How To Choose Validators

To get started in staking with Validator, users select from the list of available Validators on http://venompools.com. The list contains available Validators, their most applicable settings and additional information about them. This additional information gives an overview of stake participants and corresponding round status. Users make a stake in Validator by selecting a Validator that fits their requirements or preference; enough for them to trust with their stake funds. The selected Validator address is then saved after they analyze and choose the preferred Validator. The parameters to be considered when choosing a Validator include:

• Validator Assurance: This is the minimum quantity of stake coins that the Validator’s user is obligated to invest in each validation round. Validator would not participate in the elections if this constraint is not met. The staked funds of the Validator’s owner will be slashed if funds are lost due to the node malfunction of the validator. However, if the Validator’s owner’s staked funds are insufficient to completely cover the slash cost, the funds of the other participants would also get slashed. This validator assurance parameter cannot be changed by anyone once the Validator smart contract has been deployed. This parameter prompts the validator to make sure that the node does not malfunction. Therefore, a higher validator assurance signifies more security for participant stakes.

• Validator Fee: The Validator fee is typically a percentage of the cumulative Validator rewards accrued each time stakes are rewarded. The Validator fee is required by the validator to facilitate the operation of Validator and the node; and thus goes into the validator’s wallet directly. The remaining rewards however, are shared among all the other participants in direct proportions to their initial stakes. Lower fees coherently means more profitability for all the Validator participants.

• Minimal Stake: The minimum quantity of stake coins that participants require to stake their crypto holdings can be confirmed on Validator’s webpage — http://venompools.com.

• Staking Fees: The staking fees defray Validator’s costs of processing stakes at the end of each round. The staking fees are additional fees spent partially to pay Validator for executing staking commands. There is usually a default value of $VENOM tokens used as a staking fee, however, the excess is returned to the sender. Validator uses stake rewards to update its balance in correspondence to the number of Validator participants. This is done after the election round and Validator receives the stake and rewards back from the elector.