Help run the network.
Bantu is a federated Layer-1: validators are run by independent organizations that the rest of the network chooses to trust. Eleven validators across five organizations run today. If you can operate production infrastructure, you can join.
Operational requirements.
Recent LTS only. Other distros not officially supported but PRs welcome.
Modern x86_64 or arm64. SCP consensus is CPU-bound during nomination + balloting.
32 GB recommended for full-history nodes. SQL database growth is the main driver.
Ledger history grows ~10 GB/year. NVMe for low-latency commits.
Symmetric egress matters. Validator gossip is bursty during ballot rounds.
Validators must have a stable public IP and an open TCP port for the gossip protocol.
Four steps to join the federation.
Provision the host
Standard Ubuntu LTS box. Open the gossip port (default 11625). Get a static public IP. Optional: TLS reverse proxy in front.
Install blockchain-core
Build from the open-source repo at github.com/bantublockchain/blockchain-core or pull a release binary. Configure your config.toml — network passphrase, quorum set, history archive.
Sync the ledger
Initial catchup pulls from any history archive. Most validators sync from genesis in under 24 hours on a modern host.
Join the federation
Apply to the Foundation to be added to trusted validator sets. Pass a brief operational review (uptime, security posture, organizational standing) and you're added to the quorum advice.