Since we announced Hashgard Node Plan yesterday, our community members raise lots of questions.
Therefore, we are here to specify some details about mainnet nodes plan, so that everyone can have a clear understanding:
1. When will the application channel for node operator be open? What are the requirements?
The application channel will be open when the mainnet goes alive. By submitting the application and staking a certain number of GARD, you can become a node operator candidate. The minimum amount of the staked GARD is 200 million. If you dont have enough GARD , you can find some partners to operate a joint node.
Besides GARD staking, there are no other technical requirements, such as server setup, etc., Hashgard Foundation will bear the server setup fees for the first year.
If the GARD amount you possess is less than 200 million, but you still want to participate in the governance of the community, you can stake GARD to any of the node, which enables you block generation rewards.
2. Why only 11 Hashgard mainnet nodes? Will the number increase in the future?
On Hashgard new generation decentralized finance public chain, there are a total of 21 nodes, 5 nodes(built by Hashgard Foundation), 6 community nodes(servers provided by Hashgard Foundation), and 10 self-built nodes.
If too many nodes rush for block generation, the operation of the entire blockchain network will be put into an inefficient state. Meanwhile, the overall block generation rewards will be diluted. In addition, high cost for node setup will make community members daunted. Thus, in order to ensure the efficiency, Hashgard Foundation has set a limit of the node number as 21. Among them, the Foundation will operate 5 nodes. The owner of the rest 6 community nodes will be motivated to generate blocks.
However, these 6 community nodes still belong to the Foundation (the server is provided by the Foundation). The operator is only responsible for the operation, has the naming right and can determine the commission ratio. Certainly, the commission belongs to the operator. The Foundation stakes 150million GARD to each community node.
If the number of nodes reaches 21, someone still creates a new node, thus the 22nd node. The owner of the 22nd node is no longer eligible to obtain block generation rewards.
3.Who can be the node operator?
Every member of Hashgard community has a chance to become the node operator. In order to protect the interests of all community members, we have provided servers for the 6 community nodes in advance. This server will be free of charge for operators. All costs incurred during this period will be borne by Hashgard Foundation. Therefore within one year, all the community members can participate in the operator application even you know little about the technology. From the second year on, the operator in charge is responsible to set up the server by himself. In this case, it’s necessary to understand the technology. We will also provide technical guidance.
As an important part of Hashgard community, we expect the node operator contribute to the construction of Hashgard community and attract more people to join us. Every operator represents Hashgard. Therefore, Foundation retains the right to appoint or dismiss the operator in case that he brings harm to the community.
We hope that all node operators join us in promoting Hashgard global ecosystem together.
4.What are the benefits to become the node operator?
The benefits for operators are as below:
(1)Block generation rewards: the rewards generated by the staked GARD from the Foundation(150million GARD for each community node)
(2)The naming right which helps attracting more stakers
(3) Determine the commission ratio
(4) The node commission
For example, Tom, Micheal and Jessica set up a joint node. Tom stakes 100 million GARD, Micheal and Jessica stake 50 million GARD each of them. Hashgard Foundation staked 150million GARD. In this case, Tom will have the naming rights and can determine the commission ratio. Meanwhile, Tom enjoys the rewards generated by the staked 150million GARD by Hashgard Foundation and the node commission.
For instance, Tom sets the commission ratio at 10%. After deducting the share of Community Foundation Pool, node obtains 100 million block generation rewards for one month. 10% of the rewards as the commission, thus 10 million GARD belongs to Tom. The remaining 90 million GARD will be distributed according to the proportion of GARD staked by Tom, Micheal，Jessica and Foundation. And the rewards generated by the staked Foundation GARD also belong to Tom. To make it simple, Tom can get: 300 million ( Tom + Foundation)/450 million (Tom+Micheal+Jessica+ Foundation)*90 million GARD=60 million GARD. Micheal and Jessica will divide the remaining 30 million GARD, that is, each one gets 15 million GARD.
5. What percentage of the block generation rewards will be used as community funds?
Similar to many blockchain projects in the Cosmos ecosystem, 2% of the block generation rewards will be used as community funds, and the rest distributed to the node operator. The GARD in the community Fund Pool will be reserved to Hashgard ecosystem construction and community governance in the future.
6. What about the block generation rewards?
One year from the mainnet launch, Hashgard Foundation will subsidize 10 billion GARD to all nodes. After deducting the commission（community funds）, all nodes receive a total of 9.8 billion GARD. The subsidies are distributed to the nodes according to the number of packed blocks. The more staked GARD, the more blocks can be packaged, thus obtaining more GARD subsidies.
When running out of the subsidies, the additional GARD will be issued to cover block generation rewards from the second year on.
7. What’s the block generation rate? What about the rewards for each block?
Hashgard Defi public chain generates a block every 3 seconds, which means 28,800 blocks per day, 10,512,000 blocks a year. So each block can generate 951.29 GARD on average.
For the rewards allocation of the first year, we will refer to the BTC Halving mechanism. The halving date and the daily block generation rewards will be detailed in the future articles about the Economy Model.
8. Will there be additional issuance of GARD?
All block generation rewards will be subsidized by Hashgard Foundation for the first year so as to protect the investors and the community. In this case, there will be no additional issuance of GARD for the first year.
From the second year on, all block generation rewards will be covered by additional issuance of Hashgard mainnet GARD. The public chain will charge a small portion of gas fees to maintain the normal operation of the server.
More details related to the additional issuance will be elaborated in the future articles.
9. Will the node operator be replaced and how?
Yes. The one who staked the most GARD will be assigned to be the node operator.
For example, Mike applies for the the community node operator by staking 200million GARD and Jimmy stakes 50million GARD, which means Mike becomes the operator. If one day Jimmy raises the staked GARD amount to 300million, he will take Mike’s place. The node will be renamed and the commission ratio varied according to his instruction. The rewards generated by 150million GARD from Hashgard Foundation belong also to Jimmy accordingly.
Hashgard Foundation will sort out the amount of staked GARD from the community nodes and assign the node operator on the 1st of each month.
In addition, if the operator’s staked GARD becomes less than 200 million, he’s no longer the operator.
For self-built nodes, the node builder owns the node, not Hashgard Foundation.
10.When can we apply for the operator and how?
The application channel will be open once the mainnet goes alive. As long as you submit an application and stake 200 million GARD to the community nodes, you can participate in the campaign. Totally, 6 community nodes are open for application, meaning that top 6 will win.