Guardian nodes
Guardian nodes are designed as the protocol's security council. Today they vote on strategy backtests. The tier is for security experts and committed long term stakeholders.
Rewards are not being paid yet, and operators join by application. See Testnet Status.
What you need to know
- Stake: 50,000 NODR. Staked NODR has a 21-day unstaking period. Stakes provided by the treasury carry a 24-month lockup.
- TrustFingerprint: a score of at least 0.80. Scores range from 0 to 1 and are stored on a 0–10,000 scale.
- Guardian NFT: a Guardian UtilityNFT minted by the protocol. It is free, non-transferable and not a purchased license.
- Onchain role: role admins grant the Guardian role. They are the protocol wallet and the Timelock. See Governance.
- Uptime: 99%+ required. Expect 10–15 hours of work per week.
Duties
- Security oversight. Monitor contracts and the network for threats, vulnerabilities and anomalous activity.
- Emergency response. Coordinate the response to a security incident.
- Upgrades. Guardians will review protocol upgrades once DAO governance is active. Today upgrades go through the Safe and the timelock.
Hardware
The installer refuses a machine with fewer than 16 CPU cores, 32 GB of RAM or 200 GB of free disk. That is the only hardware check. The table below is the recommended specification and is not enforced.
Guardian workloads are CPU bound: backtesting engines and strategy validation.
| Component | Recommended |
|---|---|
| CPU | 16 cores, 3.5+ GHz base clock, 4.5+ GHz boost clock. AMD Ryzen Threadripper or Intel Xeon W-series recommended |
| RAM | 64 GB DDR4/DDR5 ECC, to run several backtesting instances at once |
| GPU | Optional. Not required |
| Storage | 2 TB NVMe SSD for backtesting data and strategy files |
| Bandwidth | 1 Gbps+ symmetric fiber |
| Latency | <50ms to major hubs |
| Static IP | Required |
| Power supply | 850W+ redundant (80+ Gold/Platinum) |
| UPS | 30+ minutes runtime |
| Cooling | CPU <75°C under load |
Software
- 64-bit Linux. Ubuntu 22.04 LTS or later is recommended.
- Docker, for the node and strategy validation workloads
- Kubernetes, optional but recommended, and monitoring tools
- Noderr Guardian node software, current release
- Base Sepolia testnet RPC access now. Base mainnet RPC at mainnet launch.
- A funded operator wallet for staking and gas
Costs
These figures cover node infrastructure only. The NODR stake and the setup package listed on Run a node are separate.
| Item | Cost |
|---|---|
| Initial investment | $5,000–$8,000 |
| Monthly running costs | $200–$350 |
Rewards
Guardians will share 30% of the node pool, which is 40% of protocol revenue. The target is ~15–20% APY. This is a design target, not a guarantee, and rewards are not being paid yet.
Rewards are a revenue share, not a fixed APY, and will be paid in NODR. Your share will depend on:
- Uptime
- Activity in the Guardian Chamber
- Contributions to protocol security
- TrustFingerprint score. A higher score means a higher reward multiplier.
Guardians will vote in the Guardian Chamber once DAO voting is active. See Governance and Rewards.
How to join
- Check the requirements above. Applicants also need a security background check and demonstrated protocol knowledge.
- Apply. Fill in the Node Operator Application. It asks about your experience, your wallet address and the RPC endpoint your node will use.
- Review and payment. The team reviews each application. Once you are approved and have paid for the Guardian tier, the team sets up your node and sends you an install token.
- Install. Run the installer with your token. See the Setup Guide.
The process is competitive and not all applicants are approved. Build your reputation in the community before you apply.
Approval by a chamber vote is planned for the full DAO, Q1 2028 on the roadmap. It is not active today.