It is essential for users to stake their PoS tokens with dependable and highly performant validators, which is why we have rolled out our Staking Rewards Verified Staking Provider (VSP) Program in June 2022. Through this program, we thoroughly scrutinize potential validators, evaluating factors such as security measures, their on-chain reliability, their provider setup, and value-added services for the whole ecosystem.
Our VSP documentation contains further details about the program, Staking Providers that are part of the VSP will have a blue checkmark displayed next to their names here.
When choosing a validator to delegate to, there are numerous factors to take into account:
Commission Rates: The commission rate a validator charges is the % of your reward that the validator keeps for themselves. A high commission rate means your rewards will be lower whilst a low commission rate could mean that the validator is not profitable and could cause issues for them in the future. Keep in mind that validators can adjust their commission rates up or down over time.
Number of Users: A high number of delegators could indicate positive sentiment towards a validator.
Validators Self-Staked balance: A provider with a high amount of staked tokens likely has more incentive to continue operating their services as they have more to lose than those with low self-staked balances. This metric has some limitations as Validators can choose to delegate to their own validator from another wallet, which is done to increase security of their funds.
Current Status: In the Validator Overview table, which is just above the FAQs, you can see whether the validator is currently active or not. On Near, there is not a limited ‘active’ validator set. The minimum seat price to become a block-producing validator is based on the 100th proposal. (If more than 100 proposals are submitted, the threshold will simply be the stake of the 100th proposal, provided that it’s larger than the minimum threshold) The current seat price to become a block-producing validator is updated live on the Explorer. Any validator nodes with stakes higher than the seat price can join the active set of Validators.
Network Share: You typically don’t want to choose a validator with the highest network share or a validator with a low network share. Delegating to the most popular validators increases centralisation risks within the network as those validators will have more say in governance and a larger share of the blocks. A validator with a low network share, might not be profitable and hence increases the risk of them discontinuing their services. The network share a validator holds can be viewed on the explorer.
Performance: Make sure you pick a validator with the highest possible performance. You can check the performance by hovering over the “Reward” values on the Validator Overview table on this page. Our recommendation is only to pick those with a >=99% performance and a long history of not getting slashed.
Value Add to the Ecosystem: Some providers offer extra services to their delegators, such as tax reporting tools, explorers, etc. This can be another great way to filter for validators that are thinking long-term.
