First pass (it might look totally different by Tuesday):
Darkcoin Begins Paying Nodes From Block RewardsDarkcoin’s much anticipated payments system to Master Nodes went live last week with node operators finally receiving a share of Darkcoins from miners block rewards.
After the first hard fork attempt to implement payments to Master Nodes caused the Darkcoin network to fork into several chains, the developers were forced to temporarily abandon the payments system.
The Master Nodes are part of Darkcoins privacy system which anonymises users through the Nodes by routing bundles of transactions from several people through them which renders the block chain incomprehensible to those trying to track spending patterns.
To prevent rouge Nodes being created which could overwhelm the network with bad actors, the Darkcoin developers have made it financially difficult to operate a Master Node.
To run a Master Node, each node requires a wallet with 1,000 DRK, around $9,500 at time of writing, to be available in order for the network to recognise that nodes are available for mixing.
This 1,000 DRK requirement has been called a ‘Proof of Service’ feature by the Darkcoin community, as it is a way for nodes to prove they are available to serve the network. The high price to operate a Node makes it financially difficult for most people to operate rogue nodes.
In return for setting up a Master Node and making it available for service, the network pays Nodes 20% of block rewards directly from the miners. It was this payment system which caused the recent Darkcoin fork.
The second attempt to implement the payment system was changed to a two-stage fork, which became known as a spork by the community. The network was updated, but pools and old wallets were not forced to update immediately.
The second stage of the network update due in the next few weeks will see an enforced ban from the network if pools do not update. This will prevent them from keeping payments to Master Nodes.
The use of Master Nodes and financially incentives through a share of the block rewards could be a way for other alt-coins and even Bitcoin to ensure their network is secured.
At present each Node is expected to receive random payments of around 1 DRK per day, but like mining the more nodes that join the network, the lower the reward per node, so node operators are gambling the price of Darkcoin will continue to rise.
Darkcoin will seek to implement its main anonymity features through the Master Nodes which are elected at random to carry out mixing of transactions. Once this feature is added, additional services can be conducted through the Master Nodes, enabling them to earn fees.
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