Mechanisms
Runtime algorithms and processes that power Subtensor, organized by who they matter to most. Mechanisms that span audiences are tagged so you can find them from any perspective.
For Stakers
Staking, liquidity, delegation, and transaction securityStake Operations
Transfer TAO between coldkeys and hotkeys, converting to/from subnet-specific Alpha tokens.
Alpha Token Conversion
Conversion between TAO and subnet-specific Alpha tokens via concentrated liquidity AMM in the Swap pallet.
Delegation
Mechanism allowing TAO holders to delegate stake to validators, who earn a configurable commission (take).
MEV Shield
Post-quantum encrypted transaction submission that protects against front-running and sandwich attacks via ML-KEM-768 and XChaCha20-Poly1305.
Concentrated Liquidity
Uniswap V3–style AMM where liquidity providers deposit assets within a specific tick (price) range, enabling capital-efficient swaps on Subtensor.
For Validators
Consensus, weight submission, and emission distributionYuma Consensus
Stake-weighted consensus algorithm that determines validator trust, miner incentives, and emission distribution within subnets.
Epoch Processing
Per-subnet periodic processing that runs Yuma Consensus, distributes emissions, and updates metagraph state.
Weight Management
Submission and storage of validator weight vectors, including commit-reveal (CRV3) for privacy.
Commit-Reveal Weights (CRV3)
Weight privacy protocol using timelock encryption (TLE) with drand randomness — validators encrypt weights for a future drand round, and the runtime automatically decrypts them at epoch.
Liquid Alpha
Dynamic bond EMA coefficient that varies per validator-miner pair based on weight-consensus distance.
For Miners & Registration
Joining subnets, maintaining UID slots, and stake inheritanceNeuron Registration
Process for new neurons to join subnets via Proof-of-Work or TAO burn, obtaining a UID slot.
Child Hotkeys
Hierarchical hotkey relationships where parent validators distribute stake and emissions to child keys.
Neuron Pruning
Performance-based removal of the weakest neuron when a new registration occurs on a full subnet.
For Subnet Owners
Creating subnets and controlling emission economicsBlock Emission
Per-block emission of new TAO, split between subnets based on root network weights and subnet stake.
TAO Flow
Algorithm determining how emission shares are allocated across subnets based on EMA of net TAO inflow/outflow activity.
Subnet Management
Creation, configuration, and dissolution of subnets with locked TAO and owner-controlled hyperparameters.
Network Infrastructure
Chain-level systems supporting the networkColdkey Swap
Mechanism to transfer ownership of all hotkeys and stake from one coldkey to another.
Identity Registry
On-chain identity system where accounts register metadata (name, URL, description) with a deposit, queryable by anyone.
On-Chain Commitments
General-purpose on-chain data storage where accounts commit structured fields with optional time-locks and reveal patterns.
Distributed Randomness
On-chain verifiable randomness from the drand network, providing unpredictable and unbiasable random beacons for runtime logic.