Slashing and rewards

The DIN AVS ties incentives to measured performance. Node providers and watchers earn rewards for meeting service level agreements (SLAs), and face penalties (including slashing) when independent watcher attestations show sustained violations. This aligns behavior with DIN’s reliability and performance goals.

Operator onboarding

Ready to operate and earn? Start with the operator onboarding guide.

DIN AVS is launching on mainnet soon! Operators must begin onboarding immediately due to a 17-day operator allocation delay.

Performance-based rewards

• SLA compliance rewards - Node providers and watchers who consistently meet or exceed SLA standards receive additional token rewards. These rewards, distributed through the gateway contract, encourage participants to prioritize performance and reliability.

• Reputation-linked routing - Higher SLA scores improve reputation, which can increase traffic allocation and earnings.

Deterrents for underperformance

• Progressive penalties and slashing - Repeated or severe SLA violations trigger escalating responses, which encourages operators to rectify issues promptly, reducing long-term service disruptions.

• Suspension or removal - Chronic non-compliance can result in removal from relevant operator sets to protect network quality.

Slashable events and penalties

Types of slashing events

The following table identifies the types of slashable events. The recovery time specifies the time in which to rectify the issue to avoid a repeated offense. TODO: confirm exact meaning of "Recovery time"

Violation type	First offense	Repeated offense	Recovery time
Downtime (less than 99.9% uptime)	0.1% stake	0.5% stake	24 hours
High latency (over 200ms p50)	0.05% stake	0.25% stake	12 hours
Invalid data	1% stake	5% stake	48 hours
Complete failure	2% stake	10% stake	72 hours

Mitigation strategies

Us the following strategies to reduce SLA violations and minimize slashing risk:

1. Infrastructure redundancy: Run multiple nodes per operator set
2. Monitoring systems: Track uptime, latency, error rate, and data freshness; alert before breaches.
3. Gradual scaling: Start with fewer operator sets and scale upwards
4. Team coverage: Maintain runbooks, on-call rotation, and incident drills.

Reward calculations

Reward formula

operator rewards = (base rate × request volume × performance score) / total network stake

Factors affecting rewards

1. Request volume: Higher traffic = higher rewards
2. Performance score: Better service level agreement compliance = bonus multipliers
3. Stake weight: Your stake vs. total network stake
4. Operator set demand: Popular networks pay more

Expected returns

Returns are estimates and depend on network growth and demand.

Scenario	Annual return	Requirements
Conservative	5-8% APY	Basic SLA compliance
Standard	8-12% APY	Good performance, multiple sets
Optimized	12-18% APY	Excellent performance, high volume

Reward distribution

Payment schedule

• Frequency: Monthly distributions
• Method: Direct to operator address
• Currency: ETH and potentially DIN tokens
• Timing: First week of each month

Tracking your rewards

1. Monitor dashboard at app.din.build
2. View per-operator-set breakdown
3. Export reports for accounting
4. Track performance metrics

Veto committee protection

The Veto Committee can review and potentially reverse slashing events in cases of:

• Network-wide issues
• Unfair slashing conditions
• Technical failures beyond operator control
• Coordinated attacks on operators

Getting started

Ready to start earning rewards while avoiding slashing?

1. Understand requirements: Review our Prerequisites
2. Begin onboarding: Follow our Step-by-Step Guide
3. Prepare for mainnet: Check Mainnet Preparation
4. Monitor performance: Set up robust monitoring systems