Frustrating Design of `btcli stake move` Command for Miners: Unnecessary Selling and Rebuing of Staked Tokens

[0xxfu]

Frustrating Design of btcli stake move Command for Miners: Unnecessary Selling and Rebuing of Staked Tokens

Description:
I am trying to transfer staked ALPHA tokens from my miner hotkey to a new validator hotkey without selling and rebuying them. However, the current implementation of the btcli stake move command forces miners to sell their staked tokens and then rebuy them for the new hotkey. This process is not only cumbersome but also incurs unnecessary swap fees and potential slippage.

Current Behavior:

• The btcli stake move command sells the staked ALPHA tokens to TAO and then buys them back for the new hotkey.
• This process adds unnecessary complexity, swap fees, and potential slippage.

Expected Behavior:

• The btcli stake move command should allow users to directly transfer staked ALPHA tokens from one hotkey to another without selling and rebuying them.
• This would be similar to an ERC-20 transfer, where tokens can be moved directly without additional steps.

Why This is a Problem:

• Unnecessary Complexity: The current process is overly complicated and counterintuitive.
• Cost Inefficiency: Users incur swap fees and potential slippage, which is punitive and unnecessary.
• User Experience: This design frustrates users and makes the process of managing staked tokens more difficult than it needs to be.

Proposed Solution:

• Modify the btcli stake move command to allow direct transfer of staked tokens between hotkeys without selling and rebuying.
• This would streamline the process, reduce costs, and improve the overall user experience.

Additional Context:

• Only ALPHA staked to validators earns dividends, so it's crucial for users to be able to move their staked tokens efficiently.
• The current implementation feels punitive and poorly designed, especially for miners who need to consolidate their staked tokens.

Steps to Reproduce:

1. Mine on subnets and earn ALPHA tokens.
2. Attempt to move the staked tokens to a new validator hotkey using btcli stake move.
3. Observe that the command sells the staked tokens and rebuys them, incurring fees and potential slippage.

[camfairchild]

I've moved this issue to the chain repo because this design is not a client-side (e.g. btcli) issue.