Running a validator on X1 is one thing. Getting the X1 Foundation to stake behind you is another. The Foundation's delegation program is the biggest source of externally-delegated XNT in the network, and understanding exactly how it works — not just the surface-level requirements but the mechanics behind the automation — is the difference between a validator that compounds its position and one that keeps getting knocked out at epoch boundaries.

This guide breaks it down from an operator's perspective: what you actually need to qualify, how the bot decides who gets what, and what to watch to stay in.

The Basic Idea

The Foundation holds a pool of XNT and delegates it to validators every epoch — roughly every 24 hours — through a fully automated on-chain program. There's no committee voting, no relationships, no manual review after you're approved. An algorithm runs at each epoch boundary, checks every approved validator against a set of criteria, and redistributes stake accordingly. Good validators get more. Validators that slip get cut. It resets every day.

The program officially launched and had its parameters updated through Project Capybara, which set the 3,000 XNT self-stake floor and raised the performance bar network-wide. Think of the delegation program as the operational expression of Project Capybara's philosophy: the Foundation puts its stake behind validators who demonstrate real commitment, not just warm bodies in the active set.

What You Actually Need to Qualify

There are six hard requirements. Fail any one of them at epoch boundary and your delegation is gone — no warning, no grace period, no partial credit.

3,000 XNT Minimum Self-Stake

You need at least 3,000 XNT staked on your own validator. This is the biggest filter in the program. It's not a trivial amount — at current prices it represents real capital commitment — and that's entirely the point. The Foundation isn't interested in delegating to operators who aren't meaningfully invested in their own node.

Worth knowing: "self-stake" in the program's current definition includes community delegations you've already received, not just tokens you personally staked. The Foundation has flagged this may be tightened in a future update to distinguish true operator self-stake from external delegations.

Commission ≤ 10%

Your validator commission must stay at or below 10%. This is checked every epoch — if you raise your rate above the cap after receiving delegation, you lose it at the next run. Ten percent is already a reasonably generous ceiling; validators running at the maximum should be aware they're at zero margin for error on this metric.

Vote Credits ≥ 92% of Cluster Average

This is the performance requirement that most validators slip on. Vote credits accumulate when your validator votes on blocks — missing votes costs you credits relative to the rest of the network. The delegation bot requires you to be earning at least 92% of what the average cluster validator earns. Not 92% of the maximum possible — 92% of the live cluster average.

That distinction matters. If the cluster average is depressed because other validators are also struggling, your threshold comes down with it. But if the rest of the network is running clean and you're lagging, 92% is a tight target. This is the metric to watch daily. Check it at x1val.online against the current cluster average before each epoch boundary.

Skip Rate Within 10 Percentage Points of Cluster Average

Skip rate measures the share of your assigned leader slots where you failed to produce a block. The threshold here is relative: your skip rate must be within 10 percentage points of the cluster average. So if the network average is 5%, you're allowed up to 15%. If the average is 2%, your ceiling is 12%.

High skip rate is almost always a hardware, connectivity, or configuration issue. It's also one of the faster ways to lose delegation because a single bad stretch can push your epoch average well above the threshold.

Tachyon Version: Currently 3.0.15 or Higher

You must run the minimum required version of the Tachyon X1 client. As of the current delegation program parameters, that's version 3.0.15. Running outdated software is an automatic disqualifier — the program checks your reported version at each epoch and there's no exception for "I'll update tonight."

Not Delinquent

A delinquent validator has stopped voting entirely. Even a brief delinquency — a few hours of downtime during the wrong window — can trigger a failed check. If you're serious about maintaining delegation, you need infrastructure-level monitoring with alerts fast enough to let you respond within an epoch.

Applying

Apply at delegation.mainnet.x1.xyz. The application costs less than 0.01 XNT in transaction fees. Once approved, you enter the eligible pool and the bot evaluates you from the next epoch boundary onward. New validators start with a nominal 1 XNT stake — the full allocation is calculated in the same run, so you don't wait multiple epochs to see real numbers.

How the Stake Is Actually Distributed

Once the bot has its list of eligible validators for the epoch, it splits the pool into two buckets and allocates them separately.

Match pool (up to 70% of available stake): Distributed proportionally to each validator's self-stake, capped at 100,000 XNT per validator. The more XNT you have staked on your own node, the larger your share of this bucket — up to the cap. This is the compounding mechanism: validators who commit capital get more capital delegated to them.

Base pool (the remainder, at least 30%): Split equally among all eligible validators regardless of how much they self-stake. This ensures every qualifying validator receives meaningful delegation even at early stages, not just the whales with 100,000 XNT in self-stake.

To make this concrete: a 1,000 XNT pool with four validators holding 50, 100, 75, and 100 XNT in self-stake respectively. Total self-stake is 325 XNT — matched 1:1 from the match pool. The remaining 675 XNT splits equally as 168.75 XNT each. The validator with 100 XNT self-stake walks away with 268.75 XNT delegated; the validator with 50 XNT self-stake gets 218.75 XNT. Same base, higher match for higher commitment.

One practical note: adjustments smaller than 3% of a validator's current delegation are skipped to avoid the gas cost of micro-rebalancing transactions on-chain. The program executes hundreds of transactions per epoch already; this threshold keeps it manageable.

What Happens When You Fall Out

At each epoch boundary, the bot runs eligibility checks before it does anything else. Validators that no longer qualify get their stake deactivated immediately — it enters a cooldown period and returns to the reserve for redistribution. The rebalancing then happens with the remaining eligible set.

The good news: if you fix the problem, you're back in automatically at the next epoch. No re-application needed for a single compliance failure. The exception is if you've been marked Rejected — that's a status reserved for validators with repeated, sustained violations. Getting reinstated from Rejected requires contacting the Foundation directly via the delegation portal support channel.

Monitoring

x1val.online is the tool to use. It tracks all active X1 validators with real-time vote credits, skip rate, delinquency status, and stake data in one place. The key habit: check your metrics against the current cluster averages before each epoch boundary — not just in absolute terms but relative to the thresholds the bot will apply. A vote credit score that looks fine in isolation can be below 92% of a high-performing cluster average.

The official delegation dashboard at delegation.mainnet.x1.xyz shows your current delegation amount and application status. Cross-reference both tools regularly.

For official X1 network documentation and ecosystem updates, the source of record is x1.xyz.