On September 10, 2025 we launched the Third Cohort of the Decentralized Nodes program. A month later we take a look at what we achieved with this new cohort.
First off, although, the third cohort was meant to launch on July 17, when the earlier cohort ended. Nevertheless, the plans to extend the dimensions of the Polkadot energetic set necessitated that we rebalanced the stashes allotted to this system. Because of this we launched a “transitional” cohort, dubbed Cohort 2.1, with a choice of nodes collaborating in Cohort 2 for Polkadot and all Cohort 2 nodes for Kusama. Cohort 2.1 ran throughout the rebalancing course of, and ended with the launch of Cohort 3.
For the third cohort we obtained 118 functions, largely from returning but in addition new candidates. They have been for 183 Polkadot nodes and 289 Kusama nodes. Although these numbers have been decrease in comparison with Cohort 2, the standard of the functions was very excessive, making the choice course of fairly tough. We needed to choose 99 Polkadot nodes and 194 Kusama nodes, which we did from 57 and 59 operators respectively. You’ll be able to see all the chosen nodes on the Decentralized Nodes website.
The applying and choice course of remained, to a really massive diploma, the identical as in Cohort 2. We continued specializing in diversification to strengthen the decentralization and resilience of the networks. We favoured nodes that have been hosted in distant and unsaturated areas, on much less well-liked suppliers, and even higher, have been self-hosted by the operators, that featured Intel processors to enhance the stability between the manufacturers, and run on totally different Linux flavours. That being stated, all functions have been evaluated based mostly on all of the choice standards and the ultimate choice was based mostly on the general analysis throughout all standards. Particular emphasis was given, as all the time, to the nodes’ specs, the operators’ technical experience and their ecosystem affinity, whereas leaving room for brand new joiners.
And the outcomes are fairly passable, as the next graphs present. For anybody wanting to check, the Cohort 2 graphs may be present in this text. Clearly the extra qualitative points of the analysis, just like the operators’ technical experience or their involvement within the ecosystem, can’t be depicted in graphs, however we consider we’ve chosen operators which are deeply concerned and within the ecosystem, have the abilities to offer top quality validation providers, and the ethos to carry out these duties diligently.
Polkadot
Kusama
One attention-grabbing factor to notice (and sure, it’s not a geolocation mistake) is that Kusama now has two nodes in China! An experiment to see if nodes may be efficiently hosted on this under-represented big.
One other factor value displaying is the geographical distribution of all of the nodes of the networks and the affect DN has on it. Because of this we mapped the nodes with and with out DN. On the left are all of the energetic nodes of the community (together with DN) and on the fitting are solely the non-DN energetic nodes.
Polkadot
Kusama
The affect of this system within the much less well-liked areas, like South America, Oceania, Africa, Far East, is kind of obvious, particularly on Kusama, the place the monetary incentives of the community will not be sufficient for operators to maneuver to those areas, the place prices are typically increased.
As with earlier cohorts, the chosen nodes will probably be nominated constantly for 4 months, giving them the peace of thoughts that they are going to be within the energetic set all through this era. On the identical time although, their efficiency and adherence to the foundations is intently monitored, since we intention for a set of validators held to the best requirements of diligence and accountability.
Such a put up, although, mustn’t solely exalt the virtues and achievements of this system, but in addition deal with its ache factors. One among these is inclusivity. As with all course of the place a variety must be made to fill a finite variety of slots, some operators have been overlooked. This understandably can result in disappointment and frustration. Nonetheless, good concepts and suggestions got here out of this. Some recommended methods by which this system can develop into extra inclusive. Different candidates wished to study why their functions have been rejected and enhance them for the longer term, and for the primary time we gave particular person suggestions to all who requested it. Though we don’t assume this apply is sustainable, we are going to attempt to offer extra readability on the choice standards and analysis course of. We can even refine our inner analysis pointers to make sure that the analysis is as constant and as goal as potential, which was one other concern some candidates raised.
We hear the suggestions of the neighborhood and we’re all the time considering of the way to enhance this system with every new cohort. So, preserve your eyes peeled and your ears to the bottom, because the announcement for the 4th cohort shouldn’t be that far-off!
