Delegator

Beyond simply pointing tokens at a validator, delegation is a voting relationship: the delegator's coins never leave their own wallet or custody, but the delegator grants a chosen validator the right to use that stake's weight when the network selects block producers and reaches consensus. This lets anyone with holdings, even a small amount, earn a share of network security rewards without buying dedicated hardware or keeping a node online around the clock.

In practice, a delegator picks a validator based on factors like uptime history, commission rate, and reputation, then locks tokens to that validator through the chain's staking module. Rewards are paid out proportionally to each delegator's share of the validator's total stake, minus the commission the validator keeps as payment for running the infrastructure. On networks such as Cosmos, delegated stake also often carries governance weight, letting token holders influence proposals through the validators they back.

Delegation carries real tradeoffs. Because a delegator's stake is bonded to a specific validator, poor validator behavior, such as double-signing or extended downtime, can trigger slashing that reduces the delegator's balance along with the validator's, even though the delegator did nothing wrong. Choosing a reliable validator and, on some networks, spreading stake across several, are the main ways delegators manage that risk. Unbonding periods, which can run from a few days to several weeks depending on the chain, also mean funds are not instantly liquid once undelegated.

Delegation is the backbone of retail staking participation across most major Proof of Stake chains, including pooled and liquid-staking services built on top of it.