Account leasing

What is Account Leasing

Account Leasing allows a user to lease its forging power to another account for a fixed period of time. This feature enables the creation of forging pools, where the forging power of multiple users is combined to increase the chance of generating a block. Account leasing is also relevant if a user wants to take part in the forging process without having to keep a node running 24/7.

How to lease your balance

figure 1

figure 2

figure 3

1. Visit http://localhost:7876/ (or https://localhost:7876/ if you enabled SSL) and log in.

2. Click on more info under the tile showing your balance. (figure 1)

3. A window showing the details regarding your account will appear. Click the Account leasing tab. (figure 2)

4. Click lease your balance to another account.

5. The form allowing you to lease your balance will appear. (figure 3)

Fields to complete

RECIPIENT: address of the account you wish to lease your balance to. PERIOD: for how long your balance will be leased. Expressed in blocks (1440 blocks is roughly 24h). Between 1440 and 65535. You cannot cancel a leasing once submitted. FEE: fee you wish to pay. The minimum is 1 NXT. SECRET PHRASE: the passphrase of your account.

6. Click Lease Balance.

How does it work

When you lease your balance, you are essentially giving your forging power to another account. It is important to clarify certain points:

Your balance never leaves your account

• Your funds are still on your account after you lease them. They are still available for use: you can spend them, receive more etc. The only thing given is your forging power, by consequence while your balance is leased, you will not be able to forge on your own.
• If your funds vary, so will do your forging power. If you lease 1000 NXT to a forging pool and the next day you spend half of them, you are now leasing only 500 NXT.
• This also means that the person you lease your balance to will not be able to do anything with your funds. They are still under your control.

You cannot cancel a lease

• This is important, so make sure you keep this in mind when you set the leasing period. When the leasing period expires, the forging power will return to you automatically. Not before.

You have control over your funds, not the rewards of block generation

• If you decide to lease your balance to a forging pool or a wealthy owner of NXT, there is no guarantee you will be payed accordingly when (if) a block is generated. So, make sure you lease your forging power to someone you trust will pay your share.

Uses of account leasing

This feature introduces two main benefits.

Firstly, you no longer need to leave your node running 24/7 in order to take part on the forging process. You can lease your balance to someone that does.

NOTE: it is still highly suggested to run as many nodes as possible. It strengthens the stability and the security of the network.

Secondly, it allows the formation of forging pools where multiple users can combine their forging power to increase their chance of forging a block. Any NXT forged is not automatically sent to your account, it's up to the pool owner what to do with it. For more details, visit the page about forging pools.