Understanding Validators
What is a SafeCoin Validator Node?
Running a Validator Node offers a unique opportunity to get involved as much as possible in the ecosystem development and adoption. Additionally, running a Validator Node will be eligible for periodic SafeCoin inflationary rewards. Validators are crucial guarantors for maintaining the stability and security of the SafeCoin network.
SafeCoin Validators can be run in two formats; Full-History or Pruned. A Full-History Node requires 2TB of SSD storage space per year, as compared to Solana’s Full-History Node that requires 200TB per year. A Pruned Node only requires 20GB of SSD storage total. The Pruned Node reduces the size of the ledger automatically when it reaches a certain threshold.
Running a Full-History node on the network helps increase the decentralization of SafeCoin. A Full-History node records and maintains a full copy of the SafeCoin ledger. As of right now, there are no extra rewards for running a Full-History node, but that is in discussion.
Hardware requirements of SafeCoin’s Validator Nodes have been greatly reduced, as compared to Solana’s Validators. See below for a comparison of Validator specs:
As you can see from the minimum specs, SafeCoin has been able to reduce the entry for running a Validator significantly, opening this up for basically anyone in the community to contribute to securing the network. Stripping KYC requirements from the process also greatly increases the decentralization of the Validator system, and holds true to one of the core values of crypto.
Each Validator receives inflationary rewards based on Vote Credits and Stake Weight. SafeCoin’s inflation is roughly 4% per year. The actual amount of inflation awarded to a Validator depends on the total amount of SafeCoin staked on the network. For example, if 100% of all circulating SafeCoin is staked, you can expect an average of 4% returns. If only 50% of the Total Circulating Supply is staked, the actual returns may be closer to 7%. Ultimately, as SafeCoin is a Limited-Supply coin, an exact amount cannot be promised, as it is completely dependent on consensus.
A Vote Credit is received when your Validator successfully votes and confirms a block. SafeCoin’s random Validator selector system is designed not to clog the network up with unnecessary traffic from Validation votes, but to also be fair to Validators giving them all a chance to vote. Your Validator’s stake weight is determined by the amount of SafeCoin delegated towards your Validator. We recommend at least 10,000 SAFE delegated to your Validator in order for your rewards to cover the cost of Voting Transactions.
At the end of each epoch, the Reward System determines the amount of inflationary rewards to disperse. Your Validator will receive a percentage of the rewards based on your Vote Credits and Stake Weight. Once the Validator confirms the rewards, it will pay out the percentage set by the owner to all staked delegates. Each Validator Operator sets a commission rate, and they keep that commission out of the inflationary rewards. The remaining rewards are paid out to the delegates based on their stake weight.
Interested in running a SafeCoin Validator?