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There's two ways to 'buy' SteemPower (I think)

  1. buy it with fiat or some other currency
  2. PowerUp.

Delegation is a different thing.
If you (or any steemer) has some SteemPower that they want to use for some other purpose than sitting in their own Steem Account you can 'delegate' it to some other account.

Steemit set up a special account for that very thing. It's called 'Mr. Delegation' in which Steemit has transferred a bunchaton of SP that is delegated to 'worthy causes' (according to Steemit). Something to do with 'anti-spam', 'improper behavior mitigation', 'minnow boosting' and stuff. Any Steemer can do that. If you thought that I needed some more SP you could 'delegate' it to me. (I never turn down free Steem)
OR..To someone else of your choice.

Some Steemers..(whales no doubt) see that as a window of opportunity. They have a bunchaton of SP (how they got it...who knows?)...so they 'rent' it to other Steemers. The 'rent' varies according to what they want it to be. You can use that delegated SP according to the agreement you have with the whale that you rented it from. Sometimes there are no 'strings' , sometimes there are. The Steemer that is renting it to you retains ownership. The delegated SP can be reclaimed at any time that they choose.

BlockTrades is one such whale. (Biiiiiig whale...millions of SP...a LOT). They decided to 'rent' delegation. I dunno what they charge...I seem to recall that at one time the ratio was 50 SP / steem. I'm sure it's changed since then.

The 'rented' SP that you then have in your account can be used in many ways.
I just leave it sit. It increases my 'Vote Power' and the amount of the rewards I receive.
I think of it as 'leverage'.

does that help?

Yes thank you

Leverage now that I understand, I thought I understand how crypto currency’s work but this one’s a little baffling.

If I was a whale I would definitely delegate to you

thanks...it's always good to have friends in low places..
(whales....masters of the DEEP)

It sure helped me! Thanks for explaining it.