GLS Validator Node License - Overview, Presale & Airdrop

The Genesis League Sports is excited to announce the first step in developing the GLS Platform validator node software with the sale of GLS node licenses. As we work through the validator software, we wanted to provide an overview of how the system will work as well as to announce the upcoming sale of validator node licenses.

The GLS validator software will be 100% open source and available for anyone to download and run without any costs or restrictions. We expect that it will have relatively minimal hardware requirements and we plan to initially release it as a docker container that can be run on Linux machines with Windows and Mac versions to follow. Exact system requirements and setup instructions will be provided as we get closer to release.

Delegated Proof of Stake (DPoS)

The GLS governance system will work via a Delegated Proof of Stake (DPoS) consensus model very similar to that of networks such as Hive, EOS, BSC, and many others. This means that any account with staked GLX tokens can vote for accounts that are running validator nodes in order to elect the people or entities that will be responsible for validating all of the GLX transactions and who will control the GLS foundation funds. Please note that it will not cost anything or use up staked GLX in any way to vote for validators. It will simply be an additional use for staked GLX tokens and a way for token holders to participate in the governance of the system.

Each block on the Hive blockchain will be randomly assigned to one of the validators running the software based on the amount of staked GLX tokens they have voting on them. When assigned a block, the validator will publish a hash of the data in that block to the Hive blockchain which can then be checked and confirmed by all of the other validators. Once confirmed, the validator will receive a reward in GLX tokens for validating that block. The more staked GLX that is voting for a particular validator, the more blocks they will be assigned, and the more rewards they will receive.

GLS Validator Node Licenses

One potential issue with the above system is that there are only a relatively small number of accounts that will get the majority of the votes, and therefore the majority of the rewards. This means that there will not be much incentive for other people to run validator nodes. In order to try to address that issue we will be offering "licenses" which will allow anyone to earn rewards for running a node without needing to have any staked GLX votes.

The GLS validator node licenses will be purchasable with a combination of GLUSD tokens and GLGT tokens based on the pricing schedule outlined below. The sale of licenses is currently planned to send 10% of the revenue to the GOALS company, 15% to the DAO, and 75% is planned to be burned.

The licenses will be tokens that can be freely bought/sold/traded on secondary markets, and it will be possible to utilize multiple licenses with a single GLS validator node software instance - meaning that if someone were to purchase multiple licenses, they only need to run the validator node software once to earn the rewards for all of their licenses.

This system is similar to the node license structure used by a number of other projects, which have generally been very successful, and in this case all of the value from license purchases goes directly into the GLX token ecosystem. With this system we hope to have many thousands of validator nodes running all over the world which will help decentralize, distribute, and secure the system as well as provide significant additional value for the GLX and GLGT tokens.

Rewards

As mentioned in the GLS Whitepaper, there are 100,000,000 GLX tokens for 65 month allocated to a reward pool for GLS Validator Node operators. That means approximately 51,280 GLX tokens will be rewarded daily to GLS validator node operators.

10,000,000 GLX (10%) of the total rewards (approximately 5,128 per day) will be allocated as block validation rewards for the accounts that receive staked GLX votes and are assigned specific blocks to validate, and the remaining 90,000,000 GLX (90%) will be split equally between all of the license holders that are actively running the node software.

While at first it might seem that only a small amount is being allocated to the voted validators, please keep in mind that there will only be a relatively small number of validators that receive the lion's share of the votes, so this 10M GLX will be split among a small group of accounts. Likely no more than 50-100 in total, with the top 10-20 receiving the majority of the rewards. If we assume 50 validators are splitting that equally, then they would each get 3,076 GLX/month. In reality, the top voted validators will receive significantly more than that, as the rewards are proportional to the number of votes received.

Please note that it will also be possible to earn from both pools if you have one or more licenses and some staked GLX voting for you. It is expected that many, if not all, of the top voted validators will also hold licenses (though it is not required).

90,000,000 GLX (90%) of the total rewards (46,152 per day) will be divided equally to all License holders per license they hold in their account as long as they are running an active validator node. The validator node software will periodically publish transactions to the Hive blockchain that will prove that the software is being run in order to receive the rewards.

