# Staking Rewards

Stakers earn ALVA rewards proportional to their lock commitment. The longer and larger your lock, the greater your share of the reward pool.

Staking rewards are funded by ALVA bought back from a percentage of platform fees. Previously, the Staking Rewards Vault was subsidized by the Alvara Foundation with ALVA allocations, but going forward all rewards come from protocol fee buybacks.

## How Rewards Accrue

Staking rewards are distributed continuously based on your SRV (Staking Rewards Vault) rate. Your SRV rate is determined by your lock period:

* Short locks (1 week, 1 month) earn **no staking rewards**
* Medium locks (3-12 months) earn **moderate rewards**
* Long locks (24-48 months) earn **significant rewards**
* Forever locks earn the **maximum reward rate** at 50% SRV

Rewards accumulate automatically. You don't need to take any action for them to accrue.

## Claiming Rewards

1. Navigate to the **Lock** page
2. View your pending reward balance
3. Click **Claim Rewards**
4. Confirm the transaction in your wallet

Claimed ALVA is sent directly to your wallet.

## Compounding Rewards

Instead of claiming ALVA to your wallet, you can compound your rewards directly into your existing lock:

1. Navigate to the **Lock** page
2. Click **Compound Rewards**
3. Choose whether to compound into your time lock or forever lock
4. Confirm the transaction

Compounding increases your locked ALVA amount, which in turn increases your veALVA balance and future rewards. This creates a compounding effect over time.

## Reward Eligibility

Not all locks are eligible for staking rewards:

| Lock Period | Reward Eligible |
| ----------- | --------------- |
| 1 Week      | No              |
| 1 Month     | No              |
| 3 Months+   | Yes             |
| Forever     | Yes             |

Short locks (under 3 months) provide veALVA governance power but do not earn staking rewards. So the reward pool goes to stakers with real protocol commitment.