Overview

An Operator is an organization or team responsible for validating Bitcoin Validated Services (BVSes) against collateral delegated to them in Vaults. Restakers can deposit collateral to vaults for operators to use for validation.

Responsibility of Operators

Operators assume responsibilities similar to those of administrators in traditional Web2 services, including:

• System setup and configuration

• Maintaining system stability

• Ensuring system security

• Providing network connectivity and redundancy

In addition, SatLayer’s node operators are required to:

• Receive delegated stake from stakers into a Vault which they own

Once operators meet these requirements, they are permitted to run one or more BVSs on the SatLayer network, depending on their risk tolerance, system capabilities, and preferences.

Operators’ Risks

Each Bitcoin Validated Service (BVS) can define its own specific slashing conditions to enforce reliability. Here are some examples of possible slashing conditions:

• Incorrect Results: A BVS might slash an operator by 20% each time incorrect results are returned and signed.

• Downtime Penalties: Frequent network connectivity issues can lead to slashing due to downtime, as some BVSs require stable systems for participation.

• Security Breaches: There is also the risk of attackers gaining shell access to an operator’s machine, potentially leading to severe security breaches. Staker funds cannot be directly accessed by operators, but a malicious actor could forced these funds to be slashed.

Operators are responsible for auditing and monitoring their systems, maintaining stable network connectivity, and ensuring robust system security and availability. SatLayer promotes quality service by providing BVSs with the tools to slash operators when performance or security issues arise.

How to onboard

Operators must create their own address on Babylon Genesis using a wallet extension such as Keplr. After this step, they must create a vault on SatLayer through the SatLayer front-end (live in Phase II).

Operators’ Rewards

While operators assume certain risks, they are rewarded by BVSes depositing fees into their Vaults.

Each BVS defines its own reward conditions and methods for calculating distribution amounts. These calculations can occur off-chain, in which case operators will need to carefully validate that their BVSes are distributing rewards correctly.