Elastos has been running since 2017 and is really several chains under one name. That matters because your ELA can sit in more than one place, in more than one address format.
For applications you use the Smart Chain, where addresses start with 0x. For staking you need ELA on the main chain, whose addresses look nothing like that and cannot be pasted into MetaMask.
Anyone who has both staked and used applications has two unrelated-looking addresses and needs both imported.
What you get out of the box
Pick your import method.
On Elastos
- For applications, copy your Smart Chain address. It starts with 0x.
- For staking, copy your main chain address from the Essentials wallet. It is a different format and a different string.
On Kryptos
- Go to Kryptos.io and sign up with your Google account.
- From the menu, click Integrations.
- Click Add Integration and search for Elastos.
- Click the Elastos icon, then choose Import using Address.
- Give the wallet a name, paste your address, and click Import Your Transactions.
Good to know
- Staking needs main chain ELA. ELA on the Smart Chain cannot be staked without moving it first.
- Moving between the main chain and the Smart Chain takes 10 to 15 minutes and leaves a record on each side.
- ELA also exists as a token on Ethereum, which is a third place the same asset can sit.
Two address formats, and why staking needs the other one
Elastos predates the convention that a project has one chain and one address format. It has a main chain plus several others, and they do not all speak the same language.
The Smart Chain is the Ethereum-style one. Addresses start with 0x, MetaMask works, and the applications live there. If you have swapped or lent ELA, that is where it happened.
The main chain is older and works differently. Its addresses are a different format entirely and cannot be pasted into an Ethereum wallet. It is also the only place you can stake.
So the two things people most want to do, earn staking rewards and use applications, happen on two chains with two incompatible addresses. A user who does both owns two strings that look completely unrelated, and importing one shows half the picture. Moving ELA between them is a real transfer taking ten to fifteen minutes, leaving a record on each side.
Add a third place: ELA also exists as a token on Ethereum. Same asset, another address, another set of records. The thing to avoid is treating each appearance as a fresh acquisition, which would multiply one holding into several. For how transfers between your own wallets are treated, see the USA crypto tax guide or the UK crypto tax guide.
Staking positions you can sell
Elastos staking has a feature that changes the tax analysis and that most networks do not offer.
You stake by locking main chain ELA for a period you choose, from about ten days up to just under three years. The lock can be extended but never shortened, so committing to a long period genuinely commits you.
The unusual part is that a staking position can be turned into a transferable token. Once it is, the position itself becomes an asset you can sell to somebody else without waiting for the lock to expire.
That creates two quite different exits. Unstaking at the end of the lock returns your own ELA to you and disposes of nothing. Selling the position transfers it to a buyer, which is a genuine disposal at whatever price it fetched, and the thing you sold includes the rewards still attached to it.
A tool that sees only a token being sold will read the second as an ordinary sale, which is nearly right, but the cost it should measure against is what you locked up rather than nothing.
Manage your Elastos portfolio with Kryptos.
Staking ELA
Staking happens on the main chain with a lock period you choose between about ten days and just under three years. The lock can be extended but never shortened.
Selling a staking position
Positions can be turned into a transferable token. Selling one disposes of the position itself, which is different from unstaking.
Tracking ELA across several places
ELA can sit on the main chain, on the Smart Chain and on Ethereum. It is one asset in three places, not three assets.
Audit-ready, automatically.
Once your wallets and exchanges are connected, generating a tax report takes a single click. Open Reports from the menu, choose your jurisdiction, and download.
Moving between Elastos chains is a transfer
Sending ELA from the main chain to the Smart Chain is your own money moving between your own addresses. It leaves records on both, and nothing was sold.
Locked ELA is still yours
A staking lock of up to about three years makes the ELA illiquid but does not dispose of it. It stays in your holdings throughout.
Selling a staking position is a disposal
Where a position has been turned into a transferable token, selling it disposes of the position and any rewards attached to it. That is a sale, unlike unstaking.
Do not count the same ELA more than once
The same holding can appear on several chains as it moves. Treating each appearance as a new acquisition would multiply your position.
Read-only by design.
- Kryptos only ever needs your public wallet address
- A public address is read-only. It can't move or spend anything
- We never ask for your recovery phrase or private key
- Remove a wallet whenever you like, and its data goes with it
If something doesn't sync.
Staking needs ELA on the main chain. If yours is on the Smart Chain you have to move it first, which takes 10 to 15 minutes.
Main chain addresses are a different format from Smart Chain addresses and cannot be used interchangeably. Copy the right one for what you are doing.
Elastos's official endpoint blocks traffic from data centres, which can affect automated imports. This is a network restriction rather than a problem with your wallet.
Still stuck? Email support@kryptos.io or open live chat from the app.