A new Canton governance draft proposes letting validator operators join the Global Synchronizer without manual review. Published on October 5, it would replace the current onboarding process and approved-IP-address lists with self-service access after a traffic purchase.
The change would cover the public Scan and sequencer interfaces used to view network data and submit transactions. Access rules for Super Validator-only services and private operator or user interfaces would remain unchanged.
A new operator would first set up a validator node and generate its network ID. Someone already on the network would then use Canton Coin to buy traffic for that ID, automatically triggering access once the required minimum is reached. The proposed starting minimum is 10 MB, adjustable through a governance vote. This is a traffic purchase, not a coin stake.
Opening access would first require security audits and hardening of the interfaces, consistent rate limits across Super Validators, and protection against denial-of-service attacks. Operators would also need to verify that their safeguards work.
The earliest proposed sequence is DevNet first, TestNet four weeks later and MainNet six weeks after the start. TestNet and MainNet would require at least four weeks of DevNet testing, and each network would need to meet the security prerequisites. These are minimum testing intervals, not committed launch dates.
Existing validators would retain access during the transition. Super Validators could still suspend or block abusive validators through governance votes.
The proposal remains open and marked draft in pull request 274. It has not been approved or activated. Read the full validator-onboarding draft and the original governance discussion.
