> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://whalehub-1.gitbook.io/whalehub/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://whalehub-1.gitbook.io/whalehub/staking/claiming-rewards.md).

# Claiming Rewards

**AQUA** rewards accumulate continuously while your BLUB is staked. You can claim them every 7 days.

> **Status (14 September 2026):** rewards are paid in **AQUA**. v3 went live on mainnet on this date. Staker income comes from voting Whalehub's pooled ICE on the **highest-yielding Aquarius market** and passing the resulting AQUA straight through — see [Reward Distribution](/whalehub/tokenomics/reward-distribution.md). Under v2 the protocol bought BLUB on the open market to pay stakers; that is removed.

## Choosing your payout token

AQUA is the default and needs no action.

If you would rather be paid in BLUB, set your preference once with `set_reward_preference` and the contract swaps your AQUA for BLUB through the pool each time you claim. You receive whatever the pool returns after price impact, protected by a slippage floor that reverts the claim rather than accepting a bad fill. Set your preference back to none at any time to return to AQUA.

## How Claiming Works

```mermaid
flowchart TD
    CLAIM[User clicks Claim Rewards] --> Q{7 days since last claim?}
    Q -- No --> REJECT[Rejected — too soon]
    Q -- Yes --> SNAP[Calculate pending rewards]
    SNAP --> PAY[Send BLUB to user's wallet]
    PAY --> RESET[Reset pending balance to 0]
    RESET --> TIME[Record claim timestamp]
```

## Important Notes

* **Rewards are NOT automatic** — you must claim them manually
* **7-day cooldown** between claims
* **Rewards are separate from unstaking** — withdrawing your locked tokens does NOT automatically send your rewards
* Rewards continue accumulating even if you don't claim them — nothing is lost by waiting

## How Rewards Are Calculated

Whalehub uses the **Synthetix reward model** — rewards are split fairly based on each user's share of the total staked pool.

```
Your pending rewards = Your staked BLUB × (Current reward rate − Your last checkpoint rate)
```

The reward rate increases every time the protocol distributes new BLUB from harvested income. Your share is proportional to how much BLUB you have staked relative to the total.

## Where Do Rewards Come From?

Rewards come from the [Bribes Harvesting Module (v2)](/whalehub/tokenomics/bribes-harvesting.md). Whalehub votes its ICE on the Aquarius market with the **best bribe yield for our voting power**, and as bribes arrive the backend:

1. Collects the bribe income (AQUA)
2. Sends 30% to the protocol treasury
3. Swaps 70% to BLUB on the open market (non-dilutive — never minted)
4. Distributes that BLUB to all stakers proportionally

> Whalehub continuously re-evaluates every active bribe and re-targets its votes to **optimize for the best yield** each epoch. See the [Bribes Harvesting Module](/whalehub/tokenomics/bribes-harvesting.md) for the methodology.