On-chain registration
Reward nodes register on-chain and keep a persistent identity even if they later go offline.
Node Rewards
Chipcoin includes a native reward system for verified nodes.
Unlike Bitcoin's miner-only subsidy model, Chipcoin testnet now runs a deterministic reward-node loop with on-chain registration, epoch renewal, verifier attestations, settlement, and real payouts that are part of the programmed emission. Proof of Work mining remains active, but the protocol is not limited to paying miners only.
Epoch-based verification
Eligibility depends on staying active and renewing on time across epochs, not on registration alone.
Deterministic settlement
Verifier attestations are aggregated and settled at epoch close, with payouts entering the closing block coinbase.
Protocol distinction
Chipcoin keeps PoW mining but also allocates native on-chain rewards to verified nodes instead of staying miner-only.
Current Testnet Parameters
The live reward-node loop is configured and operating on public testnet.
Current values
- Maximum supply: 11,000,000 CHC.
- Target block time: 300 seconds.
- Initial miner subsidy: 50 CHC per block.
- Node reward pool: 50 CHC per epoch.
- Epoch length: 100 blocks.
- Reward activation height on testnet: 300.
- Reward-node warmup: 2 epochs.
- Halving interval: 111,000 blocks.
- Halving is shared between miner subsidy and node reward budget.
What this means
- The miner still receives the block subsidy.
- A fixed epoch budget exists in parallel for reward-node payouts.
- That budget is distributed only to nodes that qualify through the verification path.
- If no node qualifies, the reward budget is not distributed.
Reward Node Lifecycle
Registration is persistent, but eligibility must be maintained epoch by epoch.
1. Acquire CHC
A node operator first needs CHC to cover registration and renewal fees.
2. Register on-chain
The reward node obtains a persistent on-chain registration and payout identity.
3. Complete warmup
The node must remain through the warmup period before it can participate in payouts.
4. Renew every epoch
Renewal keeps the node current. Missing renewal makes the node stale but does not erase the registration.
5. Participate in attestation
Assigned verifiers produce signed attestations that determine whether a node qualifies for settlement.
6. Settle at epoch close
Qualified nodes receive deterministic payouts on-chain at the epoch-closing block.
Verification and Settlement
The payout path is visible to consensus and auditable after the fact.
Each epoch determines the active reward-node set, assigns deterministic verification windows, collects signed attestations, aggregates them into bundles, and finalizes one settlement at epoch close.
Per-epoch flow
- Determine the active reward-node set for the epoch.
- Assign deterministic verification windows.
- Produce signed verifier attestations.
- Aggregate them into `reward_attestation_bundle` records.
- Produce one `reward_settle_epoch` at epoch close.
- Insert payouts into the closing block coinbase.
Operational properties
- Deterministic.
- Consensus-visible.
- Auditable through CLI and API surfaces.
- Materialized on-chain in real reward payouts.
Adaptive Fees
Registration and renewal fees are designed to raise Sybil cost when the network is small.
Current fee bands
Registration currently ranges from 1 CHC down to 0.0001 CHC, while renewal ranges from 0.1 CHC down to 0.00001 CHC.
Deterministic curve
The fee curve is monotonic and logarithmic, based on the number of registered reward nodes on-chain, with saturation at 20,000 nodes.
Goal
Make Sybil creation meaningfully costly on a small network, then reduce friction as the network becomes larger and more distributed.
Read Next
Use this page with the protocol, docs, and roadmap pages.
The protocol page gives the high-level framing, this page explains the reward-node novelty, the whitepaper condenses the public thesis, the architecture page maps the components, the live testnet page shows current public signals, and the roadmap reflects what is already shipped versus what is still being refined.