Raptoreum Docs

Intro To Smartnodes

Charlie -

Raptoreum Smartnodes are a unique and advanced feature of the Raptoreum network, building on the concept of Masternodes found in other cryptocurrencies like DASH. However, Raptoreum is expanding the capabilities of these nodes far beyond the traditional roles.

What are Smartnodes?

Smartnodes are special nodes in the Raptoreum network that perform a variety of critical functions. At their core, they provide a large number of trustworthy peers that validate transactions and serve blockchain data to wallets syncing with the network. This ensures the network remains robust and decentralized.

Key Functions of Smartnodes

  1. Trustworthy Validation and Data Serving
    • Validation: Smartnodes help validate transactions, ensuring they are legitimate and adhere to the network’s rules.
    • Data Serving: They provide blockchain data to wallets that are synchronizing, helping to keep the network up-to-date and reliable.
  2. Chainlocks and 51% Attack Protection
    • Quorums: Smartnodes run quorums, groups of nodes that make decisions to enhance network security.
    • Chainlocks: These quorums enable Chainlocks, a feature that provides instant transaction confirmation and protects the network from 51% attacks, making Raptoreum transactions both fast and secure.
  3. CoinJoin - Privacy by Choice
    • Privacy Feature: Smartnodes facilitate CoinJoin, a feature that allows users to blend their transactions with others. This optional feature enhances privacy, making it difficult to trace transaction origins and destinations.
  4. Transaction Decoupling (Scaling)
    • Decoupling: Smartnodes will run a sidechain which will takeover handling transactions and storing raw transaction data. This will reduce the main chain size and work while significantly increasing transaction throughput.
  5. Smart Contracts and Apache Spark
    • Smart Contracts: In the near future, Smartnodes will be able to store and execute smart contracts written in common programming languages. This capability will open up new possibilities for decentralized applications (DApps) on the Raptoreum network.
    • Apache Spark: Smartnodes will use Apache Spark, a powerful data processing engine,for these features, steering away from EVM based solutions which have been proven problematic.

Why are Smartnodes Important?

Smartnodes are crucial for several reasons:

  • Security: They enhance the security of the Raptoreum network through Chainlocks and 51% attack protection.
  • Privacy: They offer optional privacy features like CoinJoin.
  • Scalability: They provide a scalable solution with decoupling, ensuring the network can handle more transactions as it grows.
  • Functionality: They will soon support smart contracts, expanding the use cases for Raptoreum and enabling complex decentralized applications.

Why are Smartnodes Unique?

Raptoreum's Smartnodes are unique because they go beyond the typical roles of Masternodes. By integrating side chains and smart contract execution, Raptoreum is creating a versatile and powerful network capable of supporting advanced decentralized applications while maintaining security, scalability, and privacy.

Passive Income

Smartnodes offer a way to earn RTM passively while strengthening the network. For their work Smartnodes earn a % of the block reward, they also earn RTM that is spent when creating future transactions and asset creation fees.