IOTA, the blockchain network, is taking a significant step towards decentralization by transitioning from a centralized Coordinator to a decentralized Validator Committee. This move aims to enhance network resilience and censorship resistance. The Coordinator, which acted as a central reference point for validating transactions, had limitations. If the Coordinator went offline, the entire network’s transaction processing would stop, and there was also a risk of transaction blocking if milestones were manipulated.
To address these concerns, IOTA is now implementing a decentralized Validator Committee. This committee consists of trusted validators spread across different host providers and geographical locations. By doing so, the network’s uptime, stability, and resistance against external censorship are significantly increased.
The transition to the Validator Committee follows a meticulous journey towards decentralization for IOTA. It has undergone internal testing, public testnet trials, and a pre-production stage in the Shimmer Environment to ensure the stability and robustness of the software.
The formation of the Validator Committee is a collaborative effort involving a consortium of entities, including academic institutions and corporations. The objective is to establish the inaugural decentralized Validator Committee. To ensure smooth network operations, transactions will continue as long as at least two-thirds of the validators (7 out of a committee of 10) remain active. Importantly, even if the IOTA Foundation’s validator node goes offline, the network’s progress will not be hindered.
However, the Validator Committee is not the final goal for IOTA. The upcoming IOTA 2.0 will introduce a permissionless committee formation based on token stakes, eliminating the need for milestones. Instead, it will introduce an innovative On-Tangle voting mechanism.
With these significant changes, IOTA reaffirms its commitment to building a truly decentralized future.