NEO Global Development (NGD) have updated the technical document “How to Become NEO Consensus Node,” now replete with requirements, application information, and the voting process surrounding the hosting of NEO consensus nodes.
The latest version of How to Become NEO Consensus Node (v1.3) includes new information about the rules and election schedule of upcoming consensus node selection cycles. After a year of improvements to the NEO blockchain, the NEO Foundation expects network decentralization to be realized in 2019.
In NEO’s dual governance system, through off-chain governance, the NEO Foundation will utilize its influence to “accelerate the decentralization process in an orderly manner by delegating consensus nodes to reliable and trustworthy parties.” Once on-chain voting is made more accessible, all NEO holders will be able to easily and directly vote for consensus notes.
Currently, the NEO MainNet has seven consensus nodes; five of which are operated by the NEO Foundation, one by KPN, a Netherlands-based telecommunications group, and one by the City of Zion (CoZ).
After the first seven are decentralized, new consensus nodes will likely be added in batches of three “to ensure optimal fault tolerance under the delegated Byzantine Fault Tolerant (dBFT) consensus mechanism.” To verify the decentralization process occurs smoothly, NGD is developing a network-wide security monitoring system.
Rules
To apply to be a candidate for hosting a consensus node, the NEO Foundation has established guidelines for qualification.
First, candidates should submit information about their organization, as well as their operation and maintenance proposal. Submissions should be e-mailed to consensus@neo.org.
Second, after the NEO Foundation has reviewed a proposal, candidates will be chosen based on their “qualifications and potential contributions to the NEO ecosystem.” Successful applicants will then be voted onto the NEO TestNet as consensus nodes.
Lastly, once a consensus node has demonstrated its ability to operate in a stable manner on the NEO TestNet for six months, it will replace one of the fives nodes that are currently hosted by the NEO Foundation.
Election Schedule
Consensus node applicants will be selected every three months to begin operating on TestNet, and will be eligible for MainNet after six months. If an applicant does not meet the NEO Foundation’s qualifications for TestNet election, they’ll “have the opportunity to improve their candidacy for subsequent selection cycles.”
Below is the election cycle from November of 2018 to November of 2019:
- November 30th, 2018 to February 28th, 2019
- March 1st, 2019 to May 31st, 2019
- June 1st, 2019 to August 31st, 2019
- September 1st, 2019 to November 30th, 2019
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About The Author: Dylan Grabowski
Dylan is a reformed urban planner with a passion for covering the Neo ecosystem. His objective as a writer for Neo News Today is to report news in an objective, fact-based, non-sensational manner. When not behind a computer screen, he can be found in the mountains rock climbing. Find Dylan on Twitter (@GrabowskiDylan).
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