Understanding Realms Delegation
Delegation lets you assign your voting weight to another wallet without transferring token ownership. On Realms, this is useful when you trust a community member or working group to vote on routine proposals but want to retain the ability to override or revoke. Misunderstanding delegation mechanics is a common source of surprise during contentious votes.
What Delegation Does and Does Not Do
Delegation moves voting power, not tokens. Your token balance remains in your wallet. The delegate can cast votes using your weight according to DAO rules. The delegate cannot withdraw your tokens through the delegation mechanism itself — but you should only delegate to wallets whose operator you trust completely.
When Delegation Makes Sense
- You hold tokens in a DAO with frequent low-stakes votes and cannot follow each one
- A working group has demonstrated consistent alignment with your stated priorities
- You are traveling or unavailable during a known vote window and want participation without rushing an uninformed vote
Delegation is less appropriate when a proposal modifies treasury allocations, changes program authorities, or splits the community on fundamental direction. Those votes deserve direct attention.
Setting Up Delegation
On Realms, navigate to your governance account, find the delegation section, and specify the recipient wallet address. Confirm the address character by character — a single wrong character assigns weight to an unintended recipient. Some DAOs publish recommended delegate addresses; verify those addresses against multiple official sources.
Revoking Delegation
Revocation returns voting weight to your wallet for future votes. Timing matters: if your delegate already cast a vote using your weight, revoking does not retroactively change that cast vote. Revoke before vote close if you disagree with your delegate's choice on an active proposal and intend to vote differently.
Responsibilities That Stay With You
Even with delegation, you remain the token owner. Monitor delegate voting history periodically. If a delegate consistently votes against your interests, revoke and either vote directly or choose a different delegate. Delegation is not a set-and-forget arrangement — it is an ongoing trust relationship.
Common Pitfalls
Delegating to a hot wallet without understanding its security practices. Assuming delegation covers all governance accounts when it applies only to the specific account where you configured it. Forgetting that some proposals use token snapshots taken before delegation changes take effect.
Getting Help
If delegation language in a specific proposal confuses you, book a Glossary Consultation or read the participation checklist on our Governance Guide page.