Node operators
Node operators are the backbone of the OpenFiat network. Solana validators secure the blockchain and execute the OpenFiat programs; node operators maintain the decentralized marketplace that exists above it.
What they do
- Maintain peer-to-peer connections and participate in gossip propagation
- Synchronize marketplace state and host advertisement indexes
- Distribute reputation and risk vectors
- Broadcast trade lifecycle events
- Maintain the provider directory and publish node health
- Serve client applications
Stake
Required to be an active participant. Stake alone does not determine reputation, though — an operator with poor performance cannot compensate by staking more. Effective priority combines reputation, stake and measured network performance, and staked nodes are eligible for protocol rewards.
How they earn
Compensation comes from protocol revenue rather than token inflation, weighted by stake, connectivity and availability — a node bridging to Solana earns more than one only gossiping. The formula is published in OFS-4100 §9.2. Nothing pays it yet: the calculation exists, but nothing submits the result and the rewards vault is empty.
Requirements
- Commodity server hardware — 4 cores, 16 GB RAM and 250 GB NVMe at minimum
- A stable connection and a generated node identity
- No approval from anyone: any participant meeting protocol requirements may run a node