Nym node Delegation Programme is now open

Up to 30M NYM tokens will be made available to boost well-performing nodes, improving redundancy for Nym and rewards for operators

Author: Nym

November 20, 20235 mins read

Up to 30M NYM tokens will be made available to boost well-performing nodes, improving redundancy for Nym and rewards for operators

Welcome to the Nym Delegation Programme 2.0! Launching today, 20 November, Nym core team will release up to 30 million NYM tokens from the treasury to boost well-performing Nym nodes. This follows a hugely successful Shipyard Academy, where a fantastic cohort from across the world have been learning about running the Nym privacy system.

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Nym node operators are now invited to apply for this delegation boost to kick start their operations successfully and be a part of the exciting roadmap for the NymVPN next year.

Operators! Find out how to apply for your mix nodes below. The winners will also receive dedicated mentorship from some of the Nym community’s most successful operators, including: Pawnflake, Noisk8, Supermeia, Unclelem.

Delegation Programme 2.0 — a step towards strong coverage and decentralisation

The Nym mixnet is completely powered by the individuals who run gateways and mix nodes. This is real decentralisation in action. But in order to support the upcoming NymVPN, it’s essential that the infrastructure is running as effectively as possible to accommodate large increases in traffic.

The goal of the delegation programme is to boost high quality nodes to reach saturation levels where they can start earning rewards. The programme will focus on:

Improving the geographical spread of Nym nodes and redundancy of the network
Increasing the number of Exit Gateways
Ensure well-performing nodes are included in the active set

Right now, more than 550 Mix Nodes operate across the world. Every epoch, 240 of these nodes are selected to the ‘active set’ to provide privacy and earn rewards based on their total stake (reputation).

However, many new nodes do not have enough stake to get them into the active set. Furthermore, the geographical coverage is somewhat uneven. (See: Nym Explorer)

The Nym Delegation Programme will bring selected, high-performing nodes closer to the ‘stake saturation point’, therefore making them more likely to be picked for mixing traffic and earn rewards. This will ultimately improve redundancy and geographic coverage.

The Delegation Programme is about scaling and decentralising the Nym network and improving usability of Nym software. It is designed to improve redundancy by bootstrapping well-performing nodes, particularly those in locations with lower coverage.

Operators: apply now!

Applications are officially open today, 20 November and close on the 1st of December.

Apply here for the chance of a share in the 30M NYM delegations pot — and becoming a top mix node operator.

Requirements:

Good uptime of your Nym mix node
Your node is currently under 30% stake saturation
You are willing to run a Nym Exit Gateway (preference given to node operators who already run both a mix node and a gateway. Nym Mix Nodes and Gateways will soon be “smooshed” into one binary. Read more here.)
Preference is given to nodes that are not using AWS, Hetzner, Contabo or Google Cloud VPS providers (check here for distribution across VPS providers)

Target geographies:

Priority is given to nodes in countries with more than 15 million inhabitants where there are no nodes.
In particular, nodes are welcomed in China, India, Indonesia, Brazil, Philippines, Egypt, Nigeria, Turkey, Pakistan, Vietnam, Thailand, Bangladesh, South Korea, Algeria, Kenya, Ghana.

Key info

Applications open today — apply here
Applications close 1 December and winners will be announced 15 December
A total of 15m-30m NYM in delegations up for grabs
Between 50 and 100 mix nodes will be selected for delegations
A delegation amount of 250,000 NYM from the treasury, to bring nodes to a saturation level that at minimum should get them into the active set approximately 80% of the time
Winning nodes will receive mentorship from successful Nym community operators
The programme will run for 1 year

Final note: Nym node settings

Nym node operators set their own operator costs (which are redeemed first to cover the cost of operations) and their own profit margin (what the operator claims as profit). The rest of the node rewards are then distributed to people who have delegated stake to that node.

Now, what has been happening over the past few months is we have seen operators set their profit margin to the minimum in order to attract delegations, but then adjusting their operator costs to sky-high levels. This is considered dishonest behaviour as it tricks delegators and forces a race to the bottom, with operators competing on who has the lowest delegations.

In order to address this problem, a minimum profit margin will shortly be set to 7% and a maximum operator cost of 2,000 NYM tokens.

If you have any questions or comments — please get in touch via operator channels in Element, Telegram, or Discord!