# Liquid staking and $LiNEAR

### Liquid staking and $LiNEAR

***What is liquid staking?***

Liquid staking is the act of delegating your tokens to a service that stakes for you without losing access to your funds. It allows users to stake any amount of $NEAR and unstake their $LiNEAR tokens to receive back their $NEAR instantly.

***Is LiNEAR Protocol custodial?***

No, LiNEAR Protocol is a non-custodial protocol. This means that the tokens are 100% in user's control. Interaction with smart contracts and bots of LiNEAR Protocol is fully permissionless.

***How long would it take to stake and unstake?***

With LiNEAR Protocol, staking is instant. For unstaking, you can choose 1) instant unstaking with a small percentage of fees collected, or 2) delayed unstaking without any fees. Your $NEAR will be available in approximately 49 hours. You will not receive any rewards during that waiting period.

***Are staking rewards staked automatically?***

Yes, when the new epoch begins, the staking rewards from the last epoch are automatically compounded into the staked $NEAR. This is reflected by the $LiNEAR price appreciating against $NEAR. 

***What fees does LiNEAR Protocol charge?***

The fee structure of LiNEAR Protocol is as follows:

* Stake: 0%
* Delayed unstake: 0%
* Instant unstake: 0.1% (according to the[ $LiNEAR<>$NEAR Stable Pool](https://app.ref.finance/sauce/3515))
* Commission:  6% on staking rewards