Roles Explained

This document explains the key roles in the Delegated Proof of Stake (DPoS) system, with a focus on validators, their responsibilities, and the hierarchical structure within the Ronin network.

1. Candidate

Definition

  • A candidate is an entity that applies to become a validator.
  • Candidates must meet specific requirements, such as staking a minimum amount of tokens.
  • Candidates hold specific data:
    • admin: The address used for rotating the consensus address and other information, identical to the treasury address.
    • treasury: The address to receive rewards, identical to the admin address.
    • governor: Used for voting on proposals; only governing validators have this information.
    • commissionRate: The percentage of rewards the validator shares with their delegators.
    • pubKeyHash: Hash of the public key used to vote for finality.
    • vrfKeyHash: Hash of the VRF key used to submit random seeds; only governing validators have this information.

Responsibilities

  • Maintain their staking balance to remain eligible for promotion.
  • Await selection to join the validator set.
  • Submit fast finality proofs to finalize blocks.

Process

  1. A user applies to become a candidate by calling the applyValidatorCandidate function in the smart contract.
  2. Eligible candidates may be promoted to validator status.

2. Validator

Definition

  • A validator is a candidate that has been selected to participate in block production and governance of the network.
  • Validators are divided into three types:
    1. Governing Validators (GV): Trusted entities with governance privileges.
    2. Standard Validators (SV): Selected based on their staking amounts.
    3. Rotating Validators (RV): Temporarily promoted validators selected randomly for fairness.

Types of Validators

1. Governing Validators (GV)

  • Role: Act as core participants in network governance and block production.
  • Selection: Chosen based on predefined trusted organization weights.
  • Special Privileges:
    • Submit VRF proofs to generate random seeds.
    • Participate in voting for proposals and changes to network parameters.
    • Maintain a public vrfKeyHash and governor address for governance.

2. Standard Validators (SV)

  • Role: Provide block production support with no governance privileges.
  • Selection: Chosen based on staking amounts from the top-ranked candidates after governing validators.
  • Special Privileges:
    • Contribute to block production.
    • Earn rewards from transaction fees and block rewards.
  • Limitation: Excluded from voting on governance proposals.

3. Rotating Validators (RV)

  • Role: Promote decentralization by allowing temporary participation.
  • Selection:
    • Randomly selected from the remaining candidates after GV and SV are assigned.
    • Determined by the random seed generated during beacon finalization.
  • Special Privileges:
    • Participate in block production during assigned epochs.
  • Limitation:
    • Rotation occurs periodically; their validator status is not permanent.

Responsibilities of Validators

  • Block Production:
    • Validate and include transactions in blocks.
    • Produce blocks during assigned epochs.
  • Finality Proofs:
    • All candidates, including non-block producers, contribute fast finality proofs to finalize blocks.
  • Compliance:
    • Maintain active participation to avoid penalties or slashing.
    • Ensure sufficient staking to retain validator status.

3. Block Producer

Definition

  • A block producer is a validator assigned to create blocks during a specific epoch.

Responsibilities

  • Validate transactions and include them in new blocks.

Key Points

  • Block producers are a subset of validators assigned to create blocks during specific epochs.
  • All candidates (not just block producers) are responsible for submitting finality proofs.

4. Delegator

Definition

  • A delegator is a token holder who stakes their tokens with a validator.
  • Delegators share in validator rewards and indirectly influence governance by supporting specific validators.

Reward Sharing

  • Rewards are distributed based on:
    • Validator’s commission rate.
    • Delegator’s staked amount.

5. Hierarchical Relationship

Structure

  1. Candidates: The initial pool of participants awaiting promotion.
  2. Validators:
    • Governing Validators (GV): Trusted and responsible for governance and block production.
    • Standard Validators (SV): Support block production without governance roles.
    • Rotating Validators (RV): Temporarily promoted to encourage decentralization.
  3. Block Producers: A subset of validators responsible for creating blocks during specific epochs.
  4. Delegators: Stake tokens with validators to share in rewards and indirectly support the network.