# What is a Delegate

IoTeX is a decentralized and permissionless network with a digital democracy where token-holders **stake** IOTX and vote for **Delegates** to maintain/grow the network. 

The IoTeX Network utilizes Roll-DPoS consensus, where community-voted Delegates manage consensus on behalf of the entire network. 24 of the top 36 community-voted Delegates are randomly selected to mine blocks every hour.

The top 36 voted Delegates are called **Consensus Delegates**, that manage transaction verification and block production on behalf of the IoTeX Network. For their services, Delegates are rewarded in IOTX tokens, which they may share with their voters.

There are currently over 100 Delegates in the IoTeX network. You can see the current list of elected IoTeX delegates on [stake.iotex.io](https://stake.iotex.io).

<figure><img src="https://1634134081-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2F5whGkGlpM5BFduENPztv%2Fuploads%2FdWqTWYLbxJfVI8bblOHh%2FScreen%20Shot%202022-09-14%20at%201.17.37%20PM.png?alt=media&#x26;token=4becb4e8-4f54-4c98-962c-54556cecf0c8" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

Any token-holder that stakes IOTX can vote for one or more Delegates. By staking/voting, token-holders not only enhance the overall security of the IoTeX Network, but also earn up to 10% annualized interest on their staked IOTX.


---

# Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation

If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question.

Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter:

```
GET https://delegates.iotex.io/introduction/what-is-a-delegate.md?ask=<question>
```

The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language.
The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation.

Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.