Going into Month 3
It has been around a month since my last update and things have been chugging along without a hitch. Well, I missed one block the entire month which isn't horrible in my opinion. I will be upgrading my drives if I reach a rank of 50 or so.
Over the last 30 days, supporters have added another 1.8 million HP worth of votes to my witness node which has elevated it to 90th place. This is amazing, and I truly appreciate this steady growth. Since I was in 120th place this time last month, essentially it amounts to moving up 1 place in rank each day.
These last 30 days, thanks to my increased ranking, I am now producing blocks a bit more regularly and have earned a total of 107.46 HP. This adds up to about $37.61. This is getting a lot closer to breaking even on monthly server costs! In fact, I paid my fees a bit early this month before the price of Hive dipped so it was pretty darn close:
As you can see, I was only out of pocket 5.551 Hive! As long as I don't drop in the ranks (and the price of Hive doesn't go down too much) I should be good as gold moving forward.
What are witness nodes for again?
I realize that this has been repeated many times, but perhaps now is a good time to remind everyone what the purpose of the so called "witnesses" is. Hive operates using a mechanism called Delegated Proof-of-Stake. The network relies on special nodes, known as witnesses to produce blocks and validate transactions.
The nodes in the top 20 produce the vast majority of these blocks. Nodes ranked below this generate fewer blocks per day each, and this number falls off quite drastically the lower the node is ranked.
Effectively, below 20th place we are all backup nodes!
I guess you could say that everyone outside of the top 20 are sharing the job of witness number 21. So, a schedule is followed where each of the top 20 witnesses produce a block and then for the 21st, a backup witness is chosen to produce the next block and the process starts again. Backup witnesses with a higher rank will be picked more often than lower ranked nodes.
Witnesses validate transactions and ensure that they adhere to the rules of the blockchain. This involves checking the digital signatures and confirming account balances. These special nodes also play a crucial role in maintaining the security of the network. By participating in the consensus mechanism, they contribute to the prevention of double-spending and other attacks.
Most importantly, in my humble opinion, the election of witnesses helps in decentralizing the network. Since just a small group of elected nodes is responsible for block production and validation, it makes it more scalable compared to traditional Proof-of-Work systems.
Just like in a true democracy, it is up to Hive stake holders to decide which accounts deserve to run top witness nodes. It also means that these same community members have the ability to revoke that privilege as well!
Once again, thanks for your support and I will be following up next month. Here's hoping we can move up another 30 places! On a side note, I've also been increasing my stake in Hive quite significantly over the past several months. I had hoped to add another 100k in 2023, but it is looking like it will be closer to 60 or 70k.
Well, you know the saying, "Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you'll land among the stars."
I would really appreciate your support!