In addition to the GLX rewards, a new pool of 2,500 GLGT tokens per day will be created and allocated to GLS validator node license holders in order to provide further incentive for purchasing licenses and running nodes. This pool will also be allocated equally per license to all holders that are actively running a validator node.

License Presale & Pricing

The licenses are planned to go on sale in the GLS shop in approximately one week. The exact date will be announced as soon as it is available. This will allow players and community members to begin purchasing licenses before the GLS validator node software launches if they choose and secure a cheaper price. The licenses will be NFTs similar to MLSPA packs and will be transferrable in-game as well as on the Hive Engine platform initially.

The pricing for the licenses is shown in the table below. There will be 60,000 licenses available in total, and as each phase sells out, the next phase licenses will be available at the increased price point. Please note that there will be no difference between licenses sold in the presale phase or any other phases other than the purchase price.

GLS validator license sale schedule

While the presale phase may sell out rather quickly, we have structured the pricing model so that node licenses will be available for sale for many years to come. Initially, the market price of the GLX and GLGT tokens that each license will earn may not justify some of the higher pricing tiers, but if market prices increase over time then those tiers will start to become attractive.

It's important to note that licenses do not expire, so they are eligible to continue earning GLX and GLGT token rewards indefinitely. This means that the earlier you purchase licenses the lower the price you can "lock in" ahead of time and then take advantage of any price increases in the tokens for as long as the project is running.

While the presale will require 500 GLGT for each license purchase in addition to the $1,000 of GLUSD cost, the subsequent phases will not require GLGT but instead allow GLGT tokens to be used to receive up to a 50% discount on the price. For example, in Tranche 1 the GLGT discount rate is $3.00, which means that each GLGT token spent will reduce the price by $3.00. Since the maximum discount is 50%, that means that you can spend up to 500 GLGT to reduce the price from $3,000 to $1,500. This allows GLGT tokens to always have value when it comes to buying licenses, while also not making them required.

Airdrop

As a token of appreciation for our early supporters, we promised to airdrop of a portion of the total GLS validator node licenses for SPS validator node license holders. For this pupose, 500 GLS Validator License Nodes are reserved. A maximum of 500 GLS nodes can be claimed/redeemed for shards, and they will be given out on a first come, first served basis. This means that once they have all been claimed they will no longer be available even if players have more shards.

Once the presale phase has sold out, we will be taking a snapshot of SPS node license holders. For every SPS License Node held by user in their account (not hive engine) durning snapshot, one (1) GLS Node Shard will be airdropped. For example, if a user own 5 SPS License Nodes, they will be able to claim 5 GLS Node Shards. These shards can be used to redeem GLS Node License reserved for airdrop at a fix ratio. To redeem one (1) GLS node, ten (10) GLS shards will be needed. This means that every user holding 10 or more license will be able to redeem atleast one (1) GLS node.

Shards will be transferrable to other players and tradeable on Hive Engine market. This allow players with less than 10 shards to collect more shards from other players and collect up to 10 shards in order to redeem a license.

A snapshot for airdrop will be taken within 24 hrs after presale ends or sells out. For example, if presale sells out in a week, the snapshot will be taken after it ends. Only licenses held in Splinterlands accounts will be eligible for airdrop. Please make sure to have your SPS Node License in Splinterlands wallet (Not on Hive Engine) to be part of snapshot. Further details on airdrop will be shared later.

NOTE: Please make sure to transfer your SPS license from Hive Engine to Splinterlands wallet. Any SPS license held on hive engine will not be eligible for snapshot/airdrop.

Value to the Ecosystem & Community

Overall this system lays out a path for nearly a billion dollars worth of GLX and GLGT to be burned over a number of years, which is many times the entire current market cap of the token! Additionally, there's over a hundred million dollars worth of GLUSD tokens that can be earned by the DAO and be used to facilitate trading and additional rewards for node holders over time.

We invite you to pick up one or several of these node licenses early as supplies are quite limited and prices will increase as more licenses are sold.

We think this is a great opportunity for our player base and our broader community of partners and supporters that want to purchase licences to support the platform and generate rewards for their services. Thank you for helping us secure and decentralize the GLS Platform and we hope you're as excited by this opportunity as we are!