Staking Yield
The rate of rewards a staker earns, usually quoted as a yearly percentage of the amount staked.
The quoted figure normally combines protocol issuance, the priority fees users pay to have transactions included, and on some networks payments related to transaction ordering. It is a nominal, pre-cost number: validator commission, infrastructure costs, taxes, and the dilution caused by the issuance funding it are all excluded. The rate is variable by design, since most reward formulas fall as the staking ratio rises and fee income moves with network activity. Dashboards also differ on whether they quote a simple annualized rate or a compounded one, which makes small differences between sources common and usually uninteresting.
In practice
A validator's realized reward rate is below the headline network rate once the operator's commission and periods of downtime are taken into account.
The common misunderstanding
A quoted staking yield is not a fixed rate like a bank deposit: it changes with participation and activity, it is paid in the same asset whose supply is expanding, and penalties can reduce it.
The figure this maps to
The annual rate of additional tokens a staker receives, before dilution and costs are considered.
Limits: The rate is denominated in the token itself, so it says nothing about the dollar outcome for a staker, and a positive nominal yield is fully compatible with a loss measured in any other currency. It is usually quoted before operator commission, which commonly takes a material share of rewards, and…