To have a strong network, we need a lot of nodes. This is pretty simple; buy a h0pR node from AVADO. But 523.60 USD is a little bit too much in my opinion.
So I propose, to subsidize each node for 223.6 USD, so any buyer will pay only 300$. For 500 Nodes this would cost 111’800$. The remaining DAI should be used to advertise those h0pr nodes, to gain new holders.
(I don’t know, if it’s within the capability for AVADO to supply 500 nodes. And I even know less, if the amount for adds is too low or high. Maybe someone has better knowledge then me about those things. So juggling those numbers should be part of the discussion.)
Existing node runners are not included in my proposal. Those are generously accumulating tokens by staking at the moment.
My thinking is to get more nodes out there, not supporting existing ones.
To my feeling, most new node runners in the future will go for a VPS.
I see the advantages of an Avado node, however the price (no matter if 300 or more) is somehow quite an extrapolation to the future. A VPS can be cancelled every other month and can be run for years before I accumulate a total amount of fees comparable to an Avado node.
Is this necessary?
Would you buy a device like this from a reseller? I wouldn’t.
Would it help, to restrict one person to one device?
Anyhow, it could be managed with the NFT token every AVADO is distributed with. Claim the NFT, keep the node running for at least 14 month, then you can claim the DAI. So you have to pay the normal price, but you get a certain amount back, but with a time delay. (Is this too complicated an not appealing?) Then I would probably raise the payback even further.
We (HOPR Association) want to do whatever we can to decentralize the network as much as possible. It’s unclear if or how we’ll succeed in that but supporting more nodes and more diverse hardware and operators is certainly very much on our priority list! For the pricing, I’d keep in mind what you pay for a VPS with the same specs as the current HOPR Avado, it’s really surprisingly pricey if you compare the specs. Many cloud provider give you the power of a Raspberry PI for a monthly cost of $10 ;)
Okay, I guess I definitely have to double check the specs of the Avado node then. ;-)
At least in my home country, also electricity costs with a 24/7 running node need to be considered when doing a comparison with a common VPS. I guess in the end it is a personal question of how to deal with opportunity costs
Finding additional hardware suppliers might be the way to go, maybe contacting Nebra or Bobcatminer would be a good idea. Rather than attempting to pull the node price down it would make more sense to drive competition between suppliers.
Hi @lau.thomas and thanks for the proposal. I’ve marked it as incomplete for now. I think it meets some of the validity requirement, but would still need some more details to become an official proposal. As you noted, there are still some unknowns which need to be addressed through discussion.
