Block Rewards

A ZCN reward is minted every block and paid out to Miners, Sharders, and Blobbers

Blobbers

In the first year of mainnet, the active Blobbers receive a total of ~7,500,000 ZCN in block rewards on Züs. The portion each Blobber receives is determined by their relative storage contribution to the network over a period of time. These contributions are measured using the Blobber Weight Formula, which is explained below.

Miners & Sharders

In the first year of mainnet, the Active Set as a whole will be paid a total of ~8,500,000 ZCN in block rewards. The rewards will be spread out equally to its 130 Miners and Sharders.**After the first year of mainnet, future network upgrades will modify the Active Set selection process, and thus the annual block reward breakdown per Miner and Sharder may also see modifications.

The Blobber Block Reward Process

Blobbers are given rewards based on a lottery mechanism that favors the most productive and honest Blobbers on the network. Any Blobber who passes a challenge within a given time period is eligible for the lottery.

Blobbers assigned to partitions

To enter a Blobber into the lottery, the network will randomly assign a Blobber to a partition or group. There are numerous partitions and the members within each may be shuffled.

Lottery mechanism to select a partition winner

For every block, a randomized selection is made to choose a winning partition. This selection process can be best understood metaphorically as the “lottery drawing” process.

Partition winner is randomly selected

To choose a winning partition, the network uses VRF (verifiable random function), which ensures randomness in the selection of each winner.

Block Reward Released to the Blobbers within the Winning Partition

Once the winning partition is selected, the rewards are distributed to the blobbers within it. The rewards that a blobber receives is based on their total stake, storage, and other details on Züs over a period of time. The overall contribution of a blobber is determined by their “weight”, which is calculated using the Blobber Weight Formula (explained below).

Blobber Weight Formula

The proportion of block reward that each Blobber receives is based on their contribution relative to others on the network. This contribution is calculated using the “Goodness Factor”, which is "Free Reads" and "Fair Usage", and “Adjusted Stake”, which is based on the "Stake" and "Successful Challenges"

Goodness Factor

Free Egress Multiplier

Fair Usage Multiplier

Adjusted Stake

ZCN Staked

Successful Challenges

Free Egress Multiplier

Blobbers are incentivized to provide Free Reads and gets the maximum multiplier.

Fair Usage Multiplier

Fair usage is to prevent abuse from blobbers not responding to read requests from clients especially if they offer free reads. This multiplier is designed to incentivize reads if say 20% of the amount of data written over the reward period is read by clients.

ZCN Staked

Blobbers is incentivized to stake on their active storage commitments. The weight formula rewards those Blobbers with more ZCN staked (both self and externally) to their server.

Successful Challenges

Blobbers are incentivized to store data. They are randomly issued Challenges to prove that they’re storing data. When a Blobber receives a Challenge, it must submit a proof to successfully pass the Challenge. Blobbers who store more files have a higher probability of receiving more challenges.