On September 10, 2025 we launched the Third Cohort of the Decentralized Nodes program. A month later we take a look at what we achieved with this new cohort.
First off, although, the third cohort was meant to launch on July 17, when the earlier cohort ended. Nevertheless, the plans to extend the dimensions of the Polkadot energetic set necessitated that we rebalanced the stashes allotted to this system. Because of this we launched a “transitional” cohort, dubbed Cohort 2.1, with a choice of nodes collaborating in Cohort 2 for Polkadot and all Cohort 2 nodes for Kusama. Cohort 2.1 ran throughout the rebalancing course of, and ended with the launch of Cohort 3.
For the third cohort we obtained 118 functions, largely from returning but in addition new candidates. They have been for 183 Polkadot nodes and 289 Kusama nodes. Although these numbers have been decrease in comparison with Cohort 2, the standard of the functions was very excessive, making the choice course of fairly tough. We needed to choose 99 Polkadot nodes and 194 Kusama nodes, which we did from 57 and 59 operators respectively. You’ll be able to see all the chosen nodes on the Decentralized Nodes website.
The applying and choice course of remained, to a really massive diploma, the identical as in Cohort 2. We continued specializing in diversification to strengthen the decentralization and resilience of the networks. We favoured nodes that have been hosted in distant and unsaturated areas, on much less well-liked suppliers, and even higher, have been self-hosted by the operators, that featured Intel processors to enhance the stability between the manufacturers, and run on totally different Linux flavours. That being stated, all functions have been evaluated based mostly on all of the choice standards and the ultimate choice was based mostly on the general analysis throughout all standards. Particular emphasis was given, as all the time, to the nodes’ specs, the operators’ technical experience and their ecosystem affinity, whereas leaving room for brand new joiners.
And the outcomes are fairly passable, as the next graphs present. For anybody wanting to check, the Cohort 2 graphs may be present in this text. Clearly the extra qualitative points of the analysis, just like the operators’ technical experience or their involvement within the ecosystem, can’t be depicted in graphs, however we consider we’ve chosen operators which are deeply concerned and within the ecosystem, have the abilities to offer top quality validation providers, and the ethos to carry out these duties diligently.
Polkadot
Kusama
One attention-grabbing factor to notice (and sure, it’s not a geolocation mistake) is that Kusama now has two nodes in China! An experiment to see if nodes may be efficiently hosted on this under-represented big.
One other factor value displaying is the geographical distribution of all of the nodes of the networks and the affect DN has on it. Because of this we mapped the nodes with and with out DN. On the left are all of the energetic nodes of the community (together with DN) and on the fitting are solely the non-DN energetic nodes.
Polkadot
Kusama
The affect of this system within the much less well-liked areas, like South America, Oceania, Africa, Far East, is kind of obvious, particularly on Kusama, the place the monetary incentives of the community will not be sufficient for operators to maneuver to those areas, the place prices are typically increased.
As with earlier cohorts, the chosen nodes will probably be nominated constantly for 4 months, giving them the peace of thoughts that they are going to be within the energetic set all through this era. On the identical time although, their efficiency and adherence to the foundations is intently monitored, since we intention for a set of validators held to the best requirements of diligence and accountability.
Such a put up, although, mustn’t solely exalt the virtues and achievements of this system, but in addition deal with its ache factors. One among these is inclusivity. As with all course of the place a variety must be made to fill a finite variety of slots, some operators have been overlooked. This understandably can result in disappointment and frustration. Nonetheless, good concepts and suggestions got here out of this. Some recommended methods by which this system can develop into extra inclusive. Different candidates wished to study why their functions have been rejected and enhance them for the longer term, and for the primary time we gave particular person suggestions to all who requested it. Though we don’t assume this apply is sustainable, we are going to attempt to offer extra readability on the choice standards and analysis course of. We can even refine our inner analysis pointers to make sure that the analysis is as constant and as goal as potential, which was one other concern some candidates raised.
We hear the suggestions of the neighborhood and we’re all the time considering of the way to enhance this system with every new cohort. So, preserve your eyes peeled and your ears to the bottom, because the announcement for the 4th cohort shouldn’t be that far-off!
