StrongBlock Nodes as a Service

StrongBlock is excited to present the details of its “Nodes as a Service” (NaaS) offering. This initiative allows anyone to create a Full Ethereum node in a few seconds with no technical expertise.

In addition, a number of updates have been made to the protocol to reduce Ethereum gas fees and inflation. These changes require a migration from current mining pools to new ones. Most of this will either be done for you, or a tool will be provided. Details follow.

Nodes as a Service

Since the launch of the StrongBlock DeFi node protocol, over 350 nodes have been registered for rewards by the user community. Internally, we have been calling this “Bring your own Nodes” (ByoN). We applaud this effort, especially because it is quite difficult to create your own Ethereum node. For those unable to accomplish this, there has been some node-envy: many people have expressed to us that they want to create a node, but it’s beyond their technical capabilities.

To address this, we had always planned to create an easy to use NaaS offering as part of our roadmap. Its release was delayed due to our need to focus on reducing inflation and gas fees in the first two releases of the smart contracts that run the protocol.

Today we are introducing our NaaS, allowing ANYONE to create an Ethereum 1.0 full node (with Ethererum 2.0, bitcoin and others in the future) in just a few minutes, by simply providing a name and a description for your new node, with no technical expertise required. StrongBlock will host and maintain the node for you. You are essentially “renting” the node. It’s endpoints will be publicly accessible. Its endpoints will be publicly accessible by anyone needing access to a node.

To create your own node using our NaaS, a contribution of 10 STRONG to the StrongBlock community is required to participate in rewards.

Your 10 STRONG contribution will be distributed as follows:

• 10% for future use (NOTE: 7,896 STRONG — 5.81% — of circulating supply was burned through 2/25/2021 since the NaaS protocol launched on December 3, 2020)
• 10% will go to rewards in STRONG-ETH and LINK-STRONG Pools
• 20% will go to StrongPool for rewards
• 60% STRONG will go to node rewards

There will be a nominal monthly maintenance fee in ETH, and potential period community contribution renewals.

Migration

Node Migration

The same contribution will be required for ByoN, but with no monthly maintenance fee.

We are in the process of migrating all nodes to the new Node smart contract for you. If you have an approved or pending node, no action is required on your part.

We have temporarily suspended registrations for ByoN. Registration will recommence within 48 hours.

NOTE: All those who have approved or pending ByoN nodes are exempt from this contribution. You will still need to mine with 10 STRONG to be eligible for rewards. Fees may be introduced going forward.

Rewards migration

If you have unclaimed rewards in V2 due to high gas costs, those rewards will be migrated for you to the new low-gas mining smart contracts, specifically LP-ETH, LP-LINK, and StrongPool. If you have unclaimed rewards in the Early Holders StrongPool, they will be migrated to the new StrongPool, as the Early Holders pool will not exist going forward.

All rewards in V2 will be set to zero effective December 3, 2020, once this migration is complete.

Mining migration

Once V2 rewards have been migrated, there is an easy tool provided for migrating your mining tokens to the new pools. While there will be some ETH gas costs associated with this migration, we have removed all transaction fees for unmining in V2 and mining in the new smart contracts.

Prior to using the migration tool, you will need to remove all node signals in V2.

Rewards

Node Rewards

The primary purpose of the StrongBlock DeFi protocol is to reward blockchain nodes. Blockchain nodes transmit, relay and store decentralized blockchain data. Although nodes are crucial to the integrity of their blockchains, not all nodes are rewarded within their own blockchain networks.

Rewards going forward are therefore focused on nodes. All NaaS and ByoN nodes will receive a basic daily reward, measured in blocks. These rewards can be supplemented by signaling or receiving signals (explained below), and by mining in one of the pools.

Mining rewards

To keep STRONG circulating through the community, we are reducing rewards for mining pools. The new tokenomics supports a low-inflation model, with rewards primarily generated from node contributions, and supplemented by the remaining pool of STRONG rewards in the SB-Community wallet.

Mining rewards are no longer delayed by one week. They are now based on elapsed Ethereum blocks and not calendar days, and can be claimed as blocks are finalized. This approach results in much lower gas fees.

Signaling rewards

The most popular feature to date has been the ability to Signal (a non-binding vote) for a node. Signaling provides rewards for both the Signaler and the node being signaled. This feature will continue going forward.

NOTE: If you are currently Signaling in V2, you will need to unsignal them prior to migrating to the new mining pools.

Governance

A gradual path to decentralization has been determined to be the safest for all blockchain protocols. Holding STRONG will continue to allow governance referenda to be proposed, debated, and voted upon by the community, steadily moving towards decentralization over time. Proposal and voting thresholds for governance referenda have been lowered to reflect the new total amount of STRONG, after having burned nearly 95% of originally minted supply.

Looking forward

StrongBlock will be adding support for other protocol nodes in both NaaS and ByoN, including Ethereum 2.0 and Bitcoin. There will also be increased public availability of nodes for use by the public. More on that to come.

In Summary

StrongBlock has significantly reduced the total supply of STRONG from 10m to 500k, reduced inflation, and added a fee-based Nodes as a Service (NaaS) offering. This offering will help reduce — and eventually eliminate — inflation, thereby shifting the project into a model designed for long-term self-sustaining growth. The new reward structure places emphasis on rewarding node operators and liquidity miners, setting the stage for continued expansion of the protocol.

STRONG enables decentralized governance of its community DeFi protocol. STRONG is not a fundraising device or investment opportunity.

Learn more by visiting the StrongBlock website, Twitter, or Telegram.