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Consensus Mechanisms

Orbinum Network uses Nominated Proof-of-Stake (NPoS) to secure the blockchain and produce blocks. This mechanism allows token holders to participate in network security by nominating validators who produce blocks and validate transactions.

What is NPoS?​

Nominated Proof-of-Stake is a consensus mechanism where:

  • Validators run nodes that produce blocks and secure the network
  • Nominators back validators with their staked $ON tokens
  • Both validators and nominators earn rewards for securing the network
  • Validators are selected based on total stake backing them

How It Works​

Participation Roles​

Validators:

  • Run full nodes to produce blocks and validate transactions
  • Must stake a significant amount of $ON as collateral
  • Earn rewards from block production and transaction fees
  • Face slashing (stake loss) if they misbehave or go offline

Nominators:

  • Token holders who want to participate without running a node
  • Select and back trustworthy validators with their staked $ON
  • Earn a share of validator rewards proportional to their stake
  • Share slashing risk if their nominated validators misbehave

Network Security​

Stake-based security:

  • Validators with more total stake (own + nominated) have higher chance of being selected
  • Network security proportional to total value staked
  • Malicious behavior results in stake slashing (economic penalty)

Election process:

  • Validator set elected periodically based on total backing stake
  • Selection algorithm optimizes for maximum security and fair representation
  • Active validator set rotates to ensure decentralization

Block Production & Finality​

Block Production:

  • Validators take turns producing blocks in assigned time slots (~6 seconds)
  • Random selection prevents predictable attack targeting
  • Fast block times for responsive network

Finality:

  • Validators vote on chains of blocks (not individual blocks)
  • Once 2/3 of validators agree, blocks are finalized
  • Finalized blocks cannot be reverted (deterministic finality)

Quality Consensus​

Beyond securing the blockchain, Orbinum uses Quality Consensus to evaluate AI inference quality.

How it works:

  • Validators evaluate miner outputs using domain-specific metrics
  • Each validator submits quality scores for miners
  • Scores are weighted by validator stake and averaged
  • Consensus score determines miner rankings and rewards

Why it matters:

  • Prevents manipulation: Attackers would need majority stake
  • Ensures fair evaluation: No single validator controls rankings
  • Aligns incentives: Validators earn by accurate scoring

For detailed quality evaluation mechanics, see Quality Evaluation.

Rewards & Incentives​

Validators earn from:

  • Block production rewards (20% of block emissions)
  • Transaction fees
  • Quality evaluation fees (18% of user fees)

Nominators earn:

  • Share of validator rewards (minus validator commission)
  • Passive income without running infrastructure
  • Governance voting rights

Slashing risks:

  • Validators: Stake slashed for downtime, double-signing, or malicious behavior
  • Nominators: Share slashing penalties of their nominated validators

Next Steps​