Principal Miners
Role: Registered Bittensor miners who provide liquidity and can optionally accept external capital, acting as investment managers for federated liquidity providers.
Also known as: Investment Managers, Pool Operators, Delegated Miners
Overview
Principal Miners are the bridge between Bittensor mining and external capital markets. They maintain registered hotkeys on the Cartha subnet (SN35) and lock USDC into market vaults to provide liquidity for 0xMarkets, a decentralized perpetual futures exchange built by the same team behind Cartha. Optionally, they can accept capital from external investors (federated miners) to pool liquidity and scale their operations.
General Tensor — The In-House Principal Miner
The 0xMarkets team operates General Tensor, a principal miner available to all federated miners. General Tensor is designed to be the default trusted option for participants who want to start earning without vetting third-party operators.
Operator
0xMarkets team
Commission
3% of ALPHA emissions
Distribution
Automated epoch-by-epoch via the Cartha rewards system
Trusted Status
Yes — operated by the team that built the subnet and the exchange
Dashboard
General Tensor is a good starting point, but you are free to lock to any registered principal miner. Always review terms before committing.
Two Operating Modes
1. Private Mode (Solo Mining)
Lock only your own capital
Manage your own USDC positions
Receive 100% of your earned emissions directly
2. Public Mode (Investment Manager)
Accept capital from external investors (federated miners)
Pool multiple capital sources under your hotkey
Manage investment strategy and pool selection
Set a commission rate for your services
Receive all emissions and distribute to federated miners per agreement
Requirements
Technical
Registered Bittensor hotkey on Cartha subnet (SN35)
Sufficient TAO for registration fees
EVM wallet (MetaMask, Coinbase Wallet, etc.)
USDC for liquidity positions
Base ETH for gas fees
Operational
Understanding of liquidity provision risks
Secure wallet management practices
Ability to monitor positions and pool performance
(Optional) Business structure for accepting external capital
Becoming a Principal Miner
Becoming a principal miner involves three main steps:
Create a Bittensor wallet (coldkey + hotkey)
Register your hotkey to the Cartha subnet (SN35)
Lock USDC funds to provide liquidity via the web interface
📘 Step-by-step instructions: See the Miner Guide for a complete walkthrough covering wallet creation, subnet registration, and locking funds with screenshots.
Emission Distribution
How Emissions Flow
Key Points
All ALPHA emissions are initially received by your Bittensor wallet
This is the core trust assumption: federated miners rely on you to distribute their share
You are responsible for distributing to federated miners (if operating in public mode)
Cartha does not enforce profit-sharing agreements on-chain
The distribution mechanism is up to you, but the 0xMarkets team provides tooling to automate it
Distribution Methods
Cartha Rewards System
Automated epoch-by-epoch distribution via the Principal Miner Template — federated miners claim directly from your dashboard
Operators who want hands-off, transparent distribution (used by General Tensor)
Manual Distribution
Track shares and send ALPHA periodically
Small operations with few federated miners
Off-Chain Agreement
Legal contract with manual accounting
Custom arrangements with specific investors
The 0xMarkets team strongly recommends using the automated Cartha Rewards System. Deploy the open-source template and it handles epoch monitoring, reward scoring, commission deduction, and self-service claiming for your federated miners.
Accepting External Capital (Public Mode)
How Federated Miners Lock to You
Federated miners can lock capital to your hotkey through the Cartha web interface. They need your Bittensor hotkey address (SS58 format) — a 48-character string starting with 5.
The process is fully self-service: federated miners enter your hotkey, choose a pool, set an amount and lock duration, and complete the transaction. No CLI or coordination from you is required for the lock itself.
Smart Contract Architecture
Each federated miner's position is independent and owned by their EVM wallet
Your hotkey is linked to all positions for emission tracking
Federated miners cannot access your funds, and you cannot access theirs
Emissions flow to your Bittensor wallet based on total capital under your hotkey
Total Locked Capital & Scoring
Your subnet score is based on the sum of all positions under your hotkey:
Your own capital
All federated miner capital
Across all pools
Weighted by lock duration and amount
Setting Up the Automated Rewards System
If you want to run the Cartha Rewards System for your federated miners (recommended), the 0xMarkets team provides an open-source template you can deploy on any VPS or cloud provider.
Principal Miner Template
Repository: github.com/General-Tao-Ventures/cartha-principal-miner-template
The template is a self-contained backend that:
Monitors the Bittensor chain for epoch boundaries
Sweeps accumulated ALPHA from your miner hotkey to an aggregator hotkey
Scores federated miner positions and distributes rewards proportionally (minus your commission)
Processes claims from federated miners who want to withdraw their ALPHA
Quick Deploy (Docker)
This starts a PostgreSQL database, API server (port 8100), and epoch monitor — everything needed for automated distribution.
Configuration
At minimum, you need to set:
MINER_HOTKEY
Your Bittensor hotkey (SS58)
MINER_COLDKEY
Your Bittensor coldkey (SS58)
AGGREGATOR_HOTKEY
Aggregator hotkey for reward accumulation
WALLET_PASSWORD
Password to unlock your BT wallet
COMMISSION_RATE
Your commission (e.g., 0.05 for 5%)
MINER_NAME
Display name shown on the Cartha listing page
MINER_DESCRIPTION
Description shown on the listing page
See the template README for the full configuration reference.
