TAO staking FAQ

To activate a strategy you need at least 2 TAO in your wallet. Before your first activation, keep about 0.15 TAO free, which means not staked: the chain reserves 0.126 TAO as a deposit for the permission, and the rest pays network fees. The chain returns the deposit when you remove the permission. If all your TAO is staked, unstake a little from your wallet app first, or send a little TAO to the wallet. Until the permission exists, Stakao cannot unstake anything for you. Once the permission is in place, keep at least 0.1 TAO free for network fees. You can add more TAO at any time: your strategy picks it up on its own.

Staking TAO and holding subnet tokens carry risk, and no tool removes it. With Stakao your TAO stays in your own wallet: you sign a staking-only permission that cannot transfer your TAO, and you can revoke it at any time. A stop-loss limits losses but cannot remove them: in a thin market, a sale can fill below the stop price.

Yes. Stakao is non-custodial. You sign a staking-only permission: Stakao can stake and unstake for you but can never transfer your TAO, and you can revoke access at any time. Your private keys never leave your wallet.

No. The AI only suggests subnets. A rules-based risk engine decides what to buy and when to sell, and nothing in Stakao can move TAO out of your wallet. The part of Stakao that decides holds no keys.

Create an account, open the dashboard, and connect a Bittensor wallet: the Talisman, SubWallet or Polkadot.js browser extension, or Nova Wallet on your phone. Your private key never leaves the wallet.

Open the strategy catalog, choose Auto Validators, Smart DCA, Quant Core, AI Agent, a market-cap strategy, or a theme, then follow the activation flow. Stakao prepares one staking-only permission for you to sign in your wallet.

Each position is sized so that about 1% of your wallet is at risk. Every position gets a stop-loss that adapts to the subnet’s volatility and only ever moves up. As a position gains, its stop rises to lock in part of the gain. Positions are watched around the clock, and a position is sold when its stop is hit. A stop-loss limits losses but cannot remove them: in a thin market, a sale can fill below the stop price.

Both only suggest subnets: the risk engine does the rest. Quant Core is systematic, a quant score reads market data and ranks the subnets. AI Agent reads market data and subnet news, then shortlists the subnets worth holding. For both, the same rules-based risk engine decides what to buy, how much and when to sell, with a stop-loss and a profit lock on every position.

Premium strategies watch every position around the clock, and a position is sold when its stop is hit. Smart DCA follows the schedule you choose during setup: daily, weekly, biweekly, or monthly. Auto Validators keeps your stake with strong validators on the subnets you picked.

TAO that is not in a position stays on Root, where it keeps earning staking rewards. Root is the part of Bittensor where you stake TAO itself rather than a subnet token. Entries are spread over time, and the engine can decide not to buy at all.

Yes, there is a free plan: Auto Validators and Smart DCA cost nothing, and no card is needed. Premium unlocks AI Agent, Quant Core, the market-cap and theme strategies, larger Copilot usage, and 4 wallets. It costs €19 per month or €168 per year ($20 or $180 in US dollars), with a 7-day free trial for new subscribers. The trial needs a card at checkout, and you pay nothing if you cancel before it ends.

The free plan costs €0. Copilot costs €9 per month ($10 in US dollars), and Premium costs €19 per month or €168 per year ($20 or $180 in US dollars). Stakao never takes a cut of your staking rewards. Validator commissions and Bittensor network fees are separate protocol costs.

Your wallet pays the Bittensor network fees on each staking transaction, so keep at least 0.1 TAO free. Your first activation needs about 0.15 TAO free, because the chain also reserves a 0.126 TAO deposit for the permission: that deposit is not a fee, and it returns when you remove the permission. Stakao takes no cut of those fees or of your staking rewards. Validator commissions are a separate protocol cost.

Revoking access removes the staking-only permission that lets Stakao stake and unstake for you. In the app, open your dashboard and choose Deactivate on the active strategy: your wallet signs one transaction that removes the permission. The permission is recorded on-chain, so you can also remove it yourself with a tool that manages Bittensor proxies, such as the Bittensor command line (btcli). At no point can Stakao transfer your TAO.

Open your dashboard and choose Deactivate on the active strategy. Stakao first unstakes your positions, which usually takes about a minute, or a little longer with several positions, and needs no action from you. Your wallet then signs one transaction that removes the permission. Very small positions can be too small to unstake and stay staked in your wallet. If you only added TAO, there is no need to deactivate: the strategy picks it up on its own.

To unstake everything Stakao manages, choose Deactivate on your dashboard: Stakao unstakes your positions and you sign one transaction to remove the permission. Your TAO never leaves your wallet, so you can also unstake from the wallet yourself. Talisman and SubWallet can unstake from the wallet itself, and so can the Bittensor command line (btcli) and the TaoStats staking app. The wallet and chain determine which stake is available to remove, and locked stake or subnet rules can affect the amount. Review the transaction in your wallet before signing.

Yes. You can use a self-custody Bittensor wallet and sign staking transactions yourself, or use Stakao to automate selected staking operations through a staking-only permission. Exchanges are convenient, but they hold custody and choose the operational path for you.

dTAO refers to Bittensor’s dynamic subnet market model. Non-root subnets have their own alpha token and liquidity pool, so realized TAO performance depends on both emissions and the alpha price. A high displayed emission rate does not guarantee a positive TAO return.

As of October 2026, Kraken offers TAO staking inside your Kraken exchange account, so the exchange holds your TAO. TaoStats is a Bittensor block explorer whose staking app lets you connect your wallet and stake or unstake by hand. Stakao automates staking from your own wallet through a staking-only permission: on the Free plan you pick the subnets, and on Premium an AI agent or a quant score picks them, with a stop-loss on every Premium position. Rates, fees and features change, so check each provider before you decide. Read the full comparison: Bittensor Staking on Kraken vs Stakao.

Bittensor staking can lose value. Risks include alpha-price drawdowns, validator under-performance, liquidity and pool mechanics, permission or software risk, and changes in the TAO market price. Automation can reduce manual work but cannot remove market or technical risk. A stop-loss limits losses but cannot remove them: in a thin market, a sale can fill below the stop price.

For questions or support requests, email support@stakao.com. Include the relevant page or transaction context, but never send a private key, seed phrase, password, or wallet signature request.