# 6a. Stakeholder emissions: root

Stakeholders on root place their delegation of tao on a root validator.

_Source: https://beta.taostats.io/docs/concepts/how-emission-works/stakeholder-emissions-root_

_Last reviewed: 2026-09-23_

> [!NOTE]
> **Where we are — step 6a of the [emission flow](https://beta.taostats.io/docs/concepts/how-emission-works)**
>
> How we got here:
>
> 1. [TAO emission](https://beta.taostats.io/docs/concepts/how-emission-works/tao-emission) — TAO split across subnets.
> 2. [Alpha emission](https://beta.taostats.io/docs/concepts/how-emission-works/alpha-emission) — each subnet mints `alpha_in` + `alpha_out`.
> 3. [Split `alpha_out` among participants](https://beta.taostats.io/docs/concepts/how-emission-works/split-alpha-out) — owner / miners / validators.
> 4. [Parent / child hotkeys](https://beta.taostats.io/docs/concepts/how-emission-works/emission-parent-hotkeys) — aggregate each validator's dividends.
> 5. [Root vs alpha split](https://beta.taostats.io/docs/concepts/how-emission-works/stakeholder-emissions-root-vs-alpha) — divide dividends into root and alpha.
>
> **This page (step 6a):** distribute the **root** share to stakeholders.

## Root Emissions:

Stakeholders on root place their delegation of tao on a root validator.

* For every subnet the validator is active: stakeholders will earn a proportion of the rewards.
* Root staking will have lower returns over time, as stakeholder emission is split between alpha and root stakeholders (see [Emissions: Root vs. Alpha Stake](https://beta.taostats.io/docs/concepts/how-emission-works/stakeholder-emissions-root-vs-alpha)
* Every block, root's share of each subnet's alpha emission is set aside as alpha — it is not sold to tao. Since **[Root Reborn](https://beta.taostats.io/docs/concepts/protocol-changes/root-reborn/explainer)** (mainnet, `spec_version` 441) it is not auto-compounded onto your root stake either: at each subnet epoch it is added, still as that subnet's alpha, to your validator's basket and held until you make a manual claim. See [Root Validator Baskets](https://beta.taostats.io/docs/concepts/staking/root-validator-baskets).

![Flow diagram of validator emissions through a root:alpha split, with the tao-denominated root-stake branch highlighted and each branch split by commission between validator and stakeholders](https://beta.taostats.io/images/docs/concepts/taostats-root-emission-flow-diagram.png)

> [!NOTE]
> **Pre- dTao analogy**
>
> Pre-dTao, staking was done to a validator.
>
> * Rewards were earned across all subnets the validator was active.
>
> dTao: this is staking to a validator on root.

## Calculating Root Emission

Step 1:  The validator take is removed from the root dividend and staked to the validator's hotkey as alpha on that subnet.

Step 2: The rest, still alpha, is added to the validator's basket. It is shared among the validator's root stakers in proportion to their root stake and reaches their stake only when they claim.

### What's next

This is the final step of the emission flow — the root share has reached stakeholders. Under **Root Reborn** these rewards accrue to your validator's basket and are realized on a manual `claim_root`; see [Root Validator Baskets](https://beta.taostats.io/docs/concepts/staking/root-validator-baskets) and [Staking in dTao](https://beta.taostats.io/docs/concepts/staking/staking-in-dtao). See also the parallel path, [Stakeholder emissions: alpha](https://beta.taostats.io/docs/concepts/how-emission-works/stakeholder-emissions-alpha).