature on different dates.

Two eras replaced 28 days for new pure-nominator exits

Two eras now set the normal unlock schedule for a new pure-nominator request, while 28 eras remain relevant to older chunks.

A Polkadot era targets 24 hours and contains 6 sessions, each targeting 4 hours. An unlock at the boundary 2 era indices ahead lands roughly 24 to 48 hours after submission rather than on a guaranteed wall-clock deadline. Block production and the era boundary determine the actual unlock moment. The member’s recorded unlock era is the decisive status field, especially when an interface still presents wording written for the former schedule.

A request created before the fast-unbond change keeps its original 28-era destination. The longer 28-era rule also remains relevant to validators and accounts tied to recent validator activity, while ordinary nomination-pool members follow the pure-nominator path. Existing legacy chunks do not shorten automatically. Their owner can leave them scheduled or, where the interface supports the required sequence, rebond and begin a new request under the current rule. The correct path changes with the unlock era already stored on-chain.

Withdrawal turns an unlocked claim into free DOT

Two distinct calls complete a pool exit: unbond starts the clock and withdrawUnbonded releases every matured claim.

Reaching the unlock era does not by itself make the balance transferable. The member signs the withdrawal after the status changes from unbonding to unlocked, then checks the free balance for the released DOT. A partial withdrawal leaves active membership in place when bonded points remain. Withdrawing the final matured amount after a full unbond ends the relationship with that pool and permits the account to join another one.

Several interfaces expose an all-unbonded option for the closing call. It collects matured chunks that the display might otherwise round separately, while later chunks stay scheduled. Polkadot-JS UI exposes the underlying calls for technical inspection, and the Polkadot Staking Dashboard presents the same lifecycle as balance actions. Completion changes when one or more chunks still carry a future unlock era.

Four pool roles determine exceptional exit authority

Four roles organise a nomination pool: depositor, root, nominator and bouncer, with different powers over nominations, state and closure.

The nominator selects validators. The bouncer changes pool state and may start member exits when the pool is blocked. The root can update role accounts and perform nominator or bouncer actions. The depositor creates the pool, supplies its initial bond and must remain until every other member has left. None of these roles changes the destination of a member’s withdrawn DOT.

In a destroying pool, unbonding and withdrawal become permissionless actions so inactive members do not halt closure. Destroying cannot return to open or blocked. The depositor withdraws last, after all member records and eligible balances have cleared. Routine members still read the same active, unbonding and unlocked statuses; only the account permitted to submit the lifecycle call changes with pool state.