Electing Nominator

An electing nominator in Polkadot's Nominated Proof-of-Stake (NPoS) system is a token holder who has staked their funds and actively selected a set of validators to delegate their stake to. Nominators choose validators based on performance, fees, and reputation while maintaining custody of their staked tokens. Their selection directly influences validator earning power and network security, as only validators with strong nominator support can participate in block production. Nominators earn proportional staking rewards from their chosen validators while bearing slashing risk if their selected validators misbehave, creating aligned incentives for careful validator selection. Example: A DOT holder nominates five different validators on Polkadot, carefully distributing their stake to balance expected returns while diversifying risk across operators with proven track records and reasonable commission rates. Why it matters for mining and staking: NPoS's nominator role democratizes validator selection and encourages active network participation from non-technical stakeholders, strengthening decentralization while maintaining high security standards through delegated stake concentration.

Category: mining staking, social community

Explore the full Web3 Glossary — 2,062+ expert-curated definitions. Need guidance? Talk to our consultants.