VNP-015 Add 14th validator to the network

🗳️ Governance Proposals Network Parameter Proposals
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VNP-015 Add 14th validator to the network:
Change parameter network.validators.tendermint.number

Summary:
Change network.validators.tendermint.number from 13 to 14.

Rationale

In the long term it is expected that the number of validators on the Vega network will increase to a level significantly higher than it is currently, making the network even more decentralised. This would provide the following benefits:

  1. The network would be more robust since a failure of one or more nodes would become less impactful on performance.
  2. The network would be more resilient to validators leaving for any reason.
  3. The network would be more secure since with more distributed stake it would be less likely that an attacker could compromise enough validators to gain consensus.

In the long term, it is not yet known what the “correct” number of nodes will be. It will ultimately be determined via community governance. As the network grows via further governance proposals, the community will find the balance between security and resilience vs performance, which is obviously important in a network designed for derivatives trading.

In the short term though, the first step to achieving this goal is to carry out a proof-of-concept to increase the number of validators to 14 and demonstrate that the network can be effectively and organically grown via governance.

Since the number of standby validators is dictated by ‘network.validators.tendermint.number’ multiplied by ‘network.validators.ersatz.multipleOfTendermintValidators’ (currently 0.25), this will not cause an increase in the number of standby validators. 0.25 x 14 = 3.5 so still below the level that would push standby validators from 3 to 4.

More context on expansion of the validator set can be found in this blog.

Full Proposal JSON:

{
    "rationale": {
      "title": "VNP-015 Change network.validators.tendermint.number",
      "description": "Change `network.validators.tendermint.number` from `13` to `14` as set out in [VNP-015](https://community.vega.xyz/t/vnp-015-add-14th-validator-to-the-network/4336)."
    },
    "terms": {
      "updateNetworkParameter": {
        "changes": {
          "key": "network.validators.tendermint.number",
          "value": "14"
        }
      },
      "closingTimestamp": 1695297600,
      "enactmentTimestamp": 1695297600
    }
  }
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In case anyone is wondering about how the current validators are getting on: there is a dashboard for that.

1 Like
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A nice opportunity to improve the network’s security! :+1:

1 Like
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Cool, it’s now on-chain https://governance.vega.xyz/proposals/72bc9e40a4a085f864c7f0c8c2d5ea4ec52ce524c9deb9bafd7a60f3288adcb1 .

Cheers to all our current validators for running such a solid network. Time to grow, future proof and get yet more resilient.