Stratis is a flexible and powerful Blockchain Development Platform designed for the needs of real-world financial services businesses and other organizations that want to access the benefits of Blockchain technologies without the overheads inherent in running their own network infrastructure
Similar to the popular Smart Contract token Ethereum, Stratis offers a turnkey solution that enables developers and businesses to develop, test and deploy blockchain-based applications quickly and easily, without the costs and security concerns that would otherwise arise from an in-house implementation
While Ethereum Developers familiarize themselves with the less popular programming language Solidity, a contract-oriented, high-level language whose syntax is similar to that of JavaScript and it is designed to target the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM). Stratis Developers use C# an object-oriented programming language from Microsoft that aims to combine the computing power of C++ with the programming ease of Visual Basic. C# is based on C++ and contains features similar to those of Java. This makes Stratis a more programmer-friendly platform that offers simple and affordable end-to-end solutions for development, testing and deployment of native C# blockchain applications on the .Net framework
Since Stratis is officially a 100% Proof-of-Stake POS Token, it does not support any Proof of Work Mining anymore. In the beginning Stratis tokens were minted via POW Mining, however the plan was to implement Proof of Stake, making it the only way to mint new STRAT tokens into existence. The only to way to obtain Stratis tokens is to purchase some directly from Exchanges, and to send it to the official Stratis Wallet Client for the purpose of staking
The Initial ICO for Stratis resulted in the Distribution of 98 million tokens, from which 84 Million (85.7%) Stratis tokens to have been claimed by early Investors, while the remaining 14.3% (14,000,000) were kept by the core team for development, marketing, partnerships, and incentives programs. Stratis was a Proof-of-Work token to begin with, allowing Users to get more STRAT tokens from mining via Computer Hardware however that was only for a short period of time, in order to kickstart the blockchain with a steady supply, making Stratis now entirely proof of stake token
Whatever machine the wallet is running on would have to stay connected to the internet for the duration that you want it to stake. To get a better idea about Staking is all about, Tokens that are stored from one address are technically locked up temporarily, so that when it's actually your turn to create a block, rewards can be earned credited directly to the address holder as compensation for securing the Network
Step 1
Run & Download the Stratis Wallet Client from the Official Developers Site, Link Here
Step 2
Allow Stratis Wallet Client to fully sync with the Network by letting it download the complete history of it's Blockchain! This may take some time with Stratis's Client running in the Background, since you'll need to download every transaction ever recorded on Stratis Distributed Ledger
Step 3
Once fully Synced, it's time to secure your account by Encrypting your Wallet to ensure that coins are safe from unauthorized access. Use a Secure Password to keep your Stratis Wallet Secure, to Encrypt your Stratis wallet simply go to SETTING > ENCRYPT wallet. ''Change Passphrase" in order to set a secure password that will be required to Unlock your Wallet
Step 4
It's always a good idea to Backup your Wallet. Do this by clicking on FILE > BACKUP WALLET. this will prompt you to download a DAT. File. Keep the file secure in order to back up your tokens in the events that you need to restore access to your account, it's a good idea to store DAT. file on an external hardrive for safekeeping
Step 5
Buy Stratis via Cryptocurrency Exchanges that offer this trading pair, visit coinmarketcap.com for more information or visit popular exchanges like Poloniex or Bittrex. Once you obtain Stratis, transfer these Tokens to your official Stratis Wallet Client, this is process similar with other Cryptocurrencies where you send & receive via long addresses (identifier of 26-35 alphanumeric characters)
Step 6
It will take some time for Stratis token to reflect in your Balance, once received proceed with the next step of unlocking the Wallet. The Wallet must be encrypted with a Passphrase, however the Wallet needs to be unlocked at the same time in order to begin staking STRAT tokens. To unlock the Wallet go to SETTINGS > UNLOCK WALLET, it will request for Password which is the Passphrase set earlier in STEP 3
STRAT token are issued at a rate of 1 token per Block – every 60 seconds, the more an individual stakes Stratis, the more STRAT token is giving out as a reward. An incentive for users to contribute towards making a more secure POS-based network by staking their coins
Many of you, eager to start staking your Stratis token will ask yourself this;
What is the total supply / inflation of the STRAT token?
To get a better understanding based on findings, as of May 9, 2017 there are 98,378,285 STRAT outstanding. A common misconception I see all the time in the Stratis community regards the Inflation rate, since many individuals claims that the inflation rate is 1%
A new block is derived via POS about every minute, and 1 STRAT is generated per block. This means, on average, about 1440 new STRAT are mined each day since there are 1440 minutes in a day. That equates to 525,600 new STRAT in a 365 day year. 525,600/98,378,285 = 0.0053
However, we can assume that not everyone stakes their STRAT. This is what makes it seem like the inflation rate is greater than it is. Around 30,000,000 STRAT are staked right now on May 9, 2017. This means that the 1440 STRAT generated per day are going to the holders of that 30,000,000 STRAT. This would equate to earnings from staking equal to about 1.75% if 30,000,000 STRAT were being staked the entire year (525,600/30,000,000 = 0.0175).
It seems that Inflation of the STRAT token is a measly around 0.53% based on 9th May Statistics, but people can earn a higher percentage than that simply because not everyone is interested or has the means to stakes their tokens
To ensure that everything go smoothly, please make sure to update your software to the latest version of the Client. Keep up with notifications of updates by joining us Stratis Slack channel, Bitcointalk thread, or follow them on Twitter 
Always Write down or otherwise make sure you will always remember your password every time you change it, if you don't known the right password, you'll lock yourself out of their wallets and always remember to regularly back up your Wallet, store the important DAT files on multiple offline storage
Ethereum developers are planning on implementing some sort of Hybrid POS for ETH, while Stratis has already changed from POW to POS, allowing all it's user to start staking Stratis Tokens now. Follow this Guide, you should be earning some of the newly minted STRAT tokens, personally I'm a fan of Smart Contract Tokens and see great potential in this Project
Stratis is also one of the few Cryptocurrency projects backed by established Corporation Microsoft, it does raise eyebrowns knowing that some most well-known Tech Company is currently interested in Stratis. There are over millions of C# Developers ready to jump on the Cryptocurrency Bandwagon, Ethereum uses Solidity which can unfamiliar to many Programmers out there
Staking Coins, is a good way to get Investor to safely store their Tokens while incentiving them to contribute by securing the Network. Enjoy Staking Stratis, hold this Token like how you would with Steem Power in order earning interests similar to how you would with Bank Saving Acccounts
