Fantom, a directed acyclic graph (DAG) smart contract platform, has reduced the staking requirements for validators on its network by 90%.
The new required amount of FTM tokens is 50,000, currently valued at about $20,000. The decision aims to increase the number of validators, thereby improving decentralization and security.
Previously, validators needed to stake 500,000 FTM tokens, creating a high barrier to entry. By lowering this to 50,000 FTM, more validators, especially smaller actors, can participate. This should lead to a more distributed network of validators.
According to Fantom, validators confirm transactions before sharing validated blocks with other validators. More validators make the network secure against attacks or operations between malicious actors. Fantom anticipates a substantial rise in validators due to the reduced requirement.
Fantom wants to be an open, decentralized platform for decentralized finance applications, dApps, and digital currencies. Having many different validators prevents any single validator or small group of validators from taking control of or attacking the Fantom network.
Lowering the minimum staking amount from 500,000 FTM tokens to 50,000 FTM tokens allows more potential validators to participate.
This supports Fantom’s goal of having a decentralized network with many validators securing it.
Fantom has emphasized decentralization as a priority since its launch. This latest step to lower barriers to running a validator is part of those efforts. With the rapid growth of DeFi on Fantom in 2021, the developers likely see now as an opportune time to further distribute control over validating transactions.
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