| Core Features of Themis

∞ Delegator-Validator Model

• Delegators are the actual stakers and hold full control over their staked accounts.
• Validators attach themselves to delegators’ trees in order to participate in consensus and earn rewards.
• Delegator Tree Structures:
  • Permissioned: Delegators choose which validators can participate.
  • Permissionless: Validators can freely join a delegator’s tree.
• Validators cannot switch delegators once attached.

∞ Validator Fees and Rewards

• A flat Validator Fee of 1.5 PECU per Epoch is deducted from validator rewards.
• Validator fees are systematically burned, introducing a deflationary mechanism to the PECU economy.
• Rewards are split equally between delegators and validators after fees.
• Inconsistent or offline validators earn zero rewards for the epoch, incentivizing performance.

∞ Epoch Lifecycle

• Each Epoch lasts ~48 hours, consisting of 400,000–432,000 slots.
• Slots = blocks, each finalized in ~150ms.
• Each block carries 7–12 transactions, driving high throughput and speed.
• Lifecycle:
  • Epoch N → active
  • Epoch N+1 → upcoming
  • Epoch N-1 → historical