Operator Incentives

Operators earn revenue from service usage and optional TNT budgets across three paths.

Revenue Sources

1. Service fees (default split)

   • Fees paid by customers are split across developers, the protocol, operators, and stakers.
   • The Base-mainnet launch split is 20% developer / 19.5% protocol / 40% operators / 20% stakers / 0.5% keeper (governance configurable).

2. Optional TNT incentives (pre-funded)

   • If governance funds InflationPool, operators can earn TNT based on activity metrics.

3. Optional operator commission (delegation incentives)

   • If an operator enables commission, they earn a share of delegator incentives from RewardVaults.

How Service Fees Flow

• Service fees are paid in the chosen payment token (native or ERC-20).
• Operator rewards are weighted by service exposure and routed through on-chain accounting.
• Staker fees are routed per operator to ServiceFeeDistributor for delegator payouts.

See Incentives for the full fee flow.

Where This Lives in Code

• ServiceFeeDistributor: https://github.com/tangle-network/tnt-core/blob/main/src/rewards/ServiceFeeDistributor.sol
• InflationPool: https://github.com/tangle-network/tnt-core/blob/main/src/rewards/InflationPool.sol
• RewardVaults: https://github.com/tangle-network/tnt-core/blob/main/src/rewards/RewardVaults.sol

For a readable breakdown and links to contracts, see Rewards Architecture.

Operator Success Factors

• Reliability: uptime and correct execution impact service demand.
• Performance: meeting Blueprint and QoS expectations drives repeat usage.
• Transparency: clear policies and monitoring improve operator selection.