Chain 3961 · validator pilot

Become a Ferminux validator

Run a full Ferminux node on a Windows PC or a Linux server, check every block, and sign a checkpoint about every 23 minutes. Each seat is a 2,000 FMX deposit and earns about 1.5 FMX a day while it is online.

Join the pilotHow blocks are confirmed
Opens soon

Pilot: invite-only, up to 20 seats, 2,000 FMX each; opening to everyone after an external audit. Its contract is not on chain yet, so no FMX can be deposited for a seat today. Anyone who asks you to send FMX for a validator seat before this page publishes the contract address is not us.

Pilot seats
up to 20
Deposit per seat
2,000 FMX
When online
≈1.5 FMX a day
Waitlist
—

The waitlist figure is live. The seat count is read from the contract once it is on chain.

Join the pilot

Opens soon
Seats
Up to 20
Deposit
2,000 FMX a seat
Who
Invited wallets
Next
Open to everyone after an external audit

What a validator does

Ferminux uses Clique proof-of-authority: a set of authorised signers (read live on the consensus page) confirms a block every 7 seconds. The foundation operates the signer set today. The validator programme adds independent seats that check the chain, starting with this invite-only pilot.

In the first step, a validator node:

  • runs a full Ferminux node on Windows 10/11 or Linux, with its own copy of the chain;
  • checks every block as it arrives;
  • about every 23 minutes (every 200 blocks) signs a checkpoint: a short statement naming the block it sees at that height.

Checkpoints are recorded on-chain. When at least 30 seats count and two-thirds of them sign the same block, the explorer marks that checkpoint as certified: public proof that nobody rewrote the history before it. With 20 seats the pilot never reaches 30, so during the pilot the explorer shows how many seats signed each checkpoint instead.

What it does not do yet

  • Step 1 validators do not produce blocks. The authorised signers still confirm every block. Community block-signing seats come in step 2, as a separately announced network upgrade.
  • Ferminux stays proof-of-authority. The deposit makes a seat accountable for what its key signs; it does not decide who confirms blocks.
  • Validators cannot stop the signers, and the signers could leave checkpoints out of blocks. The on-chain record is what would show it.

What you need

Invitation
An invited wallet. During the pilot only wallets the foundation multisig has invited can open a seat. Everyone else can join the waitlist.
Deposit
2,000 FMX per seat, sent from the invited wallet. Each seat has its own key; for more seats, deposit 2,000 FMX for each.
Computer
A PC or a server that stays on, running Windows 10, Windows 11 or Linux.
Hardware
2 CPU cores, 2 GB of RAM, 5 GB of SSD space.
Network
An ordinary internet connection. No open port is needed: the node only makes outgoing connections.
Your wallet
The wallet that owns the seat stays with you. Its key never has to be on the validator computer.

Rewards

About 1.5 FMX a day for a seat that is online all day: 0.025 FMX for each checkpoint signed on time, about 62 checkpoints a day. A PC that sleeps 8 hours a night earns about 1 FMX a day.

For the pilot, the foundation multisig moves 20,000 FMX from the network reward pool (which receives half of every block reward) into the contract. No new FMX is created for validators. If the contract's pool runs out, seats earn nothing until it is refilled.

Rewards are paid in FMX and carry no promise of any value. FMX trades in a very small market today.

Rules and risks

  • Downtime never costs your deposit. Being offline only costs the rewards you miss. A seat that signs fewer than half of its last 124 checkpoints (about 2 days) is paused, and the owner wallet can resume it after 24 hours.
  • Run each key on one machine. A key running on two machines at once can sign two different blocks for the same checkpoint, and that costs 10% of the deposit (200 FMX). The validator app refuses to start a key that is already running.
  • Leaving takes 14 days. Rewards stop when you ask to leave; after the 14-day unbonding period you withdraw the 2,000 FMX, minus any penalty.
  • Seats are limited: 20 in the pilot, and at most 10 new seats start each day. A seat starts about 24 hours after its deposit.
  • What the foundation can and cannot do. The multisig that owns the contract can invite wallets, pause new seats and change parameters behind a 48-hour delay. It cannot move or freeze a deposit, and the contract cannot be upgraded.
  • The foundation holds most of the FMX supply today, so many early deposits will use FMX the foundation hands out. The explorer will label seats whose deposit came from foundation wallets.

Timeline

  1. Built

    Build

    The Ferminux Validator app for Windows 10/11 and Linux, the ValidatorHub contract, and checkpoint pages on the explorer, rehearsed on a copy of the chain.

  2. Opens soon

    Pilot on chain 3961

    Invite-only: up to 20 seats of 2,000 FMX, opened from invited wallets on this page. Everyone else can join the waitlist.

  3. Next

    External audit

    An outside review of the ValidatorHub contract while the pilot runs.

  4. After the audit

    Open to everyone

    The multisig lifts the invitation rule. The switch has a 48-hour delay, works only once and cannot be turned back.

  5. Later

    Step 2: community block-signing seats

    Validators with a clean 30-day record also take turns confirming blocks. It is a network upgrade, tested first and announced with public notice.

Each phase starts only when the one before it has passed its checks. The contract address and the downloads appear on this page when they are published.