---
title: Delegate Stake
---

After you have [received SOL](transfer-tokens.md), you might consider putting
it to use by delegating _stake_ to a validator. Stake is what we call tokens
in a _stake account_. Solana weights validator votes by the amount of stake
delegated to them, which gives those validators more influence in determining
then next valid block of transactions in the blockchain. Solana then generates
new SOL periodically to reward stakers and validators. You earn more rewards
the more stake you delegate.

## Create a Stake Account
To delegate stake, you will need to transfer some tokens into a stake account.
To create an account, you will need a keypair. Its public key will be used as
the [stake account address](../staking/stake-accounts.md#account-address).
No need for a password or encryption here; this keypair will be discarded right
after creating the stake account.

```bash
solana-keygen new --no-passphrase -o stake-account.json
```

The output will contain the public key after the text `pubkey:`.

```text
pubkey: GKvqsuNcnwWqPzzuhLmGi4rzzh55FhJtGizkhHaEJqiV
```

Copy the public key and store it for safekeeping. You will need it any time you
want to perform an action on the stake account you create next.

Now, create a stake account:

```bash
solana create-stake-account --from <KEYPAIR> stake-account.json <AMOUNT> \
    --stake-authority <KEYPAIR> --withdraw-authority <KEYPAIR> \
    --fee-payer <KEYPAIR>
```

`<AMOUNT>` tokens are transferred from the account at the "from" `<KEYPAIR>` to
a new stake account at the public key of stake-account.json.

The stake-account.json file can now be discarded. To authorize additional
actions, you will use the `--stake-authority` or `--withdraw-authority` keypair,
not stake-account.json.

View the new stake account with the `solana stake-account` command:

```bash
solana stake-account <STAKE_ACCOUNT_ADDRESS>
```

The output will look similar to this:

```text
Total Stake: 5000 SOL
Stake account is undelegated
Stake Authority: EXU95vqs93yPeCeAU7mPPu6HbRUmTFPEiGug9oCdvQ5F
Withdraw Authority: EXU95vqs93yPeCeAU7mPPu6HbRUmTFPEiGug9oCdvQ5F
```

### Set Stake and Withdraw Authorities
[Stake and withdraw authorities](../staking/stake-accounts.md#understanding-account-authorities)
can be set when creating an account via the
`--stake-authority` and `--withdraw-authority` options, or afterward with the
`solana stake-authorize` command. For example, to set a new stake authority,
run:

```bash
solana stake-authorize <STAKE_ACCOUNT_ADDRESS> \
    --stake-authority <KEYPAIR> --new-stake-authority <PUBKEY> \
    --fee-payer <KEYPAIR>
```

This will use the existing stake authority `<KEYPAIR>` to authorize a new stake
authority `<PUBKEY>` on the stake account `<STAKE_ACCOUNT_ADDRESS>`.

### Advanced: Derive Stake Account Addresses

When you delegate stake, you delegate all tokens in the stake account to a
single validator. To delegate to multiple validators, you will need multiple
stake accounts. Creating a new keypair for each account and managing those
addresses can be cumbersome. Fortunately, you can derive stake addresses using
the `--seed` option:

```bash
solana create-stake-account --from <KEYPAIR> <STAKE_ACCOUNT_KEYPAIR> --seed <STRING> <AMOUNT> \
    --stake-authority <PUBKEY> --withdraw-authority <PUBKEY> --fee-payer <KEYPAIR>
```

`<STRING>` is an arbitrary string up to 32 bytes, but will typically be a
number corresponding to which derived account this is. The first account might
be "0", then "1", and so on. The public key of `<STAKE_ACCOUNT_KEYPAIR>` acts
as the base address. The command derives a new address from the base address
and seed string. To see what stake address the command will derive, use `solana create-address-with-seed`:

```bash
solana create-address-with-seed --from <PUBKEY> <SEED_STRING> STAKE
```

`<PUBKEY>` is the public key of the `<STAKE_ACCOUNT_KEYPAIR>` passed to
`solana create-stake-account`.