Get Listed on Cartha
After deploying your rewards system, apply to be listed on the Principal Miners page so federated miners can discover you:
Deploy & verify — Make sure your API is accessible (
curl https://your-domain.com/health)Apply — Visit cartha.finance/principal-miners/apply and fill in your details
Wait for approval — The Cartha team reviews applications and notifies you via email
Go live — Once approved, your miner appears on the listing page and federated miners can lock capital to your hotkey
Profit Sharing & Agreements
If you accept external capital, establish clear terms before federated miners lock to your hotkey.
What to Define
Commission Rate
The percentage you take from federated miner rewards (e.g., 3–10%)
Distribution Method
Automated (Cartha Rewards System) or manual; frequency and process
Minimum Investment
Capital threshold and accepted lock durations
Risk Disclosure
LP liquidation, smart contract risks, distribution risk
Recommended Agreement Structure
Managing Positions
Viewing Positions
Web Interface: Visit cartha.finance/positions — see all positions, amounts, and expiry dates
CLI:
cartha miner status --wallet-name <coldkey> --wallet-hotkey <hotkey>
Position Actions
Top Up
Add more USDC to an existing position
Extend
Increase lock duration for a higher subnet score
Withdraw
Claim principal after lock expiry
📘 Detailed instructions: See the Miner Guide for step-by-step position management with screenshots.
Security & Best Practices
Protecting Your Keys
Never share your private keys — only share your public hotkey address (SS58)
Use hardware wallets for large capital amounts
Keep your Bittensor coldkey offline
Monitoring
Check miner status regularly via CLI or web interface
Track emission receipts to your Bittensor wallet
Monitor federated miner position expirations
Watch for liquidation events in pools
Communication (Public Mode)
Maintain a communication channel (Discord, Telegram, email)
Provide regular performance updates to federated miners
Alert federated miners to upcoming expirations
Share transparent emission reporting
Risk Management
Diversify across multiple pools
Don't over-leverage with borrowed capital
Understand liquidation triggers
Keep emergency reserves for distributions
Risks & Considerations
Operational Risks
Distribution Responsibility
If not using the automated Cartha Rewards System, you must distribute emissions manually. Failure to distribute damages your reputation and may cause federated miners to leave.
Performance Risk
Poor pool performance or liquidation events reduce emissions. Federated miners bear the LP risk on their capital, but poor results reflect on you as the operator.
Regulatory Risk
Accepting external capital may trigger securities regulations depending on your jurisdiction. Consult legal counsel.
Technical Risks
Smart Contract Risk
Vault contracts are audited but not risk-free. Bugs or exploits could result in loss of locked funds.
Liquidation Risk
LP positions can be liquidated during volatile markets. Capital loss from liquidation is permanent and not reimbursed.
Network Risk
Bittensor network issues or Base chain downtime could delay emissions or transactions.
Economics & Returns
How Principal Miners Earn
Trading Fees (50% to LPs)
Distributed proportionally to all LPs based on pool deposits; paid in USDC
ALPHA Emissions (31% to miners)
The subnet emits 7,200 ALPHA per day. Miners collectively receive 31% of that (~2,232 ALPHA/day). Your share is based on your deposit score (time × amount × pool weight) relative to all other miners.
How Your Share Is Calculated
Your deposit score determines what fraction of the daily miner emissions you receive:
Deposit score = lock duration × locked amount × pool weight
Your share = your deposit score ÷ total deposit score of all miners
Emissions are distributed each epoch (weekly cycle: Friday 00:00 UTC → Thursday 23:59 UTC)
Your score includes all capital under your hotkey (your own + federated miners')
Public Mode: The Benefit of Scale
In public mode, your hotkey's deposit score includes all federated miner capital locked to you. This means more total capital = larger share of the daily ~2,232 ALPHA miner emissions. You then distribute a portion to your federated miners per your agreement and keep the rest as a management fee — giving you leverage on capital you didn't provide yourself.
📘 Learn more: See Fees & Rewards and Weekly Epochs for full details on how emissions and fee distribution work.
Getting Started
📘 Ready to become a principal miner? Follow the Miner Guide for complete step-by-step instructions on wallet creation, subnet registration, and locking funds.
🛠️ Want to run automated rewards? Deploy the Principal Miner Template and apply to be listed on the Cartha frontend.
💡 Want to lock to the in-house principal miner instead? Visit the General Tensor dashboard to federate under the team-operated miner, or see the Federated Miner Guide for a full walkthrough.
Resources
Principal Miner Template — Open-source backend for automated reward distribution
Miner Guide — Full setup and registration walkthrough
Federated Miners Guide — How external investors participate
Federated Miner Guide (Step-by-Step) — Complete walkthrough with screenshots
Cartha CLI — Command reference
Weekly Epochs — How epoch timing and rewards work
FAQ — Common questions
Support
Discord: https://discord.gg/zGkW2kTsGM
Website: https://cartha.finance
Email: [email protected]
Disclaimer: Principal miners are independent operators. Cartha provides the infrastructure but does not guarantee returns, enforce profit-sharing agreements, or assume responsibility for principal miner actions. General Tensor is operated by the 0xMarkets team and uses the automated rewards system, but the same risks (smart contract, liquidation, network) apply to all participants. Always conduct your own due diligence and consult appropriate advisors.
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