# Stake pools A stake pool is a network node holding the combined ada ('stake') of several delegators. Stake pools yield rewards to those ada holders who choose to delegate their ada to them. Stake pools are used to ensure that everyone can participate in the Cardano Blockchain, regardless of technical experience or availability to keep a node running. These stake pools focus on maintenance and hold the combined stake of various stakeholders in a single entity. Stake pools are responsible for processing transactions that will be placed in the ledger, as well as producing new blocks. Stake pools can be public or private. Any Cardano user can delegate ada to public pools. Private stake pools, however, only deliver rewards to their owners. Visit [this page](https://cardano.org/stake-pool-operation#stake-pool) for more information about stake pools. --- # Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question. Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter: ``` GET https://cardano-wiki.gitbook.io/cardano/how-does-cardano-work/table-of-contents/stake-pools.md?ask= ``` The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language. The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation. Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.