Running blockchain nodes requires expertise as well as high-end computing resources. Although some applications may justify on-premise dedicated resources, most applications can't. Pocket Network offers a reliable gateway for those applications to most popular blockchains, e.g. Ethereum.
There are already solutions providing easy access to some blockchains. But there is no other solution that is decentralized, and capability to support a wide spectrum of blockchains besides Pocket Network.
Pocket network achieves this by rewarding the so-called Servicer Nodes across the globe for each "relay" they perform on behalf of customers of the Pocket Network. Rewards depend on performance of those nodes, incentivizing a high level of customer experience.
Running Pocket nodes and gateways to blockchains like Ethereum is a technically complicated job. Furthermore, monitoring these machines and tuning them for the best performance requires keeping up with the constantly changing world of the Pocket Network. C0D3R provides the infrastructure so that you don't have to worry about any of these details. With C0D3R, you can start your node within minutes and start contributing to Pocket Network and earning rewards. With the time you saved, you can concentrate on the big picture, directing your investments.
A relay is basically a blockchain command/query executed by Pocket Network nodes on behalf of an application.
Relays by Pocket Network are very desirable for apps because it is a turn-key solution for them. They don't have to worry about the upkeep of blockchain nodes. For a one time fee, apps get lifetime access to some of the most popular blockchains.
In Pocket Network, per current network parameters, 404 POKT is minted per 1,000,000 relays, per 15000 stake. Out of that:
There are chance-based things that affect node performance:
There are dozens of supported blockchains in Pocket, but a servicer node can host at most fifteen blockchains. To keep the price/performance at optimum level, we choose the blockchains we want to host very carefully. Our goal is giving the first-tier support to the blockchains that total to 90% of daily relays.
All see: Currently Supported Networks
A servicer node is the server that performs the relay. A staked node is by default considered a servicer.
A validator node is the server that proposes new blocks and validates blocks proposed by other validators in the blockchain as well as performing the relay. With the current network parameter, the top 1,000 nodes ordered by the staked amount are considered Validators.
Also see: Validator Rewards
Classically, blockchains have been "Proof of Work" (PoW). It means that participants need to perform work and prove it to have a voice in the network. Although this works fine, the downside is that it requires a significant investment in hardware in terms of "miners". Worse, running those miners have extraordinary power needs. For example, BitCoin, a PoW network, has roughly the same power consumption as the whole country of Switzerland!
Modern blockchain networks, like Pocket Network, have an alternative approach, called "Proof of Stake". Instead of earning a voice in the network with (meaningless) work, participants "stake" value (which is probably earned by actual work in the real world, like fiat money). This staked value keeps participants honest and high performant, or else stake gets slashed (or totally lost in case of fraudulent activity).
To stake your Pocket Network servicer node, you need to send at least 15,100 tokens to your node's public address. Now, technically, you can send less. However, your stake will incur some unavoidable small penalties as they perform. Over time, this may lower your initial stake below 15,000, which will cause you to lose all your stake. Therefore, we recommend at least 15,100 POKTs for the stake.
Validator nodes are responsible for proposing new blocks and validating blocks proposed by other validators. If a validator neglects these responsibilities, it gets at least 1 hour of sitting out of the network, in jail. When a node is jailed, its stake is slashed a small amount of monetary fine. When a C0D3R node is jailed, we automatically submit an unjail transaction when available.
Servicer nodes are not jailed.
Please keep in mind that earning first rewards may take some time, just be patient.
Here is a little bit of math: There are about 100 nodes in each session. There are 24 sessions every day. And about 5000 unjailed nodes (this number changes every day). So, your node getting in a session is 2% chance. Not getting in a session is 98% chance. And not getting a session for the whole day is 62%. So, more than likely, your node will not participate in a session every day. There is still 23% chance that it will not participate in a session even in 3 days!
This is a long game. As you will see, there will be small sessions and large sessions. But there will be sessions. Although we cannot make performance guarantees, we have faith that your nodes will earn plenty of rewards over time.
No. You will not share your private keys with us. You keep your private keys of your wallet. Do not ever share them with anyone under any circumstances. Not with anyone who claims to be from C0D3R, or Pocket team, or anyone else. But you will have to send us tokens to fund your nodes.
Please see How to Stake for more information. This is how Pocket Network works today. Custody-free / Trustless model is coming in later versions of Pocket Core, expected in 2022.
Great news is that C0D3R now has insurance backed guarantee against theft and loss as part of its basic offering. Once you provide the necessary basic insurance information such as your name, date of birth, etc. each and every node is protected up to $10,000 against theft (hackers!!!) and loss (us making a mistake or suddenly going out of business, etc.).
If you are having difficulty trusting a vendor, you have 3 options
No, this is NOT crypto mining. Yes, Pocket Network and C0D3R are very environmentally friendly.
In Proof-of-Work networks, miners do meaningless work (such as solving artifically complex made-up math problems) that consumes a lot of energy with absolutely no benefit for humanity. Pocket is a Proof-of-Stake network. Therefore there is no meaningless energy consumption just to prove some work. All the work that Pocket Network Validator Nodes does is meaningful. Low in energy consumption, easy on the hardwarae, but high impact on value.
Please contact us at support@c0d3r.org if you have any questions, concerns or comments. Our service hours are 9AM-5PM PST (Seattle, WA)
Our (one and only) telegram handle is: C0D3R_team. Same service hours as email contact.