Being a validator has evolved into a full-time job requiring specialized equipment and knowledge. Compared to the early days of blockchain, when validators were hard to find and were composed mostly of tech enthusiasts, professional validators have become more commonplace. Cosmos is already a mature and well-established network, so it doesn’t have a shortage of validators. The catch is that you need to choose the right ones for your needs.
Humans Blockchain and the validators
Humans.ai has taken up the challenge to change the face of artificial intelligence by placing a human behind every AI and giving everyone the opportunity to access, monitor and control the AI of the future. To achieve its goal, Humans.ai has decided to build its own blockchain network tailored to act as a multifaceted ecosystem that will support the creation and management of artificial intelligence.
The Humans Blockchain will rely on Cosmos SDK, an innovative framework that answers one of the most pressing issues faced by blockchain technology, the lack of interoperability. By using Cosmos SDK as a foundation, the Humans Blockchain will connect with all other blockchains present in the Cosmos ecosystem. The team behind Humans.ai decided to solve some acute issues related to the governance, execution and monetization of AIs, and Cosmos SDK provided the ideal starting point to address these questions.
At the centre of the Humans blockchain ecosystem will be the validators, our version of working-class heroes, who will ensure consensus in the network and commit new transactions to the chain. For their diligent work, validators will receive revenue, also known as “Staking Rewards”, in $HEART, the governing currency of the ecosystem, to support their services.
Enroll to become a validator for the Humans Devnet
Validators, there is a wanted poster with your name on it! The Humans.ai Devnet will soon be available to anyone who wants to get involved in shaping the AI of the future and begin testing the new infrastructure. To enroll as a validator, all you have to do is access this link and fill in your details.
Validators are an essential part of blockchain ecosystems because they perform a critical function — they are the ones who process transactions, ensure consensus, maintain security and keep the whole network running. A strong blockchain network has at its core a diverse set of validators who operate independently and are distributed all over the world.
The Humans Blockchain is designed a bit differently. If in a standard Cosmos blockchain there are nodes called validators that ensure the security and integrity of the blockchain, the Humans Blockchain will have a second layer composed of a series of nodes called workload nodes. Everyone can run a work node. All you need to do is share your computing resources to help execute the AI that will reside in the Humans Blockchain.
The standard flow of the Humans blockchain will look like this: if someone wants to execute an AI, he will first need to pay a sum of $HEART. From that sum, validators will receive a fee for executing the transaction, and workload nodes will also receive a fee for executing the respective AI.
The consensus mechanism that will govern the Humans blockchain is Proof of Stake (PoS), which means that anyone can become a validator in the ecosystem as long as they stake some of their $HEART. Staking is designed to be a native component of the chain. Compared to other blockchains, transaction fees in the Humans Blockchain are designed to be very small, almost negligible and will be paid in the governing currency of the platform, the $HEART token. Another advantage is related to the speed at which transactions take place. The Humans blockchain surpasses Ethereum in this regard by a wide margin.
The Humans Blockchain will mark an important milestone because it will be the first blockchain in the Cosmos ecosystem able to run AI.
Projects on Cosmos usually charge a significant percentage for network decentralization, somewhere between 5% and 20%. As a validator in the Humans blockchain, you can apply for a delegation of tokens part of our Validator Delegation Program to help with the costs. As long as you make sure that you can comply with all of the security requirements, have all the necessary equipment and technical know-how, and make sure that the node is always up, you will have no problem fulfilling your role as a delegate.
Furthermore, you also need to be a team player and assist with any additional requirements the team that you accept to support may have, like:
running devnet/testnet node;
running RPC and GRPC endpoints;
contributing to the development of the block explorer;
validator dashboard or other community tools.
Contribution can also be in the form of educational content like how-to articles or video tutorials.
Once every six months, the Humans.ai team will evaluate the performance of the delegates to keep our delegation active to their validator. Each delegation is for a predetermined period. New delegation programs will periodically take place to help encourage new validators to compete for a delegation in order to further decentralize the network.
In Cosmos, there is a concept called slashing according to which if a delegate has too much downtime, misbehaves, or tries to manipulate the system in any way, they will lose not only the tokens they have staked but also the tokens staked by the delegators who delegated them. So, as a delegate, you need to be extra careful as you risk losing not only your tokens but also the tokens of the people who voted for you.
There are four categories to consider when looking into validators: exchanges, professional validators, individual validators and fund validators.
