September 13, 2023, August payouts complete and payouts announcements!

[jtolio]

Hello! Payouts for the completed month of August are done.

Standard payouts

First, a reminder that last month we had payout rate changes. Please see our original announcement thread and our open for comments thread for more details about these changes.

For layer 1 payments, we paid 2,976 unique wallet addresses. There is no specific minimum payment threshold but it appears that for standard payouts, the pipeline was able to pay out for people who earned $5 or more.

For zkSync Legacy payments, we paid 1,163 unique wallet addresses. Thanks to everyone who helped us keep fees low by adopting zkSync!

Bonuses and minimum payment threshold changes

First, we wanted to announce that we are sunsetting the bonus to Ukrainian node operators. We are worried that by consistently paying double to nodes that have Ukraine-located IP addresses that we are creating an odd incentive in our network. So, August was the last month for which we will be doing the 2x bonus. However, we still really want to support Ukraine! So instead, we will be donating what we would have paid in bonuses in the months ahead to Ukrainian defense and support organizations. We’ll post more on that when it finalizes.

Update: Please see October 9, 2023, September payouts complete and more payouts announcements for an update to this plan.

Second, as you know, we have a general effort towards sustainability across the board. We have been doing a 10% bonus to zkSync adopters to try and encourage zkSync adoption, but this actually costs us more than the savings we get from zkSync’s lower fees. We did a bunch of modeling and it turns out that the sweet spot is a 3% bonus. This allows us to share the cost savings with you while still helping us to reduce fees. People who adopt zkSync (both Legacy and Era) going forward will get a 3% bonus on payouts.

Third, we are going to start applying the minimum payout threshold to zkSync (both Legacy and Era) transfers. As a past incentive, we had not been applying it. In practice what this means is that as long as you earn roughly a dozen cents or more each month, you’ll still get a transfer each month. As a reminder, the minimum payout threshold is that we won’t perform transactions where the fee itself is 25% or more of the overall transaction value. zkSync fees are far lower than layer 1 fees, so you will still receive transactions much more often with zkSync.

Satellite retirings

Some of you may have received more than one transaction this month.

We are retiring two Satellites! Europe-North-1 (12rfG3sh9N…@europe-north-1.tardigrade.io:7777) and US2 (12tRQrMTWU…@us2.storj.io:7777) are getting shut down soon.

We deleted all data from these Satellites and set the held amount thresholds to zero. We then closed out these Satellites from a payments perspective and did another round of payouts. You should have received your final payout including any held amount from these Satellites in a separate transaction this month. The rules from August were still in place for these payouts (so, 2x Ukraine bonus, 25% minimum threshold for layer 1 only, 10% zkSync bonus).

We wanted to make sure that we tried really hard to get all of these final payouts from these Satellites over the minimum payment threshold, so we were able to wait for some great gas fees and we paid everyone who earned $2 or more.

We will be posting a separate document of what to do to keep your node in great working order and remove any left over data from deprecated Satellites once these Satellites are fully shut down.

zkSync Era

We attempted our second production test of our zkSync Era trial this month, but once again discovered we are not quite ready. So, some of you may have received three transactions (one for your standard nodes, one for retired Satellites, and one for your zkSync Era fallback).

If you opted into zkSync Era, thank you for helping us test! You should have received payment as a separate transaction for nodes opted into zkSync Era using your preferred fallback mechanism (some over zkSync Legacy, some over Layer 1 if it cleared the minimum payment threshold). Some folks noticed these followup transactions occurred a bit later than the initial large batches.

If you want to specify willingness to use zkSync Era, you can do so in a similar fashion to zkSync, by modifying your wallet features configuration. The wallet features value is an ordered list and can include multiple values. Here is how you would specify preferring zkSync Era to zkSync Legacy, and zkSync Legacy to layer 1 in your config file:

operator.wallet-features: ["zksync-era", "zksync"]

And here is how you would specify it on the command line:

--operator.wallet-features=zksync-era,zksync

If you don’t want zkSync Legacy and want payments to fall back to layer 1 directly, only add zksync-era to the list of supported wallet features for your node (a surprising number of people have done this).

Thanks!

Across all layers, we paid 4,117 unique addresses. As always, if you have more questions, please make sure you’ve read through our mega FAQ.

[arrogantrabbit]

So, second transaction should have been for the sunset test satellites?

It kind of makes no sense: for three nodes, oldest of which is over 1 year old, this is what I see

It does not seem plausible that I only had 0.77 STORJ in held funds on those satellites.

@jtolio

We did a bunch of modeling and it turns out that the sweet spot is a 3% bonus.

Understandable, but this also removes any incentive to use zksync, deal with huge spread due to much lower liquidity (that was about covering the spread) or conversion to L1 (that was barely covering conversion cost), and extra work managing conversions.

It was net zero, I was doing it since I thought it was helping storj save money. Since this is no longer the case, and 3% won’t cover those losses, I’m switching back to L1. Just my two cents.

[Vadim]

I think the biggest iniciative will be if binance will start deposit on ZKsync era Storj tokesn, for now i see it is only Eth can be.

[Ruskiem]

Also feels like no significant difference if one got paid from $0.12 or from $1, or even from $2 a month, still pennys, soo if this minimum payout threshold to zkSync (both Legacy and Era) of a dozen cents can be rised in order You could save on fees, then please reconsider, i personally dont care if threshold is 0.12 or $2, and if that could allow rise from 3% back to 10% as rabbit said, that would be great too

[daki82]

Individual payout cycle?

