Stratis announced the release of two types of masternodes which will be in charge of keeping the consensus at bay on the new Cirrus sidechain. The newly announced network will support smart contracts and token generation in order to help scale the main Stratis chain.
How Does Cirrus Work?
Cirrus builds on the previous Stratis’ sidechain release and uses a Two-Way Federated Peg solution, which allows STRATs to pass to and from the sidechain through a gateway that is controlled by a federation. Both CRS and STRATs are pegged at a one to one ratio. In order for the chain integrity to remain sound, the deposited STRATs need to mature for 500 blocks before they are considered valid, while on the other hand withdrawals from the sidechain will only require one confirmation before becoming spendable.
The way the sidechain is secured is using the Proof of Authority consensus mechanism, which requires the above-mentioned federation to be in place. The members of it have the rights to create blocks, whereas non-federation sidechain nodes can carry out the transactions and deploy the smart contracts but cannot mine the blocks. The PoA algorithm is very resilient, where block creators are held accountable as they are identifiable. It also allows for the sidechain to have small and predictable block time, which is every 16 seconds.
I would like to clarify something before continuing on. In my expert opinion, I think the term “masternode” is misleading because the sidechain uses the Proof of Authority consensus mechanism. Authority node or Service node would be more of a fit when it comes to categorizing them. I would still refer to them as “masternodes”, but please keep in mind that they are not the typical masternodes that most networks have.
Currently, all of the nodes on the new Cirrus sidechain are owned by Stratis. This is about to change soon, as more and more people are lining up to run their own. Additionally, the federation will be developed even further in terms of flexibility that will allow adding and removing of members. You can also check out the Stratis Sidechain Application if you would like to apply for a sidechain masternode. The latest update to the Stratis Masternodes also allows STRAT holders to operate as two different types of nodes on the new sidechain. This will allow operators to obtain fees for both transactions and smart contracts.
What Is the Role of the New Masternodes?
In the new sidechain, there are two types of masternodes: Cirrus Chain Federated Masternode and Cirrus Chain Multi-Sig Masternode. The number of active masternodes on the network is limited to 101 ensuring a level of decentralization because multiple entities will be producing blocks on the sidechain. A Dynamic Federation Membership will be released in the future that will allow nodes to join and leave the Federation as they wish, further improving the decentralization and allowing additional nodes. The collateral necessary for both types of nodes will need to be held within a wallet that is on the sidechain.
Cirrus Chain Federated Masternode
A Cirrus Chain Federated Masternode can produce blocks on the sidechain and earning transactional fees as well as GAS costs for the execution of smart contracts on the network. The collateral necessary for them is 10,000 STRATs, which is necessary for the node to be considered valid and a part of the federation.
Cirrus Chain Multi-Sig Masternode
It is similar to the previous type and can also produce blocks on the sidechain. What it has as an additional feature over the Federated Masternode is forming the milti-signature address that secures the network. The necessary collateral to run a Multi-Sig masternode is 50,000 STRATs.