I’ve updated the table to include Period 9, which we have just completed.
We have ~$20k USDC remaining in this grant and will be using it to host one more period using the points-based incentive payment system before the calendar year end.
I forgot to mention this in the top-level post, but the points-based program will also deprecate our tiered payout system for validators based on their mainnet rank.
For the entirety of TIP, validators have been paid according to their mainnet voting power (link):
- All validators will be eligible a baseline payment of $100 USD per month.
- Validators in the middle 33% by voting power will be eligible for an additional $200 USD for a total of $300 USD per month.
- Validators in the lowest 34% by voting power will be eligible for an additional $400 USD for a total of $500 USD per month.
For context, we typically have 2 validators in the top 33% (Everstake and Cosmostation) who are eligible to earn $100, and a few validators in the middle 33% (P2P, Imperator, Provalidator, sometimes Stakecito or Citadel One) who are eligible to earn $300. All other validators in the program are in the bottom 34% and eligible to earn $500 per period.
Originally, this tier system was created to ease the economics of Replicated Security and how it impacted validators with less Hub voting power. Now, the purpose of the Testnet Incentives Program is purely to reward high performance on the testnet, so this tier system is being removed and all validators will have equal opportunity to earn points.