Key Points
- Calling all validators! Anyone who meets certain minimum requirements can become a Ronin validator and earn RON rewards today. After reading this article, you'll have an idea of how much a node can earn, the accompanying responsibilities, and the reasons why industry titans from Google to Nansen have joined the Ronin movement.
- Explore the RON staking ecosystem here. You'll find a complete list of active validators, real-time reward updates, a staking tutorial, and more.
- Follow these steps to become a Ronin validator. Validators must meet minimum hardware requirements, provide a starting stake of 250K RON or more, and maintain their node at an estimated cost of ~$5,000 per year.
Since its launch in 2021, Ronin has welcomed millions of crypto users to its ecosystem through record-setting games like Axie Infinity and Pixels. Today, over 20 validators including industry titans like Google, Animoca Brands, and Nansen produce blocks and verify up to 7.5M onchain transactions per day. These validators and their delegators have earned more than 39M RON in combined rewards over the past 15 months – or about 90M USD at today’s prices. Validators secure Ronin, earn RON rewards, and distribute some of them to a community of delegators. This is the ecosystem within which validators work:
Forge Alliances in a Leading Ecosystem
Ronin validators are part of a global movement with over 3.5M monthly active users (MAU) across dApps. Builders come to Ronin because it's the best distribution layer in Web3 gaming. Period. Pixels. Ragnarok. Forgotten Runiverse. Validators can work alongside these trailblazers and position themselves at the forefront of a pioneering industry.
In June, Ronin also announced their roadmap towards zkEVM Layer 2s powered by Polygon. The Polygon CDK and Cross-Chain Relayer will enable the builders above who run a validator to launch their own game-specific chains atop Ronin. More innovation, more decentralization. It's a good time to become a Ronin validator.
How to Become a Ronin Validator
There's a simple, five-step process to run a Ronin validator node. However, validators must meet minimum hardware requirements and provide a starting stake of 250K RON or more. Click the button below to get started.
Validator Responsibilities and Rewards
Ronin Validators share the critical responsibility of ensuring the integrity of all onchain transactions. That means they produce blocks and vote for finality. Ronin has allocated a total of 180M RON over 8 years to reward Validators for these contributions, and Validators also receive a percentage of Ronin transaction fees which amount to about 1M RON per year.
The rewards are divided into two parts: 85% for finality voting and 15% for block production. All validators vote for finality, but only 22 validators produce blocks in a given epoch. After receiving rewards, validators then re-distribute a small percentage to Delegators according to a commission rate, which can range from 5% to 20%. In the table below, we show how much a validator can earn with different commission rates and staked amounts.
The cost to maintain a validator node is $5,000 USD, which is about 2,500 RON if 1 RON = $2. However, a validator's RON rewards can help cover these maintenance costs: validators earn an average of 30K RON per 250K staked.
Final Thoughts
Ronin launched in 2021 to support the needs of Axie Infinity players: it offered fast, low-fee transactions to gamers. By 2023, the network transitioned from a Proof of Authority consensus model to Delegated Proof of Stake, and saw third-party games launch onchain. Step by step, Ronin became a movement. Today, developers are working towards the launch of zkEVM Layer 2 chains to usher in yet another era of growth. Become a Ronin validator today to stand alongside allies like Google, Animoca Brands, and Nansen as our next chapter begins. Let's build together!
