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Validator Network

Validators are the economic backbone of the Notareum trust layer. They stake NOTA, attest to resource authenticity, earn fees and rewards, and face slashing if they misbehave. This page covers what validators do, how the network is structured, and the operational responsibilities that come with the role. For the detailed staking mechanics and tier parameters, see Staking and Tiers.

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What a validator does

A validator runs software that watches the Verification Engine for pending requests, evaluates each resource against off-chain evidence, and submits on-chain attestations. Validators also monitor disputes and may participate in governance via veNOTA. The role is operational: validators are not passive stakeholders, they are active participants whose job is to protect users from fraudulent resources.

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Validator tiers

Four tiers are automatically assigned based on staked NOTA. Each tier balances throughput, rewards, and risk. Higher tiers process more verifications per day and earn larger rewards per attestation, but they also face proportionally larger slashing if caught misbehaving. The design incentivizes professional operators to stake deeply while lowering the barrier for smaller validators to participate.

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Attestation flow

Each active validator watches for VerificationRequested events, applies off-chain evidence review, and submits an attestation within a reasonable window. Attestations are independent votes: validators do not coordinate on-chain, and duplicate votes per request revert.

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Operational responsibilities

Evidence review. Validators must inspect the resource off-chain. For an address resource, this may mean checking the signer’s public communications or cross-referencing a known identity. For a contract resource, it may mean checking the source code and deployment history. For an NFT provenance claim, it may mean checking the studio’s social attestations. Uptime. Daily verification limits bound the maximum throughput, but validators who miss too many attestations become economically unproductive. Operators should target high uptime. Key security. Validator private keys control staked NOTA. Operators should use hardware security modules or multi-sig equivalents and follow industry best practices. Dispute readiness. A validator may be reported for a false attestation. Operators should retain evidence for any resource they approve, enabling a defense during arbitration.

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Daily verification limits

Daily limits reset at UTC midnight and apply per validator. They prevent a single validator from dominating throughput and bound the blast radius of a compromised key. Hitting the daily limit causes further submitAttestation calls to revert with DailyLimitExceeded until the next UTC day.

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Rewards

Validator rewards come from two sources. First, direct fee distribution from the Verification Engine: when a verification resolves VERIFIED, the fee is split equally among approving validators. Second, periodic fee distribution from the Fee Manager, which aggregates rejected-verification fees, alias fees, and other protocol revenue. Validators claim accumulated rewards via:
The staking contract tracks rewardsAccrued per validator. In v1.0, distribution from rejected verifications is equal-weighted. Future versions may weight by tier multiplier or by recent attestation volume.

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Slashing exposure

Misbehavior is punished via slashing. Slash rates scale with tier. Slashed tokens are burned, removing them permanently from supply. Reporters who successfully dispute a validator receive their bond back plus 10% of the slashed amount. See Slashing and Dispute Resolution for details.

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Joining the network

  1. Acquire at least 10,000 NOTA.
  2. Call stake(amount) on NotareumValidatorStaking.
  3. Your tier is automatically assigned.
  4. Run validator software and start watching for events.
  5. Submit attestations and earn rewards.
See Becoming a Validator for a step-by-step tutorial.

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Leaving the network

Validators exit through a 14-day unbonding period.
  1. Call requestUnstake(amount) to initiate.
  2. Stake is immediately reduced and tier may downgrade.
  3. Wait 14 days.
  4. Call completeUnstake() to receive tokens.
The unbonding period prevents validators from staking, behaving maliciously, and withdrawing before disputes resolve.