Who want an individual payout cycle ? I suggest options for 3/6/12 months. (with 2%payout limit, and try the next month if not reached or something else) could be specified in the wallet options/yaml, and would help new users, reduce L1 gas fees, and make an easy tax report for SNO on zksync- lite. eg first Year- 12 month, its low anyway. second year 6 month, or3 or 1 like ever. since im not in need of the payout, id love to get payed once a Year. even on L2. Storj-token could stay longer …

My idea here, aims for longer cycles. To reduce fees.

[penfold]

With the incentive reduction it is going to be interesting to watch if the zksync payments drop off across all levels.
@BrightSilence Any plans to change back to L1 for yourself?

[BrightSilence]

Not at the moment, but to be honest, I don’t think I’m the best example here. I feel like a 3% bonus will serve only as an incentive for the higher earners. I don’t transfer my tokens every month and it’s still worth it for me even if I transfer every 2 months or so. The problem is that high earners are a minority of the payouts, so this is now basically only an incentive for that minority. And all of them would also meet the threshold for L1 every month.

I don’t think there is a good way out though, because it also doesn’t make sense if Storj pays more for incentives than the transaction cost savings would be. I don’t really have a good suggestion here. But I like @Ruskiem 's suggestion of raising the payout threshold in order to be able to afford a slightly higher incentive. I’m just not sure that would actually be enough to cover the higher incentive. And it also reduces the other advantage of receiving payout more frequently.

[vovannovig]

It’s a pity that you removed support for Ukrainian node operators.
You know very well who were node operators in Ukraine before February 2022 and could leave a bonus for them.
You have decided to stop supporting Ukrainian node operators at the most difficult moment - when it’s winter, power outages are coming and it is very expensive to maintain the operation of the node and vital functions from a gasoline generator.
Alas, operators will be forced to shut down, downtime will increase due to the fact that people simply do not have the money to pay for fuel…

I would advise you and ask you to postpone this decision for half a year, and in the spring of 2024 to stop paying the bonus - it will be warm, there will be renewable energy sources.

[pdeline06]

I fully support it. You were in a hurry. Your bonus is the best support for operators in difficult conditions.

[holocronology]

Having been an early adopter of the “shared” economy model (I was one of the first Lyft/Uber drivers in one of the initial markets) I am fascinated by the path Storj is following. It’s virtually the same, IMO, as Lyft/Uber. If it continues to follow the same path, the provider (SNO’s in this case) will slowly be squeezed, incentives will be continually reduced/tweaked in an effort to attain profit, and it will never reach profitability.

I think the next move is it add a “tipping” feature, where Storj Customers can add an extra payment each month that goes to the SNO’s hosting their data.

[jammerdan]

@holocronology

I am fascinated by the path Storj is following. It’s virtually the same, IMO, as Lyft/Uber.

Storj positions itself as Uber of storage world – Blocks and Files

[HGPlays]

I have not received my payout yet (non zsync) - how come?

[vovannovig]

I looked at the planned power outage schedule that we currently have (this is a stabilization outage schedule that will be in effect - but if there are attacks on power facilities, there may be no electricity at all for weeks), it amounts to outages 3 times a day according to the schedule:
Shutdown once a day for 3 hours
2 times a day for 5 hours shutdown
Breaks are 4 hours when there is power - even if you want, you can’t do without a generator + uninterruptible power supply with batteries. And if you don’t work 13 hours every day, it will be very bad.

I planned and believed that with the old payment system it would be possible to pay for fuel and work without interruptions - of course, and use electricity myself for the refrigerator and lighting.
In general, I once again ask you to reconsider your decision and extend payments to Ukrainian operators until spring.

Thank you in advance.
P.S. Shutdown schedules can be easily found on the Internet, for example https://kyiv.yasno.com.ua/schedule-turn-off-electricity

[heunland]

Most likely your payout did not meet the minimum threshold for L1 payouts this month, you should be able to see if your payouts are outstanding to be paid in a future month in your node payouts info in the dashboard.

[HGPlays]

sounds weird - made over 16 dollars last month.

[HGPlays]

this is just one of my nodes from last month:

Now how do i not meet the threshold? i dont understand.

Hmmmm…?

[arrogantrabbit]

@HGPlays

Now how do i not meet the threshold? i don’t understand

What do you not understand specifically?

• how held amount works?
• high etherium gas fees?
• or what is the maximum fee to payout ratio to be eligible for payout?

You can switch to zkSync to avoid dealing with high gas fees.

Or just leave the tokens in place for a year, and sell them in the end. It’s a utility token, speculating on its price is counterproductive.

[HGPlays]

what is the minimum threshold for payout? my nodes made over 16 dollars last month.

[heunland]

I would suggest you double check your wallet address to confirm you did not already receive the August payout, according to your screenshots it looks like you did. If you want us to further investigate this, you would need to file a support ticket with your wallet address and all your node IDs, otherwise we can only speculate what is going on with your payouts.

[HGPlays]

i have doubled checked:

unless i was paid 8 days ago then i haev not recieved my payment? but maybe toy also did payments for more than 8 days ago?