What is the "Validator 1000" plan launched by W3F and Polkadot? How to participate?
The Web3 Foundation has cooperated with Polkadot to carry out the "Validator 1000" activity. Apply now and follow the validator program setup steps, and you will be eligible to be nominated from Web3 Foundation to help launch Polkadot nodes. By joining the program, you can support the Polkadot network by improving Polkadot's shared security and building more decentralized nodes.
Polkadot is a next-generation sharded blockchain network created by Gavin Wood, co-founder and former CTO of Ethereum. The Polkadot network has made a lot of progress since its genesis block was released on May 26, 2020. On July 20, when Sudo was removed and its governance passed into the hands of token (DOT) holders, it became much less centralized and the network was secured by 100 validators. That number has since grown to more than 230.
Validators in the Polkadot network are computer nodes/servers that verify that the information contained in an assigned set of parachain blocks is valid. They also reach consensus with other validators using a hybrid consensus protocol that separates the agglomeration gadget (GRANDPA) from the block production mechanism (BABE). More details on BABE and GRANDPA can be found here.https://wiki.polkadot.network/docs/en/learn-consensus
Although they are rewarded for successfully validating blocks, validators are subject to slashing penalties (fines) if they perform poorly. This economic incentive helps ensure "good behavior" and increases the security of the system.
Everyone can apply to be elected as a validator candidate. The Nominated Proof-of-Stake (NPoS) protocol periodically selects a valid set of validators based on their pledge to support candidates. Staking can come from the candidate itself (so-called self-staking, casting one's own vote), or from the support of the nominator. See here to learn more about NPoS.https://medium.com/
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Implement decentralization
It is impossible to ignore the problems that blockchain networks often encounter related to decentralization – especially the owners of a large number of project tokens. Due to their large holdings, they have the potential to bias the network and destabilize the system. In order to reduce this possibility, in the Polkadot NPoS system, an unlimited number of DOT holders can support a large number of validators. As a result, the stake to support a validator increases significantly, much higher than any single user's holdings.
Another common problem is that independent validators cannot gain enough support to develop. As a validator, you are not only responsible for your own stake, but also for the stake of the nominators backing you, as mistakes could result in significant slashes for both of you. Nominators need to trust the validators they stake, so a good reputation is invaluable in the ecosystem.
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"Validator 1000" program on Kusama
The "Validator 1000" program has been running successfully in Kusama since February 2020. Kusama, Polkadot’s twin and canary network, has increased its validators from an initial 25 to 700 validators, with a recently passed proposal to further increase this to 900 validators. In addition to supporting decentralization in Polkadot, the Web3 Foundation scales the Kusama 1000 validator size and allows participants to run multiple eligible nodes.
How to participate in the "Validator 1000" program
Becoming a validator requires not only responsibility, but also a certain technical background and reliability. To ensure this, candidates should have:
Experience as a validator in Kusama's "Validator 1000" program with a reputation rating of 25 or higher (typically requires around three months of experience.)
Verified on-chain identities for Polkadot and Kusama
Experience as a validator in Kusama's "Validator 1000" program with a reputation rating of 25 or higher (typically requires around three months of experience.)
Verified on-chain identities for Polkadot and Kusama
Deposit at least 10,000 DOT
Validator points to a dedicated telemetry server
Up to 3% commission
The reward address must be set to "Accepted",
A one-week monitoring period needs to be completed to ensure stable operation
Upgrade all nodes to the latest version within 12 hours of its release if marked as "Urgent" or "High" priority; within 24 hours if marked as "Medium" or "Low" priority Upgrade all nodes to the latest version.
Validators with less than 10,000 DOT self-funded will continue to be considered on a case-by-case basis, depending on the number of applicants; length of time, what validator setup they run, what their security methods are, what regions they operate in, etc.).
Validators who meet the above requirements will be nominated for rotation in each epoch that runs successfully. The cadence of nominations is related to their rank in the scheme, with validators rising in rank after successfully fulfilling their duties each epoch. Otherwise, the validator's ranking will be halved. If a validator is slashed, they will be suspended from nomination and will need to reapply.
These rankings will be made public to help validators build their reputation in the community.
In order to participate, you must have a validator node connected to private telemetry for monitoring. This can be done by adding the following flags to validator nodes:
--telemetry-url 'wss://telemetry-backend.w3f.community/submit 1'
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Related Secondary Links
Github - Set up a Kusama validator in 30 minutes or less
https://github.com/wpank/TrustlessValidatorWorkshop
Podcast - Staking and Validation on Kusama and Polkadot
https://relaychain.fm/3-staking-validating-kusama-polkadot
YouTube – How to Run Validators on Kusama and Polkadot
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kY3e_VOPLew
Support Chat – Join the Kusama Validator Lounge
Wiki – Running a Validator (Polkadot)
https://wiki.polkadot.network/docs/en/maintain-guides-how-to-validate-polkadot
