Validators

Validators are the infrastructure operators that produce blocks, finalize the chain, and — under PoUW — perform useful federated-learning and quantum work.

Responsibilities

Block production — produce blocks when BABE selects your slot
Finalization — vote on block finality (GRANDPA)
Governance — participate in on-chain governance
Network health — maintain uptime and peer connectivity
Security — protect session keys and validator infrastructure

Hardware Requirements

Testnet minimum

CPU: 4 cores (2.0 GHz+)
RAM: 16 GB
Storage: 250 GB NVMe SSD
Network: 50 Mbps symmetrical
Uptime: 95%+

Mainnet recommended

CPU: 8 cores (3.0 GHz+)
RAM: 32 GB
Storage: 1 TB NVMe SSD (RAID 1)
Network: 100 Mbps symmetrical
Uptime: 99.5%+

Software

Ubuntu 22.04 LTS (preferred), Debian 11+, or RHEL 8+
BelizeChain node binary (build from source or use the container image)
Prometheus + Grafana for monitoring
Firewall and key-based SSH authentication

Network Ports

Port	Purpose	Exposure
30333	P2P networking	Public
9944	JSON-RPC (WS + HTTP)	Internal only
9615	Prometheus metrics	Internal only

Setup Overview

Build the node — cargo build --release from the belizechain repository
Generate session keys and register them on-chain
Bond DALLA — staking requires a minimum bond; see the staking pallet for current parameters
Join as a candidate and wait for the next era's validator selection
Monitor — watch block production, peer count, and node logs

# Build and start with a chain spec
cargo build --release
./target/release/belizechain-node \
  --chain /path/to/chain-spec.json \
  --base-path /data/chain \
  --rpc-port 9944 \
  --prometheus-port 9615

Rewards and Slashing

Staking rewards are distributed each era by the staking pallet. PoUW contributions (federated learning and quantum jobs) earn additional scored rewards on top of base validator income.

Slashing applies to: invalid computation proofs, missed deadlines, privacy violations, model poisoning, and consensus violations such as double signing.