Starting today, privEOS node operators or those who would like to become one, can register on the EOS and TELOS mainnets.
What is privEOS?
PrivEOS is a decentralized key management system developed by Slant Ltd. that can be used by decentralized applications to securely store and exchange sensitive data. It allows you to encrypt the data and then store the encryption key safely and securely on the privEOS node network. Within privEOS, the key is split into a number of pieces using Shamir Secret Sharing and distributed to the nodes, one piece each. Since each node only possesses a single piece of your key, no information about the key itself or the data you encrypted with it is leaked. Your dApp contract defines the rules under which the decryption key can be revealed to a party. The final reassembly of the key again happens on the user's device. The full key is never stored or revealed to any party within the privEOS node network, that's what makes it so exceptionally secure. Slant Ltd. recently had privEOS undergo a third-party security audit that confirmed the security of the privEOS system.
Who can become a node operator on privEOS?
The privEOS system is open and permissionless, so any business with available infrastructure and technical know-how can become a node operator on privEOS. However, in order to be selected as a Node Operator by users of the privEOS protocol, you would likely need to have a good reputation in place. You will also need to post a bond.
What does a node operator do?
As node operator on privEOS, you are required to operate a privEOS node. You also need the knowledge and experience to operate a secure and reliable server infrastructure. See Slant's github for setup instructions. Once the Decentralized Autonomous Community (DAC) has activated, you will be able to vote on important changes to the system like deploying new versions of the privEOS contract.
How do node operators earn money?
The pay (revenue) you receive is distributed via a self-adjusting smart contract that automatically divides and assigns the 600 privEOS delegated tokens to the Node Operator pool which sits inside the privEOS smart contract.
All revenues coming into privEOS will be visible to the DAC and 60% of this will flow into the Node Operator pool.
The individual Node Operator’s share of the revenues being accrued inside the Node Operator pool is determined by the number of key fragments stored (virtual token), so the more files and key fragments a Node Operator has been selected to store in comparison to other nodes operating on the network, the greater the proportion of the revenue they will receive.
Each Node Operator is able to withdraw their share of the Node Operator pool whenever they want by calling the withdraw smart contract action.
If a Node Operator wishes to permanently leave the privEOS network, they can by completing a handover process, which will involve passing their share of key fragments onto another Node Operator within the privEOS network. By completing the handover process, the Node Operator wishing to leave the network, will receive their full bond back.
How is privEOS governed?
PrivEOS is designed to be governed as a decentralized autonomous community (DAC). In the beginning, the permissions to the privEOS contract will be held by 5 custodians requiring a threshold of 3 signatures. We call this setup the provisional government. Once the ecosystem has matured sufficiently, the DAC will be activated and the provisional government resigns.
Who are the members of the provisional government?
The provisional government consists of 5 members:
- EOS Dublin as both a representative of Block Producers as well as Dapp developers. EOS Dublin is currently developing a dApp on top of privEOS.
- EOSVibes as a representative of Block Producers. Furthermore, EOSVibes has been instrumental in helping to get privEOS up and running. Special shoutout and thank you to Kyle from EOSVibes for designing and refining the privEOS tokenomics together with our team. 👏
- Torsten Dahmen from Innogy as a representative of corporate interests. Torsten is pushing boundary when it comes to proliferation of blockchain technology in the corporate world.
- Slant Ltd is the company that has developed and continues to further develop the privEOS smart contract and open source server software.
- One Investor representing institutional investors, which has not been announced yet.
How do I sign up as a node operator?
The first step would be to familiarize yourself with the privEOS system by reading through our documentation on github. The next step would be to set up a server and register yourself for the privEOS testnet. Once you have the node on the testnet up and running and have familiarized yourself with the operational requirements, you're ready to set
up a server on the mainnet. Once your node is up and running, you can register with the privEOS smart contract by calling the regnode action, that’s our equivalent of regproduce. The regnode action charges a small fee of 10 EOS (400 TLOS) that goes into the general revenue distribution to prevent spamming.
If you have any questions, please stop by our telegram support channel for node operators. We'll be glad to help you with any questions or problems you might have. Of course, you can also just stop by and say hello 🙂
When will privEOS be opened up for dApps?
Right now, there are no nodes active yet on the mainnet, since we are only just now opening up the registrations. Once the first few nodes are becoming active, dApps can start using privEOS actively. Once that is the case, we will make a separate announcement.
How does the privEOS tokenomics work exactly?
Please see our previous article for further information on priveos tokenomics.
Which blockchains does privEOS currently support?
PrivEOS is currently available on the EOS mainnet and the TELOS mainnet. Other EOSIO-based chains can be added quite easily. We are exploring also supporting other blockchains like Ethereum.