Incognito’s pNode Review
Disclaimer: The pNode was given to me free of charge for the sake of this review. However this will have no effect on the review itself which solely reflects my personal opinion.
About Incognito Chain
The project was launched in 2019 and therefore is a relatively new project in the crypto space. The main idea was to bring privacy as a 2nd layer solution to existing blockchains by bridging them with the Incognito chain. As of now the team has build bridges for Bitcoin, Ethereum, BinanceChain, Neo, Monero and Litecoin with more in the making. Crypto users who are looking for a way to transfer the cryptos anonymously or trade them on a private DEX (decentralized exchange) can use Incognito for that. A more in depth view on how Incognito works can be found on the link below:
On the technical side Incognito is a sharded PoS (Proof of Stake) platform relying on a network of nodes validating the blocks in so called committees. A node can either be run on a Linux machine (at home or on a VPS) or using a special plug n play hardware device produced by the Incognito team called “pNode” (short for privacyNode). For each epoch a committee of 32 nodes for each of the 8 shards is selected in a round robin manner to validate blocks on the network. Once a node is selected into a committee it will stay in there for 2 or up to 3 epochs (with 4 hours each) and be rewarded for their work in Incognito’s native coin $PRV. More about the rewards estimation can be found under “Expected payments and ROI”
While experienced users can build their own NUC or set up a Linux VPS the pNode targets average crypto user who want to participate in the consensus, strengthen the network and earn crypto rewards without having to dive into the technical details. Let’s see what’s under the hood…
pNode specs
The pNode is a custom build Mini-PC on a Intel NUC basis running a 4-core Intel Celeron CPU, 4GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD storage running Ubuntu Linux. It’s housing is a combination of brushed aluminium with the side panels being a blue fabric on the one side and a white plastic cover on the other. It weighs around 1 kilogram giving it a solid and valuable touch. It’s triangular shape is unusual and a real eye catcher in combination with the mix of metal and fabrics!
The pNode can either be connected wirelessly or through ethernet connection on the side of the device.
Price
The pNode is tagged $399.- plus shipping and can be purchased using crypto, credit card or Zelle directly through the Incognito mobile app. The node I got was shipped from Vietnam and passed german customs without any issues — but please be aware that sometimes additional costs for shipping and customs will occur.
What’s in the box?
Don’t get me wrong, how the node is packed and the design of the packaging might not be a selling point by itself. However it does show the team’s dedication and attention for detail. The cardbox is heavy and carries the Incognito logo. Inside the box our node and accessories are all suited nicely. Talking about power adapters, everything you will possibly need in any country of the world is included — phantastic! If you go for a wired connection the ethernet cable is the only thing not included.
Setting up the node
The plug n play node clearly targets retail crypto users and therefore the installation process needs to be easy or ideally self explanatory. And for Incognito’s setup process that is definitely the case. While there is an english instruction manual included in the box, it’s not needed at all. Getting the node ready and start earning crypto is a matter of minutes:
- Plug in the power cord and ethernet cable. If you go wireless skip the cable obviously
- Get the Incognito app from the Appstore or Google Play store
- Hit “Power — Run a node” and scan the barcode on the bottom of the node
From here you will get guided through the remaining steps by very easy understandable and pictured steps within the app. It’s absolutely doable for everybody and takes not more than 2 minutes.
At this stage you are done and your node is fully operational! Let’s keep in mind the pNode is meant to target average Joe crypto users and the setup process is seriously perfect for exactly that target audience.
Once the node is set up it will start the initial sync of the Incognito chain. This puts the node under quiet some load and make the fans spin at a reasonable but clearly noticable sound level. In this stage having the node in the living room, or even bed room, is definitely not an option. After the initial sync which can take up to several hours depending on your connection speed the audio level drops significantly but the fan is still slightly noticeable. It absolutely acceptable to have the node in any of your rooms, maybe except your bedroom…
Funded node vs. Self funding
To validate your node it is necessary to fund it by staking 1.750 PRV, Incognito’s native coin. With current prices of PRV sitting at above 3$ that’s quite a large investment of more than 5.000$ per node. However every node comes pre-funded meaning it already does “contain” those 1.750 which are borrowed to you by the Incognito team. This means your node is ready to validate blocks and earn you crypto right away. The downside is as long as you use those borrowed PRV you only receive 35% of the block rewards the node would normally earn. But it’s a great way to get started right away and safe PRV until you are able to fund the full amount yourself. To stake your node with your own PRV you need to unstake it and then restake from your own PRV within the app.
The way unstaking a node in Incognito works is that after you place the request ittakes one earning period until it takes effect. More on this in the next paragraph.
Expected payments and ROI
As we explained earlier once your node is selected into the shard committee it will stay there for at least 2, some times 3 epochs. The current block rewards are 9,94 PRV per epoch for a fully self funded node. So ideally once you node get selected you will earn close to 19,88 or 29,82 PRV. Assuming you are running the node with the pre-funded coins these amounts get reduced to 35%, so approx. 7 or 10,50 PRV. On top of the block rewards you also receive a share of the transactions fees that were raised on the network while your node was active, so actual numbers are slightly higher. As transaction fees are super low on Incognito that doesn’t really make any difference to your total rewards.
Estimating the return on investment of your node’s purchase can only be a best guess as selections are random as is your chance to be in the committee for 3 instead of the regular 2 epochs. Let’s use the “worst” case with your node staying the the committee for only 2 epochs:
Pre-funded node: 399$ / (2 * 7 * 3$) = 9,5
Self funded node: 399$ / (2 *20 * 3$) = 3,325
So it takes around 9,5 committee selections to pay off for the node (ignoring electricity costs) when using the pre funded option, and around 3,325 selections using a fully self funded node.
But how often does your node get selected — that’s the real million dollar question. On the one hand it’s based on a formula depending on the total number of nodes on the network, the number of shards and the number of reserved slots for Incognito core team nodes (which will be reduced as the decentralization progresses). But on the other hand there is a randomness factor to it. From the formula’s perspective the chance of your node being selected on a daily basis (2770 nodes live as I am writing this) is 6,73%, or 50% every 10 days.
Let’s assume your node gets selected twice a month the pre-funded node will pay off within approx. 5 months — not too bad!
Final words
I am a huge fan of the Incognito project because I think adding a privacy solution to existing crypto networks, instead of creating just another privacy coin, is a great approach. The privacy preservind DEX is the core of the network and gets more and more traction every day…
Many people in the crypto space are looking for new ways to participate in the consensus rather than just buying and holding coins and the pNode is a great way to empower those people. The price tag is reasonable for a solid quality device and it pays off pretty quickly. The per-funded option lowers the entry barrier which is a great way to drive node adoption and the setup couldn’t be any easier!
Well done Incognito team — Power privacy for the world!
