Validator Incentive Program
The BitCanna chain is supporting the network and the services of BitCanna. Currently 100 validators are securing our blockchain. To reward validators doing more than just validating, but are also offering services to BitCanna we have started a Validator Incentive Program (VIP). Across various categories ranging from technical services to marketing and educational services validators can earn team delegations. This page shows the various categories recognized for the services, how the size of the delegation is determined, how we go about with new rounds of delegations and who has received a delegation in the current round of the VIP (which validator, which service and which size).
Categories recognized as services for BitCanna
The services we recognize are described below. Per category the description of the service is given and the prerequisite we use to assess eligibility. Services can be rewarded for testnet and mainnet services separately. Prerequisites applied are the following:
active in governance when a proposal is on chain (measured over the last 10 proposals a participation rate of 80% is required)
having a maximum commission rate of 20%
uptime of 99% or higher
For the testnet we recognize explorers, testnet nodes, snapshots, statesync, public RPC nodes, seednodes. The delegation per offered service on the testnet is half (50%) of the same service offered on the mainnet.
Wallet
Description: providing a wallet where users can manage their funds
Prerequisite: free validator choice, users should control their own private keys, code should be open-source, wallet needs to be dedicated (so not in combination with an explorer like a fork of ping.pub)
Obtained from: Github (our docs page)
Explorer
Description: providing an explorer to be used to see wallet balances and block history
Prerequisite: using own resources (e.g. LCD endpoints. Note; these should not be run from your validator for security reasons), being able to load all blocks from block 1 to the actual block height (the database may not be pruned), data has to be included in both files on Github
Technical support
Description: providing technical support in our Discord channels with fellow validators and the team
Prerequisite: quality and amount of the support
Obtained from: Google Form for validator submissions
Testnet nodes
Description: supporting the testnet(s)
Prerequisite: run a node, being active in testnet governance, available for testnet upgrades, member of the devnet channel in Discord
Obtained from: Google Form for validator submissions, explorer
Snapshots
Description: providing snapshots to be able to bootstrap a node on the BitCanna network quickly
Prerequisite: working link, instruction how to use the snapshot included
Obtained from: Github (our docs page)
Statesync
Description: providing instruction and method how to statesync a node on the BitCanna network
Prerequisite: working link, instruction how to statesync or use the script included, data has to be included in both files on Github
Archive nodes
Description: providing an unpruned database of the blockchain history
Prerequisite: approachable via a link, should contain all blocks from the beginning, database must be unpruned
Obtained from: Github (chain registry)
Public RPC nodes
Description: providing an RPC node where queries can be made to obtain data from the blockchain
Prerequisite: accessible URL, tx-index = on, node needs to be synced. Note; these should not be run from your validator node for security reasons (note: on the testnet we allow it)
(Mainnet) Obtained from: Github (chain registry)
(Testnet) Obtained from: Github (testnet chain registry)
Seednodes
Description: providing an seednode used by other nodes to find peers
Prerequisite: accessible address, node needs to be synced. Note; these should not be run from your validator node for security reasons. Note: a seednode can't be a persistent peer.
(Mainnet) Obtained from: Github (chain registry)
(Testnet) Obtained from: Github (testnet chain registry)
Relayers
Description: running relayers between chains which are relevant for BitCanna, enabling IBC transactions. This can either be on mainnet or on the testnet, if applicable
Prerequisite: active relayer, supporting the right channels, involved in the dedicated Discord group for relayers, relayer address shared with the team, relayer address should show recent IBC transactions in the past 7 days.
Obtained from: SmartStake dashboard
Data analytics
Description: providing data analytics for insights in blockchain usage, delegation statistics, network monitoring, p2p monitoring, chain health monitoring and more
Prerequisite: data should be accessible and useable. Advantages if data can be exported and for innovative analyses
Obtained from: Github (our docs page)
Marketing / education
Description: providing marketing and education around BitCanna towards (crypto) audience. Content around learning others about the goals of BitCanna and helping us grow (bigger)
Prerequisite: high quality marketing and education, easily accessible for interested people, active communication
Obtained from: Discord, BitCanna featured channel
Others
Description: all other services which are delivered but which are not included in the aforementioned categories
Prerequisite: -
Obtained from: Google Form for validator submissions
Determining the delegation amount
All services will be checked on the mentioned prerequisites. All services are ranked with either a simple “Yes / No” (for example for RPC nodes, statesync; things which either work or don’t work) or are ranked in 3 levels, namely “Small / Medium / Large” based on the audience the service has (for example for explorers and wallets). And lastly we have introduced a level of delegations for new innovation, which will be given to validators who are in the start-up phase of their service which are looking promising or to complete new type of services which are completely different from other services.
For our current delegation program running from November 2023, we have in total a delegation budget of 36 million BCNA for all the categories. A couple of these get a fixed fee:
Snapshots (150k BCNA delegation)
Statesync (50k BCNA delegation)
Archive nodes (1500k BCNA delegation)
RPC nodes (50k BCNA delegation)
Seednodes (50k BCNA delegation)
Relayers (400k BCNA delegation per channel)
After substracting the delegation amount required to reward these services, we distribute the remaining delegation budget over the rest of the services. This is done by giving points for each service. A “Yes” gets 1 point, a “Small” gets 0.5 point, a “Medium” gets 1 point, a “Large” gets 1.5 point and the Innovation tag gets 0.1 point. In our current execution 1 point is worth a delegation of 402232,1429 BCNA. This means that:
A "Yes" gets a delegation of 402232,1429 BCNA
A “Small” gets a delegation of 201116,07 BCNA
A “Medium” gets a delegation of 402232,1429 BCNA
A “Large” gets a delegation of 603348,21 BCNA
“Innovation” gets a delegation of 40223,21429 BCNA
New delegations
Twice a year (last update April 2024) we will review the delegations given. During this period we will also open up the form again, to allow validators with services to subscribe to the program. We will communicate this via our social channels as well as via the validator chats on Discord.
The input received will be assessed and included in the program if approved. Results for the most recent round can be found below.
Note that the amount of $BCNA per earned point can change based on the amount of service providers. So even though your services offered might remain the same, the delegation amount can go up (a bit) or down (a bit) based on the total amount of points rewarded for the services offered by all validators.
Disclaimer
BitCanna holds the right to review the delegations on other moments besides the a forementioned 2x per year. A script is created which checks the services included in the file on Github to check liveliness and responsivess as well as meeting other requirements like for example running the services on non-validator nodes. This will also apply for services like marketing; long periods of non-compliance with the requirements will have consequences for the delegation. It can also work the other way around; exceeding expectations can lead to larger delegations.
Current delegations
Last updated