The command will output a derived address, which can be used for the
`<STAKE_ACCOUNT_ADDRESS>` argument in staking operations.

## Delegate Stake

To delegate your stake to a validator, you will need its vote account address.
Find it by querying the cluster for the list of all validators and their vote
accounts with the `solana validators` command:

```bash
solana validators
```

The first column of each row contains the validator's identity and the second
is the vote account address. Choose a validator and use its vote account
address in `solana delegate-stake`:

```bash
solana delegate-stake --stake-authority <KEYPAIR> <STAKE_ACCOUNT_ADDRESS> <VOTE_ACCOUNT_ADDRESS> \
    --fee-payer <KEYPAIR>
```

The stake authority `<KEYPAIR>` authorizes the operation on the account with
address `<STAKE_ACCOUNT_ADDRESS>`. The stake is delegated to the vote account
with address `<VOTE_ACCOUNT_ADDRESS>`.

After delegating stake, use `solana stake-account` to observe the changes
to the stake account:

```bash
solana stake-account <STAKE_ACCOUNT_ADDRESS>
```

You will see new fields "Delegated Stake" and "Delegated Vote Account Address"
in the output. The output will look similar to this:

```text
Total Stake: 5000 SOL
Credits Observed: 147462
Delegated Stake: 4999.99771712 SOL
Delegated Vote Account Address: CcaHc2L43ZWjwCHART3oZoJvHLAe9hzT2DJNUpBzoTN1
Stake activates starting from epoch: 42
Stake Authority: EXU95vqs93yPeCeAU7mPPu6HbRUmTFPEiGug9oCdvQ5F
Withdraw Authority: EXU95vqs93yPeCeAU7mPPu6HbRUmTFPEiGug9oCdvQ5F
```

## Deactivate Stake

Once delegated, you can undelegate stake with the `solana deactivate-stake`
command:

```bash
solana deactivate-stake --stake-authority <KEYPAIR> <STAKE_ACCOUNT_ADDRESS> \
    --fee-payer <KEYPAIR>
```

The stake authority `<KEYPAIR>` authorizes the operation on the account
with address `<STAKE_ACCOUNT_ADDRESS>`.

Note that stake takes several epochs to "cool down". Attempts to delegate stake
in the cool down period will fail.

## Withdraw Stake

Transfer tokens out of a stake account with the `solana withdraw-stake` command:

```bash
solana withdraw-stake --withdraw-authority <KEYPAIR> <STAKE_ACCOUNT_ADDRESS> <RECIPIENT_ADDRESS> <AMOUNT> \
    --fee-payer <KEYPAIR>
```

`<STAKE_ACCOUNT_ADDRESS>` is the existing stake account, the stake authority
`<KEYPAIR>` is the withdraw authority, and `<AMOUNT>` is the number of tokens
to transfer to `<RECIPIENT_ADDRESS>`.

## Split Stake

You may want to delegate stake to additional validators while your existing
stake is not eligible for withdrawal. It might not be eligible because it is
currently staked, cooling down, or locked up. To transfer tokens from an
existing stake account to a new one, use the `solana split-stake` command:

```bash
solana split-stake --stake-authority <KEYPAIR> <STAKE_ACCOUNT_ADDRESS> <NEW_STAKE_ACCOUNT_KEYPAIR> <AMOUNT> \
    --fee-payer <KEYPAIR>
```

`<STAKE_ACCOUNT_ADDRESS>` is the existing stake account, the stake authority
`<KEYPAIR>` is the stake authority, `<NEW_STAKE_ACCOUNT_KEYPAIR>` is the
keypair for the new account, and `<AMOUNT>` is the number of tokens to transfer
to the new account.

To split a stake account into a derived account address, use the `--seed`
option. See
[Derive Stake Account Addresses](#advanced-derive-stake-account-addresses)
for details.