Fantom Slashes Validator Staking Requirements

The Fantom Foundation has recently implemented a significant change to its layer-1 blockchain, Fantom, by reducing the validator self-staking requirement by 90%. This decision follows a governance vote concluded in June 2023 and aims to bolster network security and accessibility.

Decreased Staking Threshold:

The staking threshold for validators on the Fantom blockchain has been lowered from 500,000 FTM to 50,000 FTM, equivalent to about $19,500. This substantial reduction in the requirement is a strategic move to enhance the security of the network while making the role of a validator more accessible.

According to the Fantom Foundation, increasing the number of validators on the network is crucial for bolstering security. More validators make it challenging for malicious actors to successfully launch attacks on the network. The foundation emphasized this point in a recent social media post, highlighting the importance of a decentralized approach to network security.

Validators on Fantom are responsible for bundling transactions and coordinating with other validators to achieve consensus. With more validators, the process of transaction submission and validation can become more efficient. The foundation assures that despite an increase in validators, the network will maintain its performance, including the 1-2 second time to finality, as long as the validators operate on quality hardware.

Validator Power and Network Performance:

The Fantom Foundation addressed potential concerns regarding the impact of more validators on network performance. They clarified that the power of a validator to confirm transactions is proportional to the staked FTM amount, not the number of validators operated. Therefore, a single validator with a higher stake would have the same influence as several smaller validators combined.

Fantom’s proposal to lower the minimum FTM required to run a node dates back to at least February 2022. As of now, Fantom’s network is secured by 58 validators, contrasting with other major blockchains like Ethereum, Cardano, Solana, and Avalanche, which host significantly more validators.