Network reconfiguration

Redbelly's optimal performance is achieved with a validator set of 200 governor nodes. As a security measure and to allow greater decentralisation, additional nodes are included in the network. Thus, nodes are split into two groups: candidates and governors. Governors are classified as nodes who are currently participating in consensus whereas candidates are nodes that are awaiting to be rotated into the group of governors. 

Periodically, the group of governors is reshuffled randomly to ensure a consistent rotation of consensus participants. Every two weeks, the network will automatically replace the network tolerance of Byzantine nodes from the set of governors with randomly selected candidates. 

Regardless of whether a node is presently a governor or a candidate, the node will maintain state. However, as governor nodes participate in consensus and candidate nodes do not, governor nodes will receive twice the gas fees relative to candidate nodes. There is no difference in signup bonus or staking rewards for candidates and governors.