How to choose an Orbs Guardian

Eran Peled
Eran Peled

|

4 years ago

blog

A Quick Guide for Delegators

Orbs PoS V2.5: The Age of Guardians, has introduced many new features into the Orbs PoS Universe. A key component of which is empowering the Orbs Guardians to take a more active role in building and maintaining a secure, scalable network, which will be the first choice for blockchain adoption.

These added responsibilities of the Orbs Guardians make it extra-important for Delegators to properly choose a Guardian, who will look after the network and his Delegator's best interests.

As a result, we thought it’d be a good idea to provide this short guide on how to best choose an Orbs Guardian. With these easy steps, Delegators will be able to ensure that they are staking their ORBS tokens in a way that actively contributes to the success of the Orbs network.

Orbs Delegators roles & responsibilities

Delegators are ORBS token holders who assign their voting weight (stake) to Guardians, thereby empowering them to maintain the security of the Network and uphold the long term vision of the ecosystem.

Token holders that delegate to an active Guardian are rewarded in proportion to their stake. Only delegation to an active Guardian that is in the committee and operates a validator node receives rewards. A Guardian that does not fulfill its responsibilities can harm the network and will cause its Delegators to lose their rewards. Therefore, it is imperative for Delegators to monitor their Guardians and make sure that they are fulfilling their responsibilities.

For more information, check out our V2.5 Overview Document

So, how best to choose a Guardian...?

How to choose an Orbs Guardian

The PoS Universe section in the Orbs website contains all of the information required to make an informed decision on which Guardian to choose.

Applying the simple parameters below will ensure a worthy Guardian is chosen, we’ll review them one-by-one:

High Importance Parameters

1. Guardian’s self-delegation

Guardians are expected to be committed to their communities and their Delegators’ staked tokens. Therefore, Guardians are incentivized to have a self-stake of at least 8% of their total delegated stake.

A Guardian who does not maintain the minimum self-stake requirement will not be eligible for the full staking rewards, and as a result, neither will his Delegators.

Delegators can verify that a Guardian is fulfilling the self-stake requirement by looking at the “CAPACITY” column on the Guardians webpage. When the capacity is over 100%, an additional delegation does not increase the Guardian’s effective stake, because they do not have enough tokens self-staked to fulfill the requirement. That means that the Guardian’s total rewards will not increase, and neither will the total rewards for his Delegators. This means, delegation over 100% capacity will entitle the Delegator to some rewards at the expense of the other Delegators for this Guardian. While Delegating under 100% will increase the total rewards for this Guardian at the expense of other Guardians.

2. Guardian/Delegator rewards distribution ratio

Guardians are rewarded in proportion to their effective stake. Of these rewards, Guardians may pass on to their delegators a cut ranging between 66.667% and 0%.

Guardians are entitled to change the rewards ratio to their Delegators within the allowed range of 66.667% to 0%. Therefore, it is important to note that staking rewards may vary between Guardians, so choose your Guardian carefully!

The rewards % to Delegators can be easily viewed at the Guardians webpage:

3. Committee participation

Guardians are in charge of maintaining the Orbs network by operating validator nodes and signing blocks.

Only delegation to an active Guardian that participates in the elected committee receives rewards.

Delegators can verify the current status of their Guardian and also the percentage of the time the Guardian was in the committee in the last 30 days. These can be viewed in the Guardians webpage and in the Tetra staking wallet:

Medium Importance Parameters

4. Network decentralization

When deciding which Guardian to delegate your ORBS token to, token holders should take into consideration network decentralization. It is advisable not to delegate to a Guardian who already controls a big part of the network’s effective stake.

The best place to check up on the current network stake distribution between the different Guardians is the Orbs Universe Analytics tool:

5. Smooth node operation

Guardians run the Orbs network validator nodes. As such they are required to operate and maintain their nodes and make sure they are running the most up-to-date software revision.

A quick glance at the Orbs Network Status webpage can confirm your Guardian is doing his job properly (if everything is in order it will show up green).

6. Guardian’s reputation

New Orbs token holders who are looking for a suitable Guardian to delegate their ORBS tokens to, can start by asking veteran community members their opinion and recommendations.

A good place to start would be the Orbs Official Telegram channel, where members would gladly share their thoughts and opinions.

7. Community contribution/engagement

Guardians are the Orbs network’s champions. As such, they are expected to take an active role in the community. Delegators will see many such Guardians being active in the community channels - answering questions and providing support to token holders. The Orbs Official Telegram channel is a good place to start getting to know the different Orbs Guardians better.

Low Importance Parameters

8. Website information

Guardians have an option to be part of the Certified Committee and operate virtual chains that require certified Guardians. Each certified Guardian has his own Website with some basic information. Delegators are encouraged to visit those websites and see for themselves the quality of content found there.

Links to the websites can be found on the Guardians webpage:

9. Relationship and availability

Most Guardians manage their own groups where their Delegators community can reach out to them (this information can be found on the Guardians website). Talking directly to a Guardian and getting constant updates in his group can be a good way to stay informed.

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