Remove Delegation

Removing a Delegation

Delegators can remove their delegation to retrieve their staked tokens and claim earned rewards. The delegation removal follows a similar three-phase pattern to all other staking operations.

Phase 1: Initiation (L1)

The delegator calls initiateDelegatorRemoval(delegationID) on the Staking Manager contract.

Under the hood, the contract:

• Verifies the caller is the delegation owner
• Ensures the minimum stake duration has passed
• An uptime proof may optionally be provided to determine reward eligibility
• Sets the delegation status to PendingRemoved
• Calculates the new validator weight (minus the delegation weight)
• Enforces churn constraints
• Sends a L1ValidatorWeightMessage to update the validator's weight on the P-Chain

Phase 2: P-Chain Processing

The weight update is signed and submitted to the P-Chain as a SetL1ValidatorWeightTx:

1. Aggregate signatures for the weight update message
2. Submit to the P-Chain
3. The P-Chain acknowledges the weight reduction
4. Returns a signed L1ValidatorWeightMessage acknowledgement

Phase 3: Completion (L1)

Call completeDelegatorRemoval(messageIndex) with the P-Chain's signed response:

• Verifies the Warp message and nonce correspondence
• Calculates delegation rewards based on uptime
• Deducts the delegation fee (paid to the validator)
• Returns the delegated tokens to the delegator
• Distributes delegation rewards (minus the fee)
• Sets the delegation status to Completed
• Emits CompletedDelegatorRemoval

Reward Distribution

When a delegation is removed, the reward calculation takes into account:

1. Uptime - Higher validator uptime = higher rewards
2. Delegation fee - The validator's configured fee percentage is deducted from delegation rewards
3. Staking duration - Longer staking = more accumulated rewards

delegatorReward = totalReward * (1 - delegationFeeBips / 10000)
validatorFee = totalReward * (delegationFeeBips / 10000)

The validator's share (delegation fee) is not sent immediately — it accumulates and must be claimed separately via claimDelegationFees.

Edge Case: Validator Removal During Delegation

If a validator initiates removal while delegations are still active:

• Pending delegations may or may not be completable depending on whether the P-Chain processed the delegation weight change before the validator removal
• Active delegations must be removed before the validator removal can be completed
• The contract handles the ordering carefully to ensure no funds are lost

Appendix: Delegation Removal Flow