Sophon Nodes: Getting Started

All You Need to Know About Sophon Nodes

Guardians and nodes are the core of Sophon’s network - but node operations can feel complex. The following guide breaks the process down step-by-step, showing you how to claim and delegate your Guardian Membership NFTs and understand how nodes work.

Claiming and Delegating Your Node Licenses

Step 1 - Meet Requirements

Before you start, check that you meet these requirements to claim your Guardian Membership:

• You took part in the Sophon Node Sale on April 30, 2024.
• You have completed all Know Your Customer (KYC) requirements.
• You understand that Guardian Memberships are non-transferable for the 1st year after genesis.

Step 2 - Claim Guardian Membership

1. Claim your Guardian NFT from the platform you bought it on (if you won it in a giveaway, contact the competition runner).
2. Visit the official Guardian App.
3. Log in with the credentials you used during the Node Sale.
4. Complete any final verification steps.
5. Claim your Guardian Membership NFT.

Step 3 - Use Your Membership

After claiming, you can choose how to use your membership:

Option 1: Run a Light Node

In the Sophon network, there are 2 types of nodes: Full Nodes and Light Nodes.

Right now Guardians can only run a Light Node which requires between 1 and 20 Guardian Memberships delegated to the node operator.

For Guardians with more than 20 memberships, you can split your Light Nodes up. For every 20 memberships, you will need 1 Light Node - so a Guardian with 46 memberships would need 3 Light Nodes (20 on the 1st, 20 on the 2nd and the remaining 6 on the 3rd).

For more info on Full Nodes, see our official docs.

Option 2: Delegate Your Membership

If you don’t want to run a node yourself, you can delegate your Guardian Membership to a trusted node operator:

1. Open the Guardian App.
2. Choose either easeflow or Railway as your node operator (advanced users may choose Docker).
3. Delegate your membership(s) to help secure the network and earn rewards.

Step 4 - Understand Delegator Rewards

• Node operators (Full or Light) set reward rates for delegators.
• Rewards are distributed based on the number of memberships you delegate.

Answering Your Questions

We’ve received several questions about nodes and licenses from our community. Below are answers to the most important ones that have been raised so far:

Delegating and Undelegating Guardian NFTs

• Why set up a Light Node and delegate Guardian NFTs to node operators?
  You can run a Light Node yourself, which requires some resources to manage, or delegate your Guardian Membership to receive passive rewards from a node operator, paying any commission fee they set to help with running costs.You are also free to operate a Light Node while delegating any additional Guardian NFTs you have to one or more node operators.
• Can you undelegate a Guardian NFT after delegating it? If so, how long does it take?
  Yes, undelegating your Guardian NFT is a normal transaction and immediate.

Rewards and Costs

• If Guardians claim a Guardian NFT and launch a Light Node, what reward percentage can they earn?
  Guardians running a Light Node can earn official rewards from delegations and set a commission fee for additional rewards (over 20%). Delegating your Guardian NFT to a node operator who charges a commission will result in slightly lower earnings, typically just under 20%.

• Why should someone who purchased a Guardian Membership NFT pay a commission on their own investment?
  Running a Light Node yourself comes with zero commission fees. However, if you delegate or use an external Node-as-a-Service (NaaS) platform like easeflow, there are operational costs, such as electricity or rental fees.
• Should Sophon not promote decentralization by using their own funds to reward node operators?
  Sophon’s tokenomics include a reward allocation for node operators. If an operator chooses to charge a commission, that’s their decision as running costs are a factor. If you hold a Guardian NFT, you can always run a Light Node yourself.

Full Nodes

• When will it be possible for partners or community members to run a Full Node?
  Sophon’s Full Nodes will be decentralized. Deployment depends on Matter Labs completing development to enable consensus between Full Nodes for ZK Stack chains. When this is ready, we will collaborate with the community to fully decentralize block production.

Reminder: Guardian Timeline

• KYC opens - Dec 4, 2024
• Guardian Membership claims begin - Dec 18, 2024
• Rewards accrual start date (claim & delegation stay open) - Jan 1, 2025
• TGE and accrued rewards claimable - Q1 2025
• Guardian Membership claims end - Dec 18, 2025

Animix Token Allocation

Animix, the 1st Gen AI-Powered Pet Fusion Game and trusted Sophon partner, just announced a token allocation to our Guardians:

This is the first of many to come. You can expect more token allocations in the near future. Our Guardians come first - always.

Follow Sophon

We encourage all Guardians to follow us on X and Telegram and to join our official Discord where we have a dedicated channel for discussions on nodes and delegations.

We appreciate you all and will do our best to address any questions or concerns you may have.

Merry Christmas! 🎄

Always verify you're interacting with an official Sophon account, domain, or team member at verify.sophon.xyz

Disclaimer: This content is provided for informational purposes only, and should not be relied upon as legal, business, investment, financial or tax advice. You should consult your own advisers as to those matters. References to any digital assets and the use of finance-related terminology are for illustrative purposes only, and do not constitute any recommendation for any action or an offer to provide investment, financial or other advisory services. This content may not under any circumstances be relied upon when making a decision to purchase any digital asset referenced herein. The content speaks only as of the date indicated.