In endorsements a lot depends on random physical limits. Validators in Asia might average 90-95% while validator in EU / NA can get up to 99% endorsements with perfect condition. And it will be much more random with the planned upgrade to 200ms blocks, since it’s not easy to receive and endorse within 200ms if you’re located in a different country from chunk producer. I’m expecting 80-90% to be the norm then. And again, if someone knows how to manage 1 node perfectly, it’s very easy to manage 100 nodes. For reference, I’m currently managing 6 nodes and it takes me like 30 minutes a month of maintenance. I can easily run 60 nodes if I want to, all with near-perfect uptime and endorsement rate
2 Likes
Thanks for posting HSP-002. I’m broadly supportive of a time-boxed Q4 pilot that cushions smaller validators through the 5% → 2.5% inflation transition. To finalise, could you lock a few specifics:
– Snapshot: exact epoch/time and a provisional bottom-100 list for community verification.
– Uptime: source of truth + public methodology (and an appeals window).
– Exclusions: definition and initial roster to avoid ambiguity/double dipping.
– Anti-split: a lightweight policy for entity-linked validators.
– Transparency: publish payout txs + a Q4 report with Nakamoto coefficient and stake entropy.
With these, I think the pilot is well-scoped and measurable.
2 Likes
I will be voting in favour of HSP-002.
With the recent inflation reduction, we have received increasing feedback from smaller validators expressing concerns about sustainability. This proposal will help cushion the immediate impact and provide short-term support for these validators.
Additional recommendations to strengthen the outcome:
-
Opening the validator support database:
Open the list of smaller validators that require assistance, including key data such as stake size, commission, performance, and needs to other ecosystem partners. This enables them to incorporate these data in any initiatives or programs they plan to launch to help smaller validators. -
Ecosystem partnerships to boost staking:
Explore collaboration with ecosystem partners such as Rhea, Legion, Sweat, and others to promote staking campaigns that funnel more delegations to under-supported validators. -
Adding an automatic staking feature for lock veNEAR:
Once HoS introduces the delegation feature on the front end, users who lock NEAR but have no validator preference should be able to opt into an automatic delegation flow. The smart contract can then automatically re-delegate their NEAR to smaller validators in need of support, based on the Meta Pool maintained validator database. -
Long-term validator sustainability programs:
Develop initiatives such as campaigns, competitions, or ecosystem contribution tasks where validator teams can actively promote NEAR, provide value, and in return gain more delegation. This will foster a value-for-value relationship rather than one-way support.
5 Likes
We vote FOR the proposal.
We support this proposal that aligns with our commitment to maintaining network decentralization and resilience. The proposal provides targeted, time-limited support to smaller validators who are most at risk from reduced rewards, helping to prevent centralization and validator attrition. The explicit focus on a single quarter allows for data collection and iterative improvement, and the requirement for high uptime incentivizes operational reliability.
The Decision version of this proposal passed a few days ago. I just updated the status of the canonical copy from Voting to Final: proposals/HSPs/hsp-002.md at main · houseofstake/proposals · GitHub
Hi everyone,
Here’s an update on the payouts and final steps for the first iteration of the Validator Support Program (HSP-002):
- We are currently identifying and verifying eligible reward recipients based on the Q4 snapshot and uptime criteria
- Payouts are scheduled for end of next week (Jan 23)
- We’re planning to host a community call to share the results, walk through key metrics (uptime, participation, decentralization signals), and discuss potential next steps for this program
- A written summary will follow the payouts and will inform whether a follow-on proposal is warranted. If you have questions or data points you’d like covered in the review, please drop them here.
- As a reminder, this payout concludes the Q4 pilot; any continuation would require a separate proposal.
We’ll continue posting updates in this channel.
Looking forward to rewarding validators for their important contributions to the network and to gathering feedback on how this pilot performed!
6 Likes
According to what was agreed under HSP-002, and with the support of the Gauntlet team, the payments to the 31 validators that successfully met the eligibility criteria have now been completed successfully.
To share the results and provide additional context, we invite the community to join an X Spaces session together with House of Stake (HoS), Meta Pool, and Gauntlet:
X Spaces: “Validator Support at NEAR – House of Stake”
January 29
2:30 PM UTC
The link to the X Spaces will be shared shortly.
5 Likes