How to Stake TAO on Your Phone

Bittensor does not make a wallet app of its own: its wallet list names third-party wallets. Three have a phone app. Each cell comes from the wallet’s own documentation or from that list, read on 14 October 2026. We have not tested the apps.

To use Stakao from your phone, install Nova Wallet or SubWallet. Our wallet comparison covers all three in more depth.

These five steps fit any phone wallet that offers TAO staking. Screens and names differ, so the next two sections say what Nova Wallet and SubWallet document.

1. Put TAO in your phone wallet. Install Nova Wallet or SubWallet from the wallet’s own page, create a wallet, write the recovery phrase on paper and send TAO to your Bittensor address. Keep a little TAO free for network fees.
2. Choose Root or a subnet. On Root your stake stays in TAO. On a subnet your TAO is swapped into that subnet’s token, so your stake follows the token’s price. You can use both.
3. Choose a validator. A validator keeps a share of the rewards, called its take. Compare the take and the track record before you pick one.
4. Enter an amount and check the fee. Start small. On the confirmation screen, check the amount, the validator and the network fee. On a subnet, check the slippage too.
5. Approve and check your stake. Approve the request in the app, then look for the position in the app or on a block explorer such as taostats.io.

To find your address, open the wallet’s receive screen and choose TAO on the Bittensor network. In SubWallet, tap Get address (guide). In Nova, if an exchange rejects the address, open View Address Formats and copy the Legacy address (guide). Send a small test first. Our guide to buying TAO covers exchanges and withdrawals.

Bittensor’s wallet list describes Nova Wallet as a mobile wallet for managing TAO, staking and everyday transactions. Nova’s own wiki has staking guides for Polkadot, Kusama and other networks and none for TAO, so we cannot show its screens.

• Open Nova, select the wallet that holds your TAO and tap TAO in your assets. If a staking option appears, follow steps 2 to 5 above.
• If your version shows none, you cannot stake from Nova’s own screens. Taostats, an explorer with staking tools, names the Nova browser as a popular choice on mobile (Taostats docs). Stakao connects to Nova through WalletConnect, as described below.

SubWallet’s guide to subnet (dTAO) staking is written for its extension and its web dashboard. Its mobile guide lists four other kinds of staking and no TAO, so confirm that TAO appears under Earning in your app. This is the documented flow:

1. Open the Earning tab, choose TAO, then search for the subnet you want.
2. Read the pop-up, scroll down and choose Stake to earn.
3. Enter the amount and pick a validator. The three-dot menu next to a validator shows its details, and Sort helps you compare.
4. Choose Stake, check the details and choose Approve. SubWallet blocks a stake whose slippage is above its 0.5% tolerance until you raise the limit.
5. Open Earning again to see your new position.

SubWallet’s overview describes Root as staking TAO for TAO. Confirm in the app that Root is offered. If you would rather not do the steps by hand, Stakao connects to SubWallet through WalletConnect.

Root keeps your stake in TAO, with no pool swap and no slippage. Rewards build up until you claim them. A subnet swaps your TAO into that subnet’s token through a pool. Rewards are paid in the same token and added to your stake, and if the token falls against TAO, you get fewer TAO back. Our guides to Root staking and rewards and APY have the detail.

A validator keeps a share of the rewards, called its take. The chain default is 18%, and a validator can set a lower take at any time. A lower take leaves more with you, all else equal. A validator that goes offline earns less, and so do its stakers.

• Recovery phrase. Keep it on paper and offline. Never type it into a chat, an email, a cloud document or any other app that goes online, and do not screenshot it.
• Fake support. Nobody legitimate asks for your phrase. Nova says its admins never message you first (Nova docs), and Bittensor calls unsolicited support messages scams (Bittensor docs).
• Addresses and requests. Read the whole address, send a small test first and read each request before you approve it: transfers cannot be undone. Bittensor’s proxy types include a staking-only type and an “Any” type that can move funds (proxy guide).
• Links. Install apps from the wallet’s own download page (Nova, SubWallet), not from a message. Open wallet and Stakao links in Safari or Chrome, because browsers inside other apps block wallet connections.

For a large balance, our wallet guide covers hardware wallets, and is TAO staking safe? covers the other risks.

Stakao does the choosing for you, from your own wallet. You no longer pick a validator for each stake or collect Root rewards by hand, and on Premium a risk engine watches your positions around the clock. Your TAO stays in your wallet, and you can revoke access at any time.

1. Create your account on your phone. Sign up with email or Google. You do not need a wallet yet, and nothing is locked behind it.
2. Connect a wallet. Open Stakao in Safari or Chrome, choose Nova Wallet or SubWallet and approve the connection in the app. Then switch back to the Stakao tab: on an iPhone the browser does not reopen by itself. You can also connect a wallet later from a computer.
3. Choose a strategy and sign one staking-only permission. Stakao can stake and unstake for you, and it can never transfer your TAO.

Stakao needs at least 2 TAO in your wallet, with about 0.15 TAO free (not staked) for the first activation. The chain reserves a 0.126 TAO deposit while the permission exists, and it returns when you remove the permission. The getting started guide lists every requirement and the staking permission guide shows what you sign.

The free plan costs nothing and needs no card. Premium is €19 per month or €168 per year with a 7-day free trial. See how it works, the strategies and pricing. This guide is information, not investment advice.