How to participate on Tezos

Validator nodes on Tezos are referred to as Bakers. Bakers carry out two activities: baking and endorsing. Baking is the process of creating new blocks, while endorsing is the process of verifying blocks created by others to ensure that they were baked correctly

Each block on the Tezos blockchain is “baked” (produced) by a randomly selected baker, and endorsed (referred to as “notarizing”) by 32 other randomly selected bakers.

Bakers may also accept delegation to their node. Delegation is the process by which one can assign the baking and endorsing rights of their tokens to another baker to perform those actions on their behalf. The nominated baker charges a small fee for doing so.

Delegation is completely non-custodial on Tezos, and can be reassigned at any time. The flexibility of delegation, along with the low fees to change one’s nomination, act as a method to incentivize validators to behave properly in the network.

Over-delegation happens when a baker has XTZ delegated to it and puts up too few XTZ as a security deposit. The security deposit is used during each cycle for baking and endorsing, and when it runs out, the baker will miss it’s remaining baking and endorsing slots.

One’s total reward during a cycle is capped based on the available bond, so we do not recommend delegating to over-delegated bakers, as delegates run the risk of getting a reduction in (or no participatory rewards.

Rewards on Tezos

The Tezos rate of reward can fluctuate and depends on several variables, including block rewards, endorsement rewards, block time, daily network rewards and total staked.

For every block, one validator is randomly selected to bake and 32 validators are selected to endorse. The Baker receives the block reward and the fees of all transactions successfully included in the block, and the Endorsers receive the endorsement rewards.

See the Tezos explorer for the latest reward numbers.

Risks of participation on Tezos

Only Baker security deposits, known as bonds, can be slashed in the Tezos protocol in the case of malicious activity.

If you delegate to a Baker, you are never in danger of being slashed, nor can a baker steal the tokens delegated to them. However, bakers can avoid paying out owed participatory rewards to their delegates. There is no set cadence for reward payouts, so it's important to delegate to a baker that consistently and regularly pays out rewards.

Governance on Tezos

Tezos has a formal, on-chain governance mechanism wherein all stakeholders can participate in protocol governance and reach consensus on proposed protocol amendments. Visit Tezos Agora to learn more and to participate directly.

Why run Tezos nodes with Bison Trails?

• Enterprise-Grade Infrastructure Security: As one of the most trusted names in the blockchain infrastructure industry, we have best-in-class security augmented by information, application, and incident management policies.
• Easy-to-Use Platform: We designed an intuitive user experience that is surprisingly simple given the complexity of the underlying technology. Our platform’s automatic node management workflow frees our customers from the worry of constantly checking or managing their active participation. We also keep our customers in full control.
• Infrastructure and Protocol Engineering Experts: We’re node, participatory infrastructure, and protocol experts. We test all software, infrastructure, and protocol upgrades on our own infrastructure first ensuring any breaking issues are caught well before propagating changes to our customers’ infrastructure.
• Protocol Knowledge: Our dedicated protocol specialists keep Bison Trails’ customers up-to-date about changes to the validator ecosystem. They provide advice, insights, and guidance that arms our customers with critical information to better manage their participation.
• Premium Provider: We are the world’s premier multi-cloud, multi-region infrastructure provider specializing in permissionless participatory networks.
• Custodian Agnostic: As a non-custodial infrastructure provider, we can work with you to participate in Tezos regardless of your custody solution.