Skip to main content
This page is for anyone deciding whether to run a Cosmos Hub validator. It needs no setup. At the end you know what the role requires, the on-chain numbers that decide whether you get in and stay in, and how rewards and penalties work. The step-by-step path starts at the onboarding checklist. Every number below was read from cosmoshub-4 on 2026-10-15 through a public remote procedure call (RPC) endpoint. The query next to each number fetches the current value. Run it before relying on a figure, because governance can change any of them.

​
What a validator does

The Cosmos Hub runs CometBFT consensus. A validator is a node whose consensus key signs prevotes and precommits on every block, and that proposes blocks in turn. The chance of proposing is proportional to voting power. Voting power is the ATOM bonded to the validator: its own self-delegation plus everything delegators bonded to it. Only the 180 validators with the most voting power are in the active set. Everyone else is a candidate: created on chain, able to receive delegations, but not signing and not earning. Being in the set means:
  • Signing every block. Missing too many gets you jailed (numbers below).
  • Never signing two different blocks at the same height. That is a double sign, and the penalty is permanent.
  • Upgrading at the governance-approved height, every time. See Upgrade with Cosmovisor.
  • Voting on governance proposals. Delegators who do not vote inherit your vote.
  • Running infrastructure that stays up through hardware failures, attacks, and maintenance.

​
The three keys

A validator uses three keys. On gaia v28.3.1 none of them can be rotated. The gaiad tx staking --help output lists cancel-unbond, create-validator, delegate, edit-validator, redelegate, and unbond. There is no rotate command for any key.
  • Operator key. An account key in the gaiad keyring. Its cosmos address holds funds. Its cosmosvaloper form identifies the validator on chain. It signs create-validator, edit-validator, unjail, commission withdrawals, and governance votes. It can never be changed or replaced. Retiring it means creating a new validator and asking delegators to move.
  • Consensus key. An Ed25519 key written to config/priv_validator_key.json by gaiad init, identified by a cosmosvalcons address. It signs votes and proposals. It should be kept in a remote signer or hardware security module (HSM), not on the validator host. See Remote signing.
  • Node key. config/node_key.json, the peer-to-peer identity. It has no on-chain state. It can be regenerated by deleting the file and restarting the node.

​
Live constraints

180 active seats, and the set is full.
The max_validators parameter is 180, and 180 validators are bonded. To enter the set your voting power must exceed the 180th validator’s. Check the current cutoff on Mintscan. 5 percent minimum commission.
The min_commission_rate parameter is 0.05. A create-validator with a lower commission-rate is rejected by the chain. An edit-validator cannot go below it. 21 days unbonding.
The unbonding_time parameter is 504 hours. Self-delegation you undelegate stays locked, and slashable, for 21 days. Downtime: sign at least 5 percent of any 10,000-block window.
The signed_blocks_window parameter is 10000 and min_signed_per_window is 0.05, so missing more than 9,500 of the last 10,000 blocks jails you. At the block time measured on 2026-10-15 (5.7 seconds average), 10,000 blocks is about 16 hours and 9,500 blocks is about 15 hours. The penalty is slash_fraction_downtime 0.0001 (0.01 percent of bonded stake) plus a jail of at least downtime_jail_duration 10 minutes. After that you send unjail yourself. Double sign: 5 percent slash and permanent removal.
The slash_fraction_double_sign parameter is 0.05. The validator is also tombstoned. A tombstoned validator can never be unjailed. The only way back is a new validator with a new consensus key and a new operator key. Liquid staking caps: 25 percent of all bonded ATOM globally, 100 percent per validator.
The global_liquid_staking_cap parameter is 0.25 and validator_liquid_staking_cap is 1.0. These are the only liquid staking parameters on the Hub today. There is no validator bond requirement. See Liquid staking. Minimum self-delegation: your own floor, at least 1 uatom. You set min-self-delegation in validator.json when you create the validator. It can only be raised afterwards. If your self-delegation drops below it, the validator is jailed. This is also the mechanism for a clean exit. See Create and manage a validator.

​
Economics

Rewards come from inflation and from transaction fees, pooled and split by voting power.
Inflation moves between inflation_min 7 percent and inflation_max 10 percent depending on how much ATOM is bonded against goal_bonded 67 percent. On 2026-10-15 it was 10 percent.
The community_tax parameter takes 2 percent off the top for the community pool. Both base_proposer_reward and bonus_proposer_reward are 0. The block proposer earns nothing extra, so there is no advantage in waiting for more precommits. After the tax, each validator’s pool receives its share by voting power. Your commission is taken from the delegators’ part, and the rest is split among delegators by stake. What this means for you:
  • Your income is commission on delegators’ rewards plus the rewards on your own self-delegation. A validator with little stake earns little, whatever its commission.
  • Fees are paid in uatom at a dynamic minimum set by the fee market, 0.005 uatom per gas on 2026-10-15 (gaiad query feemarket gas-prices). Fees join the same reward pool.
  • Liquid staking providers can delegate tokenized stake to you inside the caps above, and a validator cannot opt out. The gaiad tx liquid disable-tokenize-shares message only locks the sending account, so the operator account can use it to protect its own self-delegation.
  • Costs are yours: the validator host, two or more sentry nodes, a remote signer or HSM, monitoring, and the time to follow every upgrade.

​
Before you commit

  • Read Hardware and system requirements and size for growth. The chain adds state every day.
  • Run the whole path on the testnet first, including a remote signer and an upgrade.
  • Decide on your public identity. The validator description contains a moniker, a website, a security contact, and a Keybase identity that explorers use for your logo.
  • Seek legal advice for your jurisdiction. Running a validator is operating financial infrastructure.
  • Join the validator channels on the Interchain Discord, where upgrades and incidents are announced.

​
Verify

You can answer these from the queries above before moving on:
  • The current 180th validator’s voting power, and how much ATOM you need to exceed it.
  • The commission floor, the unbonding time, and the downtime window in hours at the current block time.
  • Which of the three keys you will keep in a remote signer, and which one can never be replaced.

​
Next

Work through the Validator onboarding checklist, which links every page on the path in order.