# Liquid Delegation

**Liquid Delegations** are liquid staked tokens that represent your staked position with a specific validator. Think of them as extension of the native staking experience, you retain the freedom to pick and choose your validators of choice, but as a liquid staking experience instead..

### How Liquid Delegations Work

#### Minting Liquid Delegations

* When you stake assets (e.g., MATIC, GRT, or LPT), Tenderize mints an LST at a 1:1 ratio
* Each of these LSTs is specific to your chosen validator (e.g., tMATIC-ValidatorA)
* The amount of LSTs you receive corresponds to your staked amount

#### Validator Relationship

* Each validator specific LST maintains transparency about its associated validator
* You can track validator performance and rewards directly
* Validator-specific risks and rewards are reflected in the LSTs.

#### Reward Accrual

* Staking rewards automatically increase the value of your LSTs.
* Your LST balance grows with your staking rewards, making rewards very intuitive.

#### Instant unstaking & DeFi Integration

LSTs can be instantly unstaked for a small fee using [TenderSwap](https://docs.tenderize.me/introduction/tenderswap-efficient-lst-liquidity). 

They could also be used across various DeFi applications:

* As collateral in lending protocols
* In yield farming strategies
* For trading on decentralized exchanges
* In liquidity pools

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