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Validators

Validators are staked network participants who solve AI inference tasks and verify solution validity through voting. They earn fees and mining rewards for their work.

The Validator Data Structure

The Validator struct tracks all on-chain data for each validator, including their staked balance, active status, and withdraw requests.

Properties

  • Name
    staked
    Type
    uint256
    Description

    How much the validator has staked

  • Name
    addr
    Type
    address
    Description

    Address of the validator

  • Name
    since
    Type
    uint256
    Description

    Timestamp when validator first staked minimum amount (V2+)

Validator Stake Compounding (V6+)

V6 Change: Validator rewards and fees are now automatically added to your staked balance instead of being transferred. This provides automatic compounding and increases your voting power over time.

What Changed in V6

Previously, validators received rewards via direct token transfers. In V6:

  • Solution fees → Added directly to validator stake
  • Mining rewards → Added directly to validator stake
  • Contestation rewards → Added directly to validator stake

Benefits

  • Automatic compounding - No manual restaking required
  • Gas efficient - No transfer transactions needed
  • Increased voting power - Your stake grows with earnings
  • Simplified operations - One less thing to manage

How to Access Your Earnings

To withdraw your accumulated earnings:

  1. Initiate a validator withdraw request with initiateValidatorWithdraw(amount)
  2. Wait for the unlock period (exitValidatorMinUnlockTime - typically 24 hours)
  3. Call validatorWithdraw(count, recipient) to receive your tokens

Your staked balance includes all your original stake plus all accumulated rewards.

READEngine

Retrieve validator

Look up a validator by their address.

Request

READ
Engine
import { ethers } from 'ethers'
import Config from './config.json'
import EngineArtifact from './artifacts/EngineV1.sol/EngineV1.json';

const provider = new ethers.providers.JsonRpcProvider(RPC_URL);

const engine = new ethers.Contract(
  Config.engineAddress,
  EngineArtifact.abi,
  provider,
)

// validator address here
const address = '0x...'
const validator = await engine.validators(address);
const { staked, addr } = validator;
WRITEEngine

Deposit to become validator

Anyone can deposit AIUS tokens for any address to help them become or remain a validator. To be an active validator, you must maintain a staked balance of at least validatorMinimum (a percentage of total supply).

The only things that reduce your staked balance are:

  • Being slashed for losing a contestation vote
  • Initiating a withdraw request
V6: All validator earnings (fees and rewards) automatically compound into your stake. This increases your voting power over time without manual restaking.

Request

WRITE
Engine
import { ethers } from 'ethers'
import Config from './config.json'
import EngineArtifact from './artifacts/V2_EngineV6.sol/V2_EngineV6.json';
import BaseTokenArtifact from './artifacts/BaseToken.sol/BaseToken.json';

const provider = new ethers.providers.JsonRpcProvider(RPC_URL);

const wallet = new ethers.Wallet(
  process.env.PRIVATE_KEY,
  provider,
);

const engine = new ethers.Contract(
  Config.engineAddress,
  EngineArtifact.abi,
  wallet,
)

const baseToken = new ethers.Contract(
  Config.baseTokenAddress,
  BaseTokenArtifact.abi,
  wallet,
)

// Get minimum validator stake required
const minStake = await engine.getValidatorMinimum()

// Approve tokens
await baseToken.approve(engine.address, minStake)

// Deposit for yourself (or another address)
const validatorAddress = wallet.address
const tx = await engine.validatorDeposit(validatorAddress, minStake)
const receipt = await tx.wait();
WRITEEngine

Withdraw validator stake

V6 Three-Step Withdraw Process: Validators must initiate a withdraw request, wait for the unlock period, then complete the withdrawal.

Withdrawing your stake is a three-step process:

Step 1: Initiate Withdraw

  • Call initiateValidatorWithdraw(amount)
  • Receive a request ID (counter)
  • Tokens are locked but still count toward your stake

Step 2: Wait for Unlock

  • Wait exitValidatorMinUnlockTime (typically 24 hours)
  • Check unlock time via pendingValidatorWithdrawRequests
  • You can cancel the request if needed

Step 3: Complete Withdraw

  • Call validatorWithdraw(requestId, recipientAddress)
  • Tokens are transferred to recipient
  • Your staked balance is reduced

If your staked balance minus pending withdraws falls below validatorMinimum, you cannot submit solutions or vote on contestations.

Request

WRITE
Engine
import { ethers } from 'ethers'
import Config from './config.json'
import EngineArtifact from './artifacts/V2_EngineV6.sol/V2_EngineV6.json';

const provider = new ethers.providers.JsonRpcProvider(RPC_URL);

const wallet = new ethers.Wallet(
  process.env.PRIVATE_KEY,
  provider,
);

const engine = new ethers.Contract(
  Config.engineAddress,
  EngineArtifact.abi,
  wallet,
)

// Step 1: Initiate withdraw
const withdrawAmount = ethers.utils.parseEther('100')
const initTx = await engine.initiateValidatorWithdraw(withdrawAmount)
const initReceipt = await initTx.wait()

// Get the request ID from the event
const event = initReceipt.events.find(e => e.event === 'ValidatorWithdrawInitiated')
const requestId = event.args.count

// Step 2: Check unlock time
const request = await engine.pendingValidatorWithdrawRequests(
  wallet.address,
  requestId
)
console.log('Unlock time:', new Date(request.unlockTime * 1000))

// Optional: Cancel the request
// await engine.cancelValidatorWithdraw(requestId)

// Step 3: After unlock time passes, complete withdraw
const withdrawTx = await engine.validatorWithdraw(requestId, wallet.address)
const withdrawReceipt = await withdrawTx.wait()