Introduction
The Cosmos Hub is based on CometBFT that relies on a set of validators that are responsible for committing new blocks in the blockchain. These validators participate in the consensus protocol by broadcasting votes that contain cryptographic signatures signed by each validator's private key.
Validator candidates can bond their own ATOM and have ATOM "delegated", or staked, to them by token holders. The Cosmos Hub has 180 active validators, but over time the number of validators can be changed through governance (MaxValidators parameter). Validator voting power is determined by the total number of ATOM tokens delegated to them. Validators that do not have enough voting power to be in the top 180 are considered inactive. Inactive validators can become active if their staked amount increases so that they fall into the top 180 validators.
Validators and their delegators earn ATOM as block provisions and tokens as transaction fees through execution of the Tendermint consensus protocol. Note that validators can set a commission percentage on the fees their delegators receive as additional incentive. You can find an overview of all current validators and their voting power on Mintscan.
If validators double sign or are offline for an extended period, their staked ATOM (including ATOM of users that delegated to them) can be slashed. The penalty depends on the severity of the violation.
Hardware
For validator key management, validators must set up a physical operation that is secured with restricted access. A good starting place, for example, would be co-locating in secure data centers.
Validators are expected to equip their datacenter location with redundant power, connectivity, and storage backups. Expect to have several redundant networking boxes for fiber, firewall, and switching and then small servers with redundant hard drive and failover.
You can find the minimum hardware requirements on the instructions for joining the Cosmos Hub mainnet. As the network grows, bandwidth, CPU, and memory requirements rise. Large hard drives are recommended for storing years of blockchain history, as well as significant RAM to process the increasing amount of transactions.
Create a Validator Website
To get started as a validator, create your dedicated validator website and signal your intention to become a validator in the Interchain Discord. Posting your validator website is essential because delegators want to have information about the entity they are delegating their ATOM to.
Seek Legal Advice
As always, do your own research and seek legal advice if you intend to run a validator node.
Community
Discuss the finer details of being a validator on our community Discord and sign up for the Cosmos newsletter to get regular updates:
FAQs
The jail For the overall health of the network, if the rating of a validator drops below 10 points, it will be jailed. Being jailed means that the validator will be taken out of the shards, it will not participate in consensus, and thus it will not earn any rewards.
How to choose an atom validator? ›
How to Choose an ATOM Validator
- Choose a validator that has 100% uptime. ...
- Select a validator that has self-staked tokens. ...
- Only stake with validators that have a website, so you can contact them.
- Stake ATOM with validators who are active in the community. ...
- Stake ATOM with validators who vote on network proposals.
The Cosmos Hub has 180 active validators, but over time the number of validators can be changed through governance ( MaxValidators parameter).
How to become an atom validator? ›
These ATOM tokens can be self-delegated directly by the validator or delegated to the validator by other ATOM holders. Any user in the system can declare their intention to become a validator by sending a create-validator transaction to become validator candidates.
How much can you earn as a validator? ›
The total reward for a validator depends on these factors, including the amount of ETH staked and the total number of validators on the network. On average, you can expect an annual percentage yield (APY) between 4% and 10%. Missed Duties: Validators have two primary roles: checking new blocks and proposing new ones.
Do validators get paid? ›
Validators earn financial rewards for carrying out their assigned duties: proposing and validating blocks. As we'll explain in more detail later, these rewards come from new ETH issuance, priority fees from transactions, and maximal extractable value (MEV).
How much ETH is required to be a validator? ›
The network sends the transaction to a randomly selected node's pool, which broadcasts it to other nodes. These nodes add it to their pools and broadcast it also, in a process called "gossiping." To host a node and become a validator, a user must stake 32 ether.
Which validator should I choose? ›
Stay away from zero fee validators
Obviously low commission rates can lead to higher returns, but lowest rates aren't always your best pick. Many validators have an average minimum commission rate of 5% to ensure an income securing the chain. It is important to pick a validator with at least some fees.
How is a validator selected? ›
Validators (in Proof-of-stake / PoS networks), are chosen based on the amount of cryptocurrency they have staked. The more coins a validator has staked, the higher the chance of being selected to validate transactions and add new blocks.
How to make money with ATOM? ›
Users can delegate their ATOM tokens to a trusted Validator. Validators run nodes to validate transactions on Cosmos Network and in return earn block rewards in ATOM, which are then distributed to the Delegators after taking a Validator commission.
The choice of the best ATOM staking way depends on your priorities. If you're a beginner, centralized exchange is the best way to stake ATOM, but it offers less returns. In case, if you have experience with staking, delegating to a validator gives you more control over rewards, but requires some thorough research.
What is better, Polkadot or Cosmos? ›
For Cosmos, interoperability comes from the Inter-Blockchain Communication (IBC) protocol. It lets different chains send data and tokens to each other. However, Polkadot achieves this with Cross-Chain Message Passing (XCMP). It enables parachains to interact securely without needing to trust each other.
How profitable is staking atom? ›
This means that, on average, stakers of Cosmos are earning about 13.99% if they hold an asset for 365 days. 24 hours ago the reward rate for Cosmos was 14.00%. 30 days ago, the reward rate for Cosmos was 14.18%. Today, the staking ratio, or the percentage of eligible tokens currently being staked, is 60.75%.
What is the percentage of Cosmos staking? ›
Earn 16.14% rewards with Cosmos Staking.
How much an Ethereum validator makes in 1 year? ›
How Much Can be Earned Staking ETH? Ethereum staking rewards currently average around 4-7% annually but can fluctuate depending on network activity. Here are some estimates: Staking 32 ETH (1 validator) – ~4-7% SRR = 1.6 – 2.24 ETH per year.
What happens when a validator gets slashed? ›
If a validator is found to behave maliciously or dishonestly, it may be slashed, which means that a portion of its deposit is destroyed by the network as a punishment. As such, slashing incentivises validators to perform their duties correctly, thereby promoting the network's best interests.
What happens if a validator becomes inactive? ›
These validators are in the active validator set and your list of nominations. However, you are not actively nominating them for this era (they are not active for you), and they will not give rewards to you for this era. When you first nominate validators, all of them will be "waiting" in the current era.
What happens if a validator goes offline? ›
If a validator goes offline for a prolonged period of time, they will be forcefully chilled (stop validating), but they won't get slashed. A slashing occurs for offline status only if at least 10% of all validators are offline at the same time.
What are the benefits of being a validator? ›
Validators are typically rewarded for their participation in the network. Depending on the consensus mechanism, validators may earn transaction fees, block rewards, or other incentives for their contribution to maintaining the network's security and reliability.
