As part of our continued commitment to decentralizing governance in the Mina Protocol, o1Labs is updating its delegation policy. While our total voting power has decreased to less than 10% (see old policy), we are choosing to maintain the delegation program with some changes. These changes include actively exercising our voting rights in on-chain governance, reducing the number of delegated validators to increase rewards per validator, using Eligibility Score (a concept created by the Mina Foundation) as a factor to selecting participants, and introducing a discretionary allocation for strategic partners. These adjustments aim to strengthen network participation, increase validator incentives, and support the long-term growth of the protocol.
Active Voting Participation
One of the significant changes is our decision to exercise voting rights for the portion of tokens we delegate, while (of course) validators will still retain full control over voting with their own stake and other delegations. As participants in the Mina Protocol ecosystem, we believe it is critical to play a direct role in governance. Our decision to vote actively reflects our responsibility to ensure that the protocol remains aligned with its core values of decentralization, security, and scalability. We will also continue to encourage all delegated validators to actively participate in governance, as their involvement is essential to the long-term health and decentralization of the ecosystem.
Fewer Delegates, Stronger Rewards
We are also reducing the number of validators that will receive delegation in each cycle. This change is based on feedback from previous cycles, where some validators noted that rewards were insufficient to cover the operational costs of running nodes. By decreasing the number of delegates, we aim to increase the rewards for individual validators, helping them better cover costs and remain motivated participants. We hope that by choosing a smaller group of validators, alongside a more rigorous KYC process, we can help build a network of trustworthy stake pools that the community can engage with confidently.
Selection Process
For validator selection, we will be using the Mina Foundation's "Eligibility Score" to select 64 validators. Mina Foundation has announced that this score will be based on a participating validator’s total uptime, community engagement, contributions to the Mina Protocol, and participation in any of the Mina programs. We agree with the principle of recognizing and supporting validators for their meaningful contributions beyond just uptime, as this approach fosters a more diverse and resilient ecosystem. Additionally, using this score can help to reduce risks such as sybil attacks or attempts to violate the rules or spirit of the program. We want to make sure the protocol is decentralized, and by having a higher bar to entry, we can ensure the stake is as decentralized as it can be.
Strategic Partners and Impact
Finally, we’ve also introduced a discretionary allocation for up to 20% of the o1Labs Mina Treasury for delegation. This allocation is designed to reward strategic partners and community members who actively engage with o1Labs and the broader Mina ecosystem. Whether through contributions to zk technology research, engineering development, marketing and developer reach, or expanding the accessibility of MINA staking, these validators play a crucial role in driving the growth and adoption of the protocol. We believe that this targeted approach will foster a more collaborative, impactful, and innovative community around Mina. We recognize that some community members may feel this decision is unfair or not fully transparent. We want to reassure everyone that our top priority is to support the protocol and community, to ensure the long-term success of the project. We will always publish the list of addresses we delegate to, and we encourage those validators to have their address publicly tagged (see, e.g., Minascan leaderboard) so that the community has transparency about who receives these delegations. This decision to set aside a percentage for discretionary awards will give us more flexibility to incentivize actors that bring value to the ecosystem in ways that aren’t recognized by the Eligibility Score, or aren’t sufficiently recognized. To give some flavor for the types of community members that could receive a discretionary delegation, some specific examples may include services that increase awareness of the project, such as through blog posts, podcasts, or conferences; commercial staking services that make staking Mina available to retail customers; or crypto projects building something that will increase the use cases, performance, or user experience for projects built on Mina.
Community Collaboration and Future Adjustments
Our updated delegation policy reflects o1Labs’ commitment to the long-term success of the Mina Protocol. These decisions are made with the goal of supporting the protocol's growth and ensuring a thriving, decentralized ecosystem. We value the input of our community and are always open to feedback and collaboration to ensure our approach aligns with the best interests of the network. As we continue to evolve alongside the Mina ecosystem, this policy may be adjusted to better serve the needs of the ecosystem. Please don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any suggestions or ideas, we’ve got a dedicated channel in the Mina Discord under #o1labs-delegation-program.
