Create Account in Polkadot Network

This guide will walk you through the steps of creating Polkadot account and receiving individual address to claim DOT tokens and start nominating.

Create an account using Polkadot.JS UI

Create an account using Polkadot.JS browser extension

Visit Polkadot UI, go to Settings tab and select address prefix.

In a dropdown menu select Polkadot (live).

Set the node/endpoint. Choose one hosted by Parity or Web3 as on screenshot below and click Save & Reload.

Go to Account tab and press Add account button. Polkadot mainnet address should start with "1".

Complete all the required fields and save all information in a secure place. For future ease add in the name of the account “stash” to identify it easily in the future or add a tag after creation. You will be able to download and store your encrypted keystore locally.

Press Save and backup your account.

For secure staking you will need to have at least two accounts:

Stash - the primary account that holds the funds. The funds can be kept in a cold wallet and all bonded DOT are locked. After unbonding, users must wait for 28 days before they can access the locked funds.

Controller - a separate account to control and perform staking commands for stash account, like changing nominations, starting or stopping nominating and so on. It needs to have sufficient funds in DOT to pay for transaction fees when actions are taken.

Now you have created one account that initially will perform both functions. It will appear in your Accounts tab. After enablement of token transfers, it is recommended to create a separate account, send 1 DOT to it and use it as a controller.

As an alternative way of creating Polkadot account you can use Polkadot.JS browser extension. It is available for Chrome and Mozilla users.

First install the extension:

• Mozilla
• Chrome

You will see the orange logo in the menu bar.

Open the PolkadotJS plugin and press Create New Account or simply press the cross in the middle.

Write down or copy your seed phrase and go to the next step. If you will try to paste it before finishing the process, extension window will close so you will need to repeat this step.

Choose the name of account and set a secure password. Press the orange button.

You will see the account in the extension menu. Now you can paste a seed phrase if you copied it in a previous step. Now check that address displays as a Polkadot mainnet address that should start from "1". Press a "gear" in the right top corner. In the dropdown menu choose Polkadot (live). Click back and you will see that address will transform. Now you can copy it to save as a plain text.

Download a backup JSON by pressing three dots and choosing Export Account. The extension will ask you to enter the password which you specified in a previous step.

Now you can visit Polkadot UI and let the extension to add your account. If there was no such intention you can simply press Restore JSON and drug the backup file saved in a previous step. Even if you haven't changed the address format to Polkadot (live) in extension it still can be imported to the Polkadot UI and transformed in a Settings tab.

For secure staking you will need to have at least two accounts:

Stash - the primary account that holds the funds. The funds can be kept in a cold wallet and all bonded DOT are locked. After unbonding, users must wait for 28 days before they can access the locked funds.

Controller - a separate account to control and perform staking commands for stash account, like changing nominations, starting or stopping nominating and so on. It needs to have sufficient funds in DOT to pay for transaction fees when actions are taken.

Now you have created one account that initially will perform both functions. It will appear in your Accounts tab. After enablement of token transfers, it is recommended to create a separate account, send 1 DOT to it and use it as a controller.

P2P Validator is a world-leading non-custodial staking provider securing more than $3 billion by over 10,000 delegators/nominators across 25+ high-class networks. We have been present in all Polkadot testnets and have been actively participating on Kusama network since the beginning. P2P Validator invested its own funds in Polkadot in 2017 and intends to support the network in the long term.

Now you have an account in Polkadot. The next step is to claim DOT and start nominating. If you have any questions, join our Telegram chat or contact Alex via [email protected], we will be happy to help.

Web: https://p2p.org

Stake DOT with us: https://p2p.org/polkadot

Twitter: @p2pvalidator

Telegram: https://t.me/P2Pstaking