Today, we’re announcing the opening of applications to help test Republic Protocol Darknodes; an announcement we’ve been eager to make for a long time. We appreciate the feedback of our community regarding the Darknode roll-out process and have taken the time to design an integration process; one which will hopefully enable a smooth experience for all participants.

Overview

Darknodes are essential to Republic Protocol’s dark pool operation. They provide functionality to facilitate the order book, order matching engine and trade settlement. Over the next month, we will be guiding users through the setup and operating processes for running a Darknode.

The purpose for working closely with community members to test Darknodes is to understand the pain points for Darknode operators and to incorporate feedback to develop the best possible experience for mainnet.

Register

Submit your interest through the @republicprotocolbot. We will contact you individually to guide you through the setup and maintenance process. We will do our best to reach out to all eager testers, but please be understanding if we are unable to due to a high volume of interest. Run your Darknode and enjoy contributing to the launch of Republic Protocol.

Applications will be processed here: Republic Protocol Bot. The bot will guide you through the application process which should take 2 minutes of your time.

Requirements for running a Darknode

In terms of specifications, we recommend using a setup with similar specifications as a T2.Small on AWS or higher — If you are unfamiliar with using cloud providers, the team will step you through the entire setup process.

In an effort to preserve privacy, we will not be requiring users to hold mainnet REN to join the testnet.