Slashing & Chilling
Mosaic Chain's DPoS consensus mechanism provides an additional layer of security through slashing. When validators misbehave, both validators and their delegators lose a percentage of their staked assets as a penalty. This economic disincentive ensures validators maintain high standards of performance and security.
What is Slashing?
Slashing is a penalty mechanism that reduces staked assets when validators (and delegators) fail to meet their responsibilities.
Slashing occurs when:
Validator goes offline for extended periods
Validator double-signs blocks
Validator engages in malicious behavior
Other protocol violations
What gets slashed:
Validator's staked MOS coins
Validator NFT's nominal value
Delegators' staked MOS coins
Delegator NFTs' nominal values
Slashed funds go to: Mosaic Chain Treasury, funding technical developments, community building, marketing, and other initiatives to expand the Mosaic Chain ecosystem.
Learn more about the Treasury →
Slash Amount
Each slashing event removes 0.1% of the staked assets.
Example:
Validator has 10,000 MOS staked
Slashing event occurs
10 MOS (0.1%) is removed and sent to Treasury
Validator now has 9,990 MOS staked
Proportional slashing: All stakes associated with the slashed validator are reduced by the same percentage (0.1%).
Slashing of Validators
When a validator is slashed, both their MOS coins and Validator NFT's nominal value are reduced.
What Gets Slashed:
Validator's own stakes:
MOS coins - Reduced by 0.1% per slashing event
Validator NFT nominal value - Reduced by 0.1% per slashing event
Example:
Validator has a Validator NFT with 10,000 MOS nominal value
Validator also has 5,000 MOS coins staked
Slashing event occurs
NFT nominal value reduced to 9,990 MOS (10 MOS slashed)
MOS coins reduced to 4,995 MOS (5 MOS slashed)
Total slashed: 15 MOS sent to Treasury
NFT Nominal Value Reduction
The nominal value of a Validator NFT can decrease below its initial value due to repeated slashing.
Important: If the nominal value drops below 80% of the initial value, the validator loses their right to validate.
Slashing of Delegators
When a validator is slashed, all delegators who have staked with that validator are also slashed proportionally.
What Gets Slashed:
Delegators' stakes:
MOS coins - Reduced by 0.1% per slashing event
Delegator NFT nominal value - Reduced by 0.1% per slashing event (if applicable)
Example:
Delegator has 1,000 MOS staked with a validator
Delegator also has a Delegator NFT with 2,000 MOS nominal value staked with the same validator
Validator is slashed
MOS coins reduced to 999 MOS (1 MOS slashed)
Delegator NFT nominal value reduced to 1,998 MOS (2 MOS slashed)
Total slashed: 3 MOS sent to Treasury
Risk Distribution
Slashing affects all delegators proportional to their stake with the slashed validator.
This incentivizes delegators to:
✅ Perform due diligence when selecting validators
✅ Diversify stakes across multiple validators
✅ Monitor validator performance regularly
✅ Exit underperforming validators before slashing occurs
Recommended strategy: Stake with approximately 12 validators to minimize risk. If one validator is slashed, only the portion staked with that validator is affected—not your total assets.
Chilling: Voluntary & Automatic
Chilling is the process of taking a validator offline and removing it from the normal validator set.
Voluntary Chilling (Manual)
Validators can choose to chill (go offline) voluntarily at any time.
Why validators voluntarily chill:
✅ Planned maintenance or hardware upgrades
✅ Moving validator machine to a new location
✅ Avoiding slashing during internet or power outages
✅ Temporarily pausing validation operations
How it works:
Validator initiates chilling via Validator Admin Dashboard
Validator is removed from the normal set i.e. can not be selected to the active set
Validator stops producing blocks and earning rewards
No slashing occurs (voluntary action)
Important: Validators should voluntarily chill before planned downtime to avoid being slashed for going offline unexpectedly.
Auto-Chilling (Automatic Protection)
Auto-chilling is an automatic protection mechanism that removes poorly performing validators from the normal set. This mechanism secures the network against misbehaving validators while simultaneously protecting validators and delegators from incurring excessive financial losses.
When auto-chilling triggers: A validator is automatically chilled (removed from the selectable validators) if:
Slashed in two consecutive sessions
Validator NFT's nominal value drops below 80% of its initial value
What happens during auto-chilling:
Validator is removed from the normal set
Validator cannot produce blocks or earn rewards
Validator cannot get slashed after leaving the active set.
Unchilling: Returning to Validation
After chilling (voluntary or automatic), validators can unchill and rejoin the validator set.
Unchilling Requirements:
✅ Validator is ready to resume operations
✅ Validator NFT's nominal value is above 80% of initial value (top up if necessary)
After unchilling:
Validator rejoins the validator set in waiting status
Validator can be selected for the active set in future sessions
Validator resumes earning rewards when active
Recovery: Topping Up Validator NFTs
If a Validator NFT's nominal value drops below 80% of its initial value, the validator loses their right to validate.
How to Recover:
Top up the Validator NFT's nominal value to bring it above 80% of the initial value
Rejoin the validator set by unchilling
Example:
Validator NFT initial nominal value: 10,000 MOS
After repeated slashing: 7,900 MOS (79% of initial value)
Validator is auto-chilled (below 80% threshold)
Validator tops up NFT to initial value (10,000 MOS)
After unchilling, validator can rejoin the validator set
Topping Up Process:
The exact process for topping up Validator NFT nominal values is managed through the Mosaic Chain Validator Admin Dashboard.
Slashing & Chilling Summary
Single slashing event
0.1% of MOS coins + 0.1% of NFT nominal value
0.1% of delegated MOS coins + 0.1% of Delegator NFT nominal value
Instant
Two consecutive slashing events
Auto-chilled, removed from normal set
Delegators can exit after slacking period
Until validator unchills
NFT nominal value < 80%
Loses validation rights, must top up to resume
Delegators can exit after slacking period
Until topped up + unchill
Voluntary chilling
Validator goes offline by choice, no slashing
Validator stops earning rewards
Until validator unchills
Slacking period
72 sessions (3 days)
Delegators can exit after slacking period
72 sessions
Slashed funds destination
Mosaic Chain Treasury
Mosaic Chain Treasury
-
Copy table
Best Practices
For Validators:
✅ Voluntarily chill before planned downtime to avoid slashing
✅ Maintain high uptime (use UPS, stable internet)
✅ Monitor your node's health regularly
✅ Keep your Validator NFT nominal value well above 80% threshold
✅ Address issues immediately to avoid consecutive slashing and auto-chilling
For Delegators:
✅ Research validators before staking (uptime, reputation, commission)
✅ Diversify across ~12 validators to minimize risk
✅ Monitor validator performance regularly
✅ Exit underperforming validators before slashing occurs
✅ Use the 72-session slacking period to exit early if validator is chilled
✅ Consider exiting if your validator is auto-chilled (indicates repeated issues)
Learn More
Related Topics:
Consensus (DPoS) → - How Mosaic Chain's consensus works
Actors (Validators & Delegators) → - Understand validator and delegator roles
Staking → - How staking works in detail
Validator OS → - Automated monitoring to prevent slashing
Last updated