> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.livepeer.org/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
# Delegation Economics
> How LPT inflation, treasury allocation, reward cut, fee share, and reward reliability combine into real delegator outcomes.
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Delegating LPT can earn you two things: a share of newly minted LPT and a share of ETH fees earned by your Orchestrator. The first is protocol-driven. The second depends on real network demand. Both are filtered through the Orchestrator you choose.
## Where Delegator rewards come from
Each protocol round, the BondingManager mints new LPT for bonded stake. The amount depends on the current inflation state, which adjusts around Livepeer's target bonding rate.
As of 6 April 2026, the on-chain treasury Reward Cut remains `10%` under LIP-92. Delegators and Orchestrators share the remaining `90%` of round issuance.
## Inflation reward maths
Your LPT reward per round can be expressed as:
Where:
* is the issuance available to Delegators and Orchestrators after any treasury allocation
* is the total stake bonded to your Orchestrator
* is total bonded stake across the network
* is the Orchestrator's `rewardCut`
* is your bonded stake
### Worked example
Suppose:
* `900 LPT` of round issuance is available to Delegators and Orchestrators after treasury allocation
* your Orchestrator controls `5%` of total bonded stake, so its pool gets `45 LPT`
* the Orchestrator's `rewardCut` is `10%`, so Delegators share `40.5 LPT`
* you hold `10%` of that pool's total bonded stake
Your round reward would be `4.05 LPT`.
## ETH fee revenue
Gateways pay Orchestrators in ETH for completed work. Delegators only receive a share if:
* the Orchestrator actually earns fees
* the Orchestrator's `feeShare` passes some of those fees through
The fee-side formula is:
Where:
* is total ETH fee revenue earned by the Orchestrator
* is the Orchestrator's `feeShare`
* is your bonded stake
* is total stake bonded to that Orchestrator
## `rewardCut` and `feeShare` in plain English
| Parameter | What it controls | Better for Delegators |
| ----------- | -------------------------------------------------- | --------------------- |
| `rewardCut` | share of inflationary LPT kept by the Orchestrator | lower |
| `feeShare` | share of ETH fees passed to Delegators | higher |
As of 6 April 2026, current Explorer product surfaces use **Fee Share**, not **Fee Cut**. For `feeShare`, higher is better. For `rewardCut`, lower is better.
## Why reward reliability matters more than a tiny commission difference
Each round, the Orchestrator still has to call `reward()`. If they miss it, the pool misses that round's inflation.
That means a "slightly worse commission but near-perfect reward reliability" can outperform a "great commission headline with weak reliability".
## How rewards accrue and compound
Rewards accumulate in contract state. They do not automatically appear in your wallet.
To realise them, you call `claimEarnings()`. After that, you can:
* leave the resulting bonded balance in place to compound
* unbond if your goal is to exit and withdraw
See [Manage Your Delegation](./manage-your-delegation) before you claim, because the timing of a claim relative to the Orchestrator's `reward()` call matters.
## What changes your real return in practice
The current mint rate is not static. Check live state rather than relying on an old annualised screenshot or article.
Strong fee share only matters if the Orchestrator actually earns fee revenue.
Commission settings are not permanent promises. Re-check them periodically.
If many more Delegators join the same Orchestrator after you, your percentage of that pool gets smaller.
## Related pages
Use the economics on this page to compare operators properly.
Check the governance-controlled values behind inflation, treasury allocation, and unbonding.
See how claim timing, compounding, and redelegation affect realised return.
Inspect live network state instead of relying on stale static yield assumptions.