Komodo Notary Node Elections 2019
The 2019 Komodo Notary Node Elections are approaching. This marks the third annual elections by the community. It’s one of the best showcases of vote sessions taking place transparently on the Komodo blockchain.
It’s a good time to learn what a Notary Node operator does, how they work, and why it’s important for KMD holders to participate in the vote. We will try to condense it in as little text as possible.
What is a Notary Node?
The Komodo notary node network is comprised of 64 independent servers spread out equally in all major regions of the world. The network carries out the following tasks:
The notary nodes carry out three specific steps to ensure that the notarization process is properly completed:
- Gather Data — the notary nodes collect data about the Komodo blockchain and write that information into a special block on the Komodo blockchain.
- Notarize Data — Once the block with the backup info has been created, it is then notarized onto a different blockchain for added security. The blockchain used to backup the data is currently Bitcoin, as Bitcoin has the largest network and is thus the most secure blockchain to date.
- Re-Notarize Back Onto The Komodo Blockchain — After the backup has been created on the secondary blockchain, the location of the backup is then written back into Komodo’s main blockchain.
Basically, the notary nodes defend the entire Komodo ecosystem against 51% attacks. The consensus mechanism to accomplish this is called delayed-proof-of-work. Here are some examples of an attack that was prevented recently.
How do the Notary Node Elections work?
On 14th of April, everybody who owns KMD will be airdropped special VOTE tokens to your wallet. These tokens are 1:1 with KMD. That means that if you have 1 KMD in your wallet, you will receive 1 VOTE token. Once you have received your tokens you are now able to send these VOTES to your chosen candidate. The voting session will take place from the 14 of April until the 14th of May 2019.
Users can review all candidate proposals here:
It’s important as a community member to review each profile and pick the best candidate according to your criteria. You should ask yourself:
- What do I expect from a notary node?
- Do they add value to the ecosystem?
- Where they elected last year and how was their performance?
Out of the 64 Notary spots available, 50% of the top nodes are qualified to keep their spots for the next year. The remaning 50% of the spots are up for election.
Who can become a Notary Node operator?
The simple answer is anyone. We encourage that if you are intersted in operating a node, you join the Komodo Discord and ask questions in the #notary-node channel.
Notary candidates are not required to have a certain amount of Komodo in their holdings. However, they are expected to have enough technical skills to maintain the notary node and hardware.
Candidates need to gain support from the community so the sooner you start, the best chances that you have of setting up your test nodes and start interacting with the community.
How Do You Vote For ChainZilla?
ChainZilla is a candidate for this election and your vote matters to us. In order to vote for ChainZilla, all you have to do is send your VOTE tokens to this address:
RAfJvh7cGEYavic3NSZhg9QERGpJ3KfTV5Take a look at our Proposal to learn more about our project and how we add value to the Komodo ecosytem. Below are links to our website, social media, and application.
