Validator Nodes

A blockchain validator is someone who is responsible for validating transactions within a blockchain. On the MAAL blockchain network, participants have to be vetted by stakeholders to become a validator in Maal Validator DAO by staking their Maal Coins to earn rewards and collect transaction fees.

Technical node operations​

The following technical node operations are done automatically by the nodes which are run by Maal Data Labs on behalf of validators in Maal Validator DAO:

• Block producer selection:

  • Select a subset of validators for the block producer set for each span

  • For each span, select the block producer set again on Heimdall and transmit the selection information to Bor periodically.

• Validating blocks on Bor:

  • For a set of Bor sidechain blocks, each validator independently reads block data for these blocks and validates the data on Heimdall

• Checkpoint submission:

  • A proposer is chosen among the validators for each Heimdall block. The checkpoint proposer creates the checkpoint of Bor block data, validates, and broadcasts the signed transaction for other validators to consent to.

  • If >2/3 of the active validators reach consensus on the checkpoint, the checkpoint submitted to the MAAL network.

Operations​ by nodes

Maintain high uptime​

A node's uptime on the MAAL network is based on the number of checkpoint transactions that the validator node has signed.

Approximately every 30 minutes, a proposer submits a checkpoint transaction to the network. The checkpoint transaction must be signed by every validator on the MAAL network.

Failure to sign a checkpoint transaction results in the decrease of validator node performance.

The process of signing the checkpoint transactions is automated. To ensure validator node is signing all valid checkpoint transactions, the organisation concerned must maintain and monitor node health held by it.