For all the details, read the full policy below.
o1Labs Delegation Program Policy
Last Updated: October 17, 2024
o1Labs is committed to continuing to decentralize the governance of the Mina Protocol. In furtherance of this goal, o1Labs is publishing some updates to its delegation program (the “Delegation Program”). The combined aggregate voting power that o1Labs controls is less than 10% of the total vote outstanding. Although our previous policy provided that it would terminate once we fell below this threshold, we have decided to continue the program with some key changes that we believe will improve it and better support the community.
As a member of the ecosystem, o1Labs intends to participate in decentralized governance of Mina Protocol, and we encourage other ecosystem members to do so. We may do so by being an active voice in the community and participating in the MIP (Mina Improvement Proposal) process or any other decentralized governance process that may evolve, as well as casting our own votes to participate in the on-chain governance mechanism of the Mina Protocol. Validators will still retain full control over voting with their own stake and other delegations.
The Delegation Program will be carried out as follows:
- Up to 64 external validators, which receive high Eligibility Scores (described below), shall be eligible to receive a delegation from o1Labs at any given cycle. The Eligibility Score is a metric developed and assigned by the Mina Foundation. As described by the Mina Foundation, the “Eligibility Score” will be based on a participating validator’s total uptime, community engagement, contributions to the Mina Protocol, and participation in any of the Mina Foundation grant programs. The final results of the selected validators will be published at the end of every cycle.
- Up to 20% of the o1Labs Mina Treasury will be allocated for external validators at the discretion of o1Labs. This subset is reserved to reward strategic partners and community members that engage with o1Labs and the Mina community. Examples of why a validator could be selected may include reasons such as outsized engineering development and furthering research in zk technology, marketing and reach for developers and founders aligned with o1Labs's goals & values, or helping increase the accessibility of MINA staking. These delegations are not subject to the Eligibility Score selection metric.
- All validators (whether selected as a result of a high Eligibility Score or at the discretion of o1Labs) must complete and pass o1Labs’s screening in accordance with o1Labs’s KYC policy. Any validators that have participated in previous cycles with o1Labs must also have a successful track record of complying with Delegation Program terms and conditions.
- Once o1Labs finalizes the list of validators, o1Labs will delegate tokens held by it to the selected validators
- Delegation Program participants shall earn staking rewards associated with such delegation; however, each delegated validator must remit to o1Labs, no later than slot 3500 of the following epoch, 95% of the staking rewards received, and the remaining 5% of staking rewards may be retained as payment for staking services. o1Labs may exercise its voting power for its accounts. If o1Labs does not exercise its voting power, then the validator receiving the o1Labs delegation may exercise voting rights associated with such delegation.
- It’s mandatory for each validator to use the full logic contained in the script, which is accessible here, in order to ensure that block rewards are remitted back appropriately to o1Labs wallet address(es).
- In case of an emergency bug/fix, validators are required to update their nodes within 24 hours upon communication of any required updates to them.
- Once every quarter, or more frequently as determined by o1Labs, o1Labs will review the list of delegated validators to determine whether un-/re-delegation is appropriate with respect to any particular validator, taking into account the following factors:
- updated Eligibility Score;
- whether a particular validator exercises more than 5% of the total voting power;
- whether a particular validator has not participated in governance with respect to the delegated amount using on-chain voting;
- whether a particular validator has not (a) been fully abiding by the logic of the script in accordance with Section 6, or (b) implemented hotfixes or updates as may be required or advisable to ensure continued security of the network;
- whether a particular validator resides in the “old” chain (i.e., a chain with fewer blocks produced);
- whether a particular validator poses a concern under any applicable laws or sanction guidelines;
- whether a validator did not properly remit back the staking rewards in accordance with this Policy;
- whether a validator has diligently participated in block producing, in each epoch, stakes delegated to them; and
- any regulatory investigation or adverse event affecting such a validator’s reputation has occurred.
- o1Labs shall not delegate to any validators that are operated by Mina Foundation, or by employees or affiliated parties of o1Labs.
- Each participating validator is limited to one wallet address per validator. If multiple validators collude in a way that violates the spirit of this Policy (as determined by o1Labs) or acts against the legitimate interests of the broader Mina ecosystem, these validators will be banned and excluded from the o1Labs Delegation Program.
- o1Labs retains the right to modify or terminate this Policy. Nothing in this Policy shall prohibit o1Labs from transferring, selling or otherwise disposing of its tokens to a third party.