> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.berachain.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Withdraw Stake

> Partial or full withdrawal of validator BERA: withdrawal credentials, fees, minimum stake, and finalization delay.

The holder of the withdrawal credential, set during the initial deposit, can trigger partial or complete withdrawal of `$BERA` stake from a Validator. This process is demonstrated in the [Docker Devnet's final steps](/nodes/guides/local-devnet-docker).

<Warning>
  Withdrawing your `$BERA` stake will reduce the probability that your validator is selected to
  produce a block and therefore reduce your `$BGT` emissions. Withdrawing all stake will exit your
  validator from the Active Set.
</Warning>

## Requirements

* A fully-synced full node
* [Foundry](https://book.getfoundry.sh/getting-started/installation) v1.0.0 or greater
* Validator Withdrawal Credential Address Private Key or Ledger

## Withdrawal rules and process

Withdrawals occur at the end of the 256th epoch (\~27 hours) after the epoch in which you perform the withdrawal.

Every withdrawal requires a fee, which will increase if the withdrawal service experiences an unusual volume of requests.

The withdrawal transaction must originate from the Withdrawal Credential Address for the validator to perform a withdrawal.

The withdrawal API will silently adjust the withdrawal amount to **maintain a minimum stake of 250,000 `$BERA`**. For instance, a validator with 350,000 `$BERA` staked that requests a withdrawal of 300,000 `$BERA` will only withdraw 100,000 `$BERA`.

To exit your validator from the Active Set and return the entire stake, use the special withdrawal amount of `0`. Then, as described in the [lifecycle overview](/nodes/architecture/validator-lifecycle), your validator will immediately be queued to exit the active set and no longer produce blocks. The stake will be returned by the consensus layer on the above schedule.

<Warning>
  If you leave the Active Set, **future deposits to your CometBFT public key will be refunded to the
  withdrawal address**. If you want to [activate as a validator](/nodes/guides/become-a-validator)
  again, you must do so with a new CometBFT identity.
</Warning>

## How to withdraw \$BERA stake

The following walks you through how to withdraw a portion of a validator's `$BERA` stake with the validator withdrawal credentials on Berachain Bepolia.

### Step 1 - Configurations

Set up your environment. You will need the private key of your Withdrawal Credential Address, or to have it on an attached ledger. To obtain your CometBFT public key, you can invoke `beacond --home path/to/beacond/data deposit validator-keys`.

```bash theme={null}
export RPC_URL=https://bepolia.rpc.berachain.com/
export WITHDRAW_CONTRACT=0x00000961Ef480Eb55e80D19ad83579A64c007002
export WITHDRAW_AMOUNT_ETH=10000
# Alternatively
export WITHDRAW_AMOUNT_GWEI=${WITHDRAW_AMOUNT_ETH}000000000

export COMETBFT_PUB_KEY=<0xYOUR_COMETBFT_PUBLIC_KEY>
export WITHDRAW_CREDENTIAL_PRIVATE_KEY=<YOUR_WITHDRAW_CREDENTIAL_PRIVATE_KEY>
```

Use the special amount of `0` to withdraw the Validator's entire stake.

### Step 2 - Determine withdrawal fee

In addition to the desired amount to withdraw, a withdrawal fee must be sent with the transaction.

```bash theme={null}
WITHDRAW_FEE_HEX=$(cast call -r $RPC_URL $WITHDRAW_CONTRACT);
WITHDRAW_FEE=$(cast to-dec $WITHDRAW_FEE_HEX);
echo $WITHDRAW_FEE;

# [Typical Output, may vary]
# 1
```

### Step 3 - Create withdrawal request

Package the desired withdrawal amount with the Validator's identity as an encoded request.

```bash theme={null}
WITHDRAW_REQUEST=$(cast abi-encode --packed '(bytes,uint64)' $COMETBFT_PUB_KEY $WITHDRAW_AMOUNT_GWEI);
echo $WITHDRAW_REQUEST;

# [Typical Output, will vary]
# 0xacaf2e8ec309513...0009184E72A000
```

### Step 4 - Send withdrawal request

Send the withdrawal request to the contract, from the Validator's Withdraw Credential Address.

<Tip>
  Remember to send it from the Withdrawal Credential Address, otherwise the transaction will fail.
</Tip>

```bash theme={null}
cast send $WITHDRAW_CONTRACT $WITHDRAW_REQUEST --rpc-url $RPC_URL --private-key $WITHDRAW_CREDENTIAL_PRIVATE_KEY --value ${WITHDRAW_FEE}wei;
```

Substitute `--ledger` for the `--private-key` if your key is kept on a hardware module.

### Step 5 - Monitor Beacon Kit API

To ensure the withdrawal request succeeded, monitor the Beacon Kit Validator API to observe your stake's change.

<Tip>The beacon API must be enabled on your node (in `app.toml`: `[beacon-kit.node-api]`).</Tip>

The beacon state is available from your node's beacon API via:

```bash theme={null}
curl http://localhost:3500/eth/v1/beacon/states/head/validators | jq '.[] | select(type == "object" and .validator? and .validator.pubkey == "$COMETBFT_PUB_KEY")'
```

This request should show your validator's status.