Second validator node XXV2 elected in era 51

The plan has worked - at least for one day (so far).

Earlier today XXV2 was elected in validator set for era 51 and as I write this XXV2 is cMixing through its 182nd round. It may be able to hit close to 200xx/day which was one of my goals.

XXV2 is designed to deliver a balance of value to the users, nominators and myself.

My first node, XXV, has two small nominators as I had to suspend due to various performance and stability issues. As I mentioned in my network notes for December 2021, it has just become stable last week.

Although it’s impossible tell how long XXV2 will last (it’s staked with only 14K xx), with XX Messenger for MainNet coming out soon every MB/s helps, especially if it’s delivered better and cheaper.

So, how is XXV2 doing in its first hours of activity?

MainNet explorer says you can now make 459% (per year, I assume?) nominating it.

XXV2 elected for era 51

Be aware that the ludicrous 2% commission will gradually increase if the node survives for 15 consecutive eras, so that I can cover hosting and management expenses. But the plan was and is to deliver top value for the nominators and network users and even after all already announced increases, it should still remain one of top value nodes on the network as long as it gets elected.

What did Adam Smith say about those who claim to work in public interest?

I have never known much good done by those who affected to trade for the public good.

~ Adam Smith

And he was right. But he also said of the that “by pursuing his own interest, he frequently promotes that of the society”.

XXV2 is indeed meant to benefit me personally, but that’s how it’s supposed to be: there’s no honest profit without some risk and investment. If the node runs for 30 eras, it will earn xx for me, and at the same time help bring network costs down (to the extent that it runs more effectively than nodes operated by validators who take a higher commission). If it stops or gets interrupted, I’ll lose money.

If you checked other content on this site you probably noticed my tips for nominators. Last month I also announced my value plan to nominate a new node and shared XXV2’s address before I got elected to make it easier for nominators to take advantage of this opportunity when returns are highest.

All they needed to do was to search the Web or check top validators’ pages in the past two weeks and find this site. You know, basic research. But almost nobody did (like I said, there’s one nominator with only 600xx so far - this guy likely sorted all waiting nodes by commission and picked few “value” nodes because I noticed he also nominated a new 8% node for era 51 using the same amount of tokens).

I mention this because of an unexpected benefit that happened despite my deliberate attempt to not make any money early on: because nominators don’t closely watch MainNet Explorer or do research my node is today validating with one tiny nominator which means I stand to earn over 90% of what the node will make today.

I tried to ensure that doesn’t happen, but it didn’t work!

Now I’m benefiting from the way network rewards work the same way investment pools are, with their low-stake nodes sprinkled around APAC. Except they do it at scale all the time.

Thanks to this detail, I probably won’t lose money in the first 30 eras - even if nominators quickly come in and earn a 90% share of rewards, I’ll likely cover my expenses for first few weeks of running the node. And even if I get kicked out, I can keep the node running for weeks.

In the case you don’t see what I mean: my stake is currently 14Kxx. Suppose one or more nominators put a total of 126Kxx on the node so that XXV2 becomes staked with 140Kxx. In that case I make 2% of 200xx (4xx) and 10% of the rest (19.6xx), while the nominator(s) would earn the rest (176.4xx). If they don’t show, I keep taking the bulk of rewards but probably only for a few days because my stake is too tiny to get reelected over the long run. That’s why I want to earn less.

XXV and XXV2 details can be found on About page.