Participate is Coinbase Cloud’s dedicated staking infrastructure. Participate enables you to run a dedicated validator node as part of a cluster. The node performs work on the blockchain, facilitating block production and validation, to earn participatory rewards from the protocol. The nodes participate in the critical operations of a blockchain protocol, including the governance and consensus processes. With Participate, you are helping secure the network and earning rewards for doing so.
A cluster is a network-specific node or group of nodes and supporting infrastructure. This blockchain infrastructure often includes load-balancing tools and/or monitoring and alerting services. The additional infrastructure of the cluster is intended to help keep the node secure and accessible.
The majority of blockchain protocols that Coinbase Cloud supports have adopted proof of stake as their consensus mechanisms. With proof of stake, you can earn participatory rewards on the tokens you stake to your validator node to help secure the network.
Rewards are typically distributed to nodes in proportion to how many tokens are staked relative to the entire pool of staked tokens (e.g., a validator node that is staking 10% of all tokens in the pool will receive 10% of the rewards).
There are 2 ways in which you can earn participatory rewards:
Directly by staking tokens to your validator node
Indirectly from tokens delegated to your validator node by your community
Each blockchain protocol determines the reward rate for staked tokens.
Customers will be billed in accordance with the terms of their agreement with Coinbase. The amount paid to Coinbase is called the service fee. The remaining rewards issued to you are your node operator fees, which you earn both by being a direct staker and from commission fees collected from delegators. You’ll work with your Engagement Manager to establish the details of your fees and rewards when you’re getting started with Participate or making changes to your validator nodes.