Decentralized Nodes

A Delegation Program that Supports
Validators in the Polkadot Ecosystem

The 2nd cohort is launched!

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Program goals

The program aims to select validators that:

Have the technical knowledge to run nodes
Don’t go offline, miss paravalidation votes or get slashed
Can react to emergencies quickly and efficiently
Are sufficiently decentralized in all aspects
Are active in the ecosystem and engaged with the community
Expand and diversify the validators in the ecosystem
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Selection Criteria

The operator can apply with up to two nodes on Polkadot and five nodes on Kusama.
Web3 Foundation will select the validators based on the below criteria.
Each cohort will be nominated for a four-month term.

Technical Knowledge

Application & Interview

Answers to the technical questions in the application and during a potential interview (if one is performed)

Prior Experience & Performance

Prior experience in running validators in the Polkadot and/or other ecosystems with good performance

Institutional staking providers

Legal entities with high experience and expertise that provide professional staking services

Node Operations

Hardware Specs

The node must meet the minimum hardware requirements at all times

Diversification

The selected nodes will have diversity in location, provider, and hardware

Operations & Responsiveness

The operator should apply good monitoring and security practices, session key management, and be responsive

Ecosystem Affinity

Ecosystem Contributions

Overall contributions to the ecosystem and active community engagement

Technical Contributions

Contributions to issues, core tech, or to the program itself

On-chain Governance

Meaningful historical participation in OpenGov

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Process

Round Two

Application

Fill out the application form, providing as much detail as possible. We also encourage you to share more information about your validator service in the Polkadot Forum to get nominated by others.

Review Period

Reviewers will go through the applications based on the criteria above. Web3 Foundation may request a call with you if additional information is needed.

Nominations

The selected nodes will be announced for the second cohort and we will start nominating the validators.

Round Three

Second Application Round

We will update the Program based on our learnings from the previous cohorts and open the application process again.

Second Nomination Round

The selected nodes will be announced for the third cohort and we will start nominating the validators. The duration of the third cohort or the format of the program might change based on our learnings so far.

Join the Decentralized Nodes Program

Help Make Polkadot the Most Decentralized and Secure Network