Delegation Program Updates

In an effort to commit to further decentralization of Mina Protocol, the Mina Foundation has been running a delegation program since the launch of mainnet to broaden participation and voting power to more members of the Mina community. All block producers are eligible to apply for the delegation program and can qualify by ranking in the top 120 on the performance tracker among other factors listed in the policy.

Over the last 9 months since mainnet, the Mina Foundation has seen great participation in the delegation program – to date, over 700 members are competing on the performance tracker, with nearly 300 of them achieving an uptime of >90%. As with any new program, there have also been challenges, but the community has been open to sharing their valuable feedback. The feedback process was very much community-driven, echoing Mina’s motto of being “powered by participants”. Community members like lamps#6718 took the lead in creating a document to track comments and rallied community members to contribute and consolidate the feedback, which the Foundation is now using to inform the improvement process.

The feedback that the Foundation received about the delegation program was primarily related to participation, performance tracking, and transparency. For instance, there were comments about the number of delegations,  the tracking mechanism, and confusion about timelines and results. To further support decentralization, address the feedback that has been raised, and ensure the ongoing quality of the delegation program, a delegation committee has been established by the Board of the Foundation. One of the goals of the committee is efficiency; namely, to create a decision-making task force that can expeditiously address the ongoing issues of the program.

The committee is currently reviewing the list of feedback and suggestions from the community regarding the delegation program. One improvement that is already in progress is a new performance tracking system to provide a more robust picture of block producer performance. The new performance tracker is expected to be ready in the first half of 2022. To address performance tracking and the confusion about snapshot timing, the Mina community also stepped up and created an uptime leaderboard with a countdown timer to show when the next snapshot will be taken. Other improvements are being prioritized and planned by the committee, which we will share more about in 2022.

We are excited to continue working with the community to further improve the delegation program. The community’s effort, experience, and open feedback are key to maintaining a decentralized and stable Mina network. Those who are interested in participating can apply for the Mina Foundation delegation program here. Please keep an eye on your email and Mina’s Discord for all delegation program updates.