Delegate Stake
Delegate stake is the TAO a Bittensor delegate stakes themselves. It is the self-staked portion of the delegate’s staking context, not the full amount of TAO that may be associated with that delegate after nomination (Glossary: Delegate Stake, Glossary: Delegate).
The term is useful because delegate, nominator, stake, and effective stake all sit close together in Bittensor staking vocabulary. Delegate stake keeps the focus on who supplied the TAO.
Delegate and Nominator Boundary
A delegate is a validator that can receive stake from nominators. A nominator stakes TAO to a validator rather than becoming that validator (Glossary: Delegate, Glossary: Nominator).
Delegate stake belongs to the delegate side of that relationship. Nominated TAO can add to the delegate’s broader staking context, but it is not delegate stake because it did not come from the delegate themselves.
Effective Stake and Stake Weight
Delegate stake and effective stake describe different totals. Effective stake is the total staked TAO associated with a delegate after both self-stake and nominated support are considered (Glossary: Effective Stake).
Stake weight is another related but distinct term. It is the computed stake value used for validator consensus power and emissions inside a subnet (Glossary: Stake Weight, Understanding Subnets: Validator stake weight).
These boundaries keep delegate stake from being mistaken for every amount attached to a delegate or for the consensus measure derived from stake context.
Staking Context
Delegation places delegates and nominators inside the broader staking model. Delegate stake names the delegate’s self-staked TAO inside that model, while nomination and effective stake describe other parts of the same support relationship (Delegation, Glossary: Stake).
Delegate stake is therefore descriptive rather than advisory. It does not rank validators, quote reward outcomes, or explain how to choose a validator. It identifies the self-supplied part of a staking relationship.
Development Stage Context
Bittensor separates localnet, testnet, and mainnet environments. Delegate stake examples from one environment should not be treated as evidence for another because validator sets, balances, and stake relationships are environment-specific (Bittensor Networks, Introduction to Bittensor: Subnet development).
Localnet examples are isolated development examples. Testnet examples are shared non-production examples. Mainnet delegate stake concerns production validator self-stake on the active network.
Relationship to Yuma Consensus
Delegate Stake and Yuma Consensus describe related parts of Bittensor’s incentive system. Yuma Consensus is the on-chain process that aggregates validator weight signals within a subnet into miner incentives and validator dividends, applying consensus clipping, bonding, and emission calculation (Yuma Consensus).
For readers, delegate stake names a specific part of that incentive picture, while Yuma Consensus names the consensus process that turns validator weights into the resulting incentives and dividends.
Reader Boundary
Delegate stake names the TAO a delegate stakes themselves, not nominated support, effective stake, stake weight, or validator-selection advice (Glossary: Delegate Stake, Glossary: Effective Stake).
Effective stake combines self-stake and nomination; stake weight is the subnet consensus influence measure derived from stake context (Glossary: Stake Weight, Understanding Subnets: Validator stake weight).
Root Subnet Self-Stake Stays in TAO
Official Staking and delegation overview documentation states that, except on the root subnet, stake held by a validator hotkey is recorded in that subnet’s Glossary: Alpha Tokens units after TAO enters the subnet pool. Root subnet stake is recorded in Glossary: TAO instead (Understanding Subnets: Root subnet).
That recording rule sits beside the delegate-stake label rather than replacing it. Delegate stake still names TAO the delegate committed from their own balance, while the root subnet is the case where that self-stake can remain TAO on the hotkey instead of converting into subnet alpha.
A delegate who self-stakes on both the root subnet and an alpha subnet therefore has separate on-chain stake records with different unit labels, even though both portions count as the delegate’s own commitment in staking vocabulary.
References: Staking and delegation overview, Understanding Subnets: Root subnet
Each Subnet Hotkey Carries Its Own Self-Stake
The same delegation overview notes that staking is always local to a subnet and that support sent to one validator hotkey on one subnet is independent from support sent to that validator’s hotkeys on other subnets (Delegation, Glossary: Netuid).
Delegate stake follows that locality. A delegate’s self-staked TAO on one subnet hotkey does not automatically appear as delegate stake on another hotkey, even when the same coldkey owns both positions. Each subnet relationship keeps its own self-stake total alongside its own nominated support.
That separation matters when a delegate validates across multiple subnets. Effective stake and stake weight may be discussed subnet by subnet, but delegate stake must also be read subnet by subnet rather than as one network-wide self-stake figure copied across hotkeys.
References: Staking and delegation overview, Glossary: Delegate Stake
Validator Take Targets Delegated Emissions Only
Official Glossary: Validator Take % defines validator take as the share of emissions a validator keeps from the portion tied to delegated stake, before the remainder returns to stakers. The glossary explicitly excludes emissions the validator already receives in proportion to their own self-stake from that take calculation.
Delegation documentation walks through the same split in plain terms. A validator first keeps the share of emissions matching their self-stake fraction of total stake, and take applies separately to emissions earned on Glossary: Nominator support before the rest is credited back to those nominators (Staking and delegation overview).
Delegate stake therefore names a staking amount, not a fee schedule. Validator take describes how delegated-emission rewards are divided after consensus, while delegate stake identifies how much of the validator’s own TAO sits in the self-stake portion that take does not re-label.
References: Glossary: Validator Take %, Staking and delegation overview
Relationship to Delegate
Delegate stake and delegate are related but different staking terms. Delegate names the receiving validator role that nominators support, while delegate stake names the TAO a delegate stakes themselves rather than nominated support, effective stake, or stake weight (Glossary: Delegate, Glossary: Delegate Stake, Delegation).
For readers comparing figures behind one validator hotkey, delegate identifies who receives delegated support, delegate stake reports the validator-supplied amount only, and effective stake counts delegate-owned plus nominated TAO together (Glossary: Nominator, Glossary: Effective Stake).
Those glossary terms answer different staking questions on the same subnet, so a delegate mention should not be read as reporting delegate stake totals or full effective stake backing on that hotkey.
Use delegate stake when the article needs the validator-supplied amount, and delegate when the receiving validator role itself is the focus.