Gamification & More

Delegate Staking

More Nodes, More Stake

As you learned in the subnet section, each subnet must maintain a minimum delegate stake balance at all times that increases with inflation and the size of the subnet; otherwise, it will be removed.

Inflation

As the inflation increases each epoch, so does the minimum delegate stake amount for all subnets, including new ones.

This ensures the price of becoming a subnet is relative to the economic growth.

Nodes Multiplier

Each subnet has a unique multiplier based on the number of active nodes in the subnet.

The multiplier is based on an Exponential Moving Average (EMA) of the number of nodes in a subnet that lags 20 days. An EMA is used to prevent the node count from being exploited as a means to remove subnets by flooding nodes into a subnet, aiming to quickly increase the minimum delegate stake balance before it can be responded to.

The larger a subnet becomes, the higher the delegate staking minimum. This not only increases the rewards for the subnet, which justifies the number of nodes in the subnet, but also incentivizes more nodes to join the subnet as the rewards theoretically increase. Each subnet will be competing in this arena, creating an infinite loop of competing for community, outreach, and increasing nodes.

The more nodes in the network, the TENSOR is required to be staked; the more TENSOR staked, the higher the incentive for more nodes, the more secure the network becomes, repeat.

Let's exploit a centralized subnet

Incentivized Decentralization

Before reading further, learn more about Overwatch Nodes and how centralized subnets are not possible in the Hypertensor network, and how nodes graduate subnet node classifications. We built every feature in Hypertensor around ensuring decentralized AI.

Subnets that are built as a centralized or permissioned network are at risk of having a 66% takeover.

The consensus mechanism is built specifically to incentivize decentralization and put centralized subnets at high risk of being taken over in a 66% takeover attack. Centralized subnets are unlikely to have a way to deterministically know if a node is doing its job and may rely on "if you're staked, you're a subnet node". With this system, nodes will graduate through classifications without knowing if they are doing the job of the node. In Hypertensor, just because you're a staked participant and registered onchain, doesn't automatically determine if you're a subnet node.

In most proof-of-stake systems, such as Base, Ethereum, Optimism, Solana, Kaspa, etc., peer discovery and routing are two essential aspects of P2P networking. In a P2P network, each node must be able to discover and communicate with other nodes without the need for a central server

The consensus mechanism imitates routing tables. Each node must be able to communicate with each node, and each node must be able to deterministically generate a score on each node.

If a subnet is centralized, this is a concept that would take more work to accomplish than if it were just decentralized in the first place. The main way to accomplish a centralized subnet would be to have it fully permissioned.

Keep in mind, Overwatch Nodes will not allow this.

Weight Copying Mitigation

Weight copying — where a node mimics or mirrors another node’s scores or behavior — is a common attack in decentralized reputation or consensus systems. In Hypertensor, this is mitigated through several systemic safeguards:

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Staking Does Not Equal Participation

Unlike traditional blockchain designs, staking on-chain does not automatically make an entity a recognized node in the subnet.

• Nodes must go through a handshake process with existing peers in the subnet (See node classifications).

  • For a node to be available to submit consensus data or attest, that node must have previously graduated through the node classifications to be able to do so. This is only possible if they are recognized by other nodes by having weights submitted to them.

• They must be present in the routing tables of neighbor peers, visible in DHT Records, and node tasks verified by other nodes to participate in consensus (e.g., validating or attesting).

• This ensures only connected, live, and authenticated nodes can influence scoring or be scored.

🛡️ Security by separation: On-chain registration is necessary but not sufficient. Actual participation happens in the P2P mesh.

Why You Can't Weight Copy

• Other nodes must recognize you and submit weights for you.

  • Nodes cannot simply validate or attest because they are simply staked on-chain — they must join the subnet, prove stake, and be verifiably online, and connect to the subnet's P2P network.

    • Think about this like a blockchain; the subnet uses the same logic that allows nodes to connect to each other in a decentralized network.

• If chosen as the validator, what will you submit?

  • If you're not in the subnet, you will not be able to score the nodes or submit dated data, which is unlikely to be attested by the subnet.

• Overwatch Nodes

  • They will ensure nodes are decentralized, utilize proof of stake, ensure consensus is accurate to the subnet's connected nodes, and benchmark the subnet.

Let’s compare with Ethereum:

💬 “Imagine if, in Ethereum, anyone who stakes to a smart contract is instantly assumed to be a validator. They’d start voting and attesting without ever connecting to the network. That would be wildly insecure.”

In conclusion, weight copying is only possible if a subnet codes it in such a way that a node can get away with it. Even if a subnet was run by one person or a coalition of nodes that all agree on faking scores, the Overwatch Nodes will not be able to verify them and make them economically unviable.