📚Delegation FAQs
This page explains how The Vault delegation model works today, how direct stake and performance buckets interact, and how votes from Votex and gauges translate into stake.
📚 Overview Of The Delegation Model
Q. What are the main ways a validator can receive stake from The Vault today?
Approved validators receive stake from three places: Gauges, the Direct Stake Leaders bucket, and the Elite Performance bucket. All undirected stake gets split between these three segments.
🧩 Approval, Allowlist And Eligibility
Q. What is the difference between the old waitlist and the current approved list?
The waitlist was a queue with no guarantee of stake. The approved list is the active set of validators that The Vault can delegate to and that all delegation logic uses.
Q. How do I become an approved validator for The Vault?
You apply, the Validator Board votes, and if you pass you move from applicant onto the approved list. Results are announced in the Node News channel once voting for that batch is complete.
Q. Where can I see which validators are currently approved?
You can see the approved validators on the main validator page on the public Dune dashboard that tracks The Vault validators.
Q. I'm not yet on the approved list. Can I still qualify for the Direct Stake Leaders bucket?
Not yet. To receive undirected stake from The Vault you must pass the application process and be successfully reviewed by the Validator Board.
💼 Stake As A Service And Fees
Q. What is Stake as a Service in the context of The Vault?
When The Vault allocates undirected stake to you, you join the Stake-as-a-Service program and share twenty five percent of the rewards generated on that undirected stake.
Q. How often are Stake as a Service invoices generated and where do I find them?
Invoices are created once per epoch for each validator with undirected stake. You can find and pay them by clicking your validator in the list on the website and opening your dashboard.
Q. How quickly should I pay my invoices?
You should pay invoices regularly so that unpaid epochs stay low. Ignoring invoices for many epochs can affect your delegation. Ten missed payments is the current limit.
🌱 Direct Stake Leaders Bucket
Q. What is the Direct Stake Leaders bucket?
This bucket currently holds around forty percent of the stake pool and is shared by the top one hundred approved validators that use The Vault direct stake feature.
Q. What exactly counts as direct stake for this bucket?
Only stake that uses The Vault direct stake mechanism counts, whether it is set up through the direct stake page or through partners such as Kamino Multiply. External self stake that is not under The Vault withdraw authority does not count.
Q. Can I use direct stake to my own validator?
Yes. Validators can and should direct stake to their own validator if they want to compete for this bucket.
Q. How much direct stake do I need to qualify for the top one hundred?
You must have more direct stake than the validator currently in position one hundred. At times this has been as low as a single SOL, but the threshold changes as more validators join or increase their position.
Q. Is this first come first served or can I be pushed out later?
It is entirely based on stake size, not on who arrived first. If more than one hundred validators use direct stake, those with the smallest positions fall out until only the top one hundred remain.
Q. Where can I see my current position in the Direct Stake Leaders ranking?
On the validators page you can sort the table by the direct stake column to see the ordering. A numbered leaderboard is in development.
Q. I already had direct stake through Kamino earlier this year. Do I need to do anything to activate this bucket?
No. If you are approved and still in the top one hundred by direct stake, the system will automatically allocate stake over the next few epochs.
🏅 Elite Performance Bucket
Q. What is the Elite Performance bucket?
This bucket currently holds around fifty percent of the stake pool and rewards approved validators with very strong vote credit performance and strict fee settings, such as zero base commission and zero MEV commission.
Q. Does the Elite Performance ranking compare me against the entire Solana network?
No. You are compared only against other approved validators in The Vault set, not against every validator on Solana.
Q. Can I be in both the Direct Stake Leaders and Elite Performance buckets at the same time?
Yes. You can qualify for both buckets independently and receive stake from each if you meet the criteria.
Q. How do performance windows and edge cases work?
Performance is measured over a rolling ten epoch window. A single bad epoch, such as one with non zero MEV commission, can temporarily block you, but once that epoch falls out of the window you can become eligible again.
🗳️ Gauges, Votex And Buying Votes
Q. How do gauges influence stake from The Vault?
Gauges let $V holders direct around ten percent of the stake pool by voting for validators, and stake from this bucket is split proportional to gauge voting weight among activated validators.
Q. What is Votex and how does it relate to gauges?
Votex is a platform where validators can pay USDC to acquire additional voting power that is then used in The Vault gauge system to increase their share of the gauge bucket.
Q. How does the timing for gauge rounds and stake movement work?
Gauge votes are committed on a schedule. When a round is committed on Monday, the first Solana epoch that starts after that commitment is usually the first epoch where the new gauge outcome begins to move stake.
Q. Should validators keep buying votes over time or is a single purchase enough?
Gauge influence is relative, so if others keep adding votes and you do not, your share shrinks. To keep a stable position you need to maintain or grow your voting weight over time.
Q. Can validators that are not yet approved still buy votes on Votex?
They can buy votes, but The Vault can only delegate to validators that have been activated. Votes for non activated validators will not result in stake until that validator joins the activated set.
⏱️ Timing, Epochs And Stake Movement
Q. I just started using direct stake or entered the top one hundred. When will I see stake from The Vault?
Stake movement respects Solana warm up rules and internal rebalancing, so it can take up to around five epochs for the full allocation to arrive, though you may see partial movement sooner.
Q. I see an announcement that several thousand SOL has been allocated, but on chain it looks like less. Is this normal?
Yes. Announcements describe the target from a bucket at current pool size, while actual stake ramps toward that target over several epochs.
Q. When do changes in gauges or Votex votes start to affect my validator?
Once a gauge round is committed, the first epoch that begins after that commitment is where the new outcome starts to be applied, and stake gradually adjusts from there.
🧾 Invoices, Alerts And Validator Dashboards
Q. The alert bot says I have several unpaid epochs. What should I do?
Open the validator list, click your validator, go to your dashboard, and pay the outstanding invoices shown there.
Q. My invoices stopped after a specific epoch. Is that expected?
If you no longer have undirected stake from The Vault, new invoices stop. If you believe you still have undirected stake but do not see invoices, open a support ticket so the team can check.
🧭 Practical How To Questions
Q. How do I set up direct stake in practice?
Go to the direct stake page, mint or use vSOL, choose your validator, and allocate direct stake. Using Kamino Multiply also counts, since it plugs into the same mechanism.
Q. Where can I get vSOL if I want to direct stake without Kamino?
You can mint vSOL directly on The Vault website.
Q. Where can I safely buy $V if I want to vote in gauges?
You can buy V on aggregators such as Jupiter or Titan and then lock it on The Vault site to vote in gauges.
Q. I cannot scroll the full validator list when sorting by direct stake. Is there a workaround?
Some Linux browser combinations have a scrolling issue. Until a fix ships, users sometimes copy the visible part of the table into a spreadsheet to inspect more entries.
🧠 Summary
To receive and grow stake from The Vault you must be approved by the Validator Board, keep Stake-as-a-Service invoices current, and then combine three levers: use direct stake to compete for the Direct Stake Leaders bucket, maintain strong performance and friendly fees to compete for the Elite Performance bucket, and use gauges and Votex votes to capture a share of the gauge controlled stake.
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