The saturation level of a stake pool is going to be 64 million instead of ~ 212 million ADA now.
Next the saturation will go as low as 32 million in Q1 of 2021.
Why is the K-factor so suddenly changed by IOG?
To protect the network against the influence of large stake pools set up by exchanges, samples are currently e-Toro and Binance
To give smaller stake pools a chance to attract more stake to their stake pool and improve the security of the network before the smart contracts are going to be deployed on the network
The increase in K-factor by IOG is not meant for stake pool owners to create more stake pools. So you should avoid to re-delegate your stake to a large stake pool who is creating a farm of stake pools (read more than 2 stake pools).
Basically the SPO’s with a farm of stake pools are undermining the security and decentralization of the Cardano network. Their influence on basis of their stake in the network can become a real problem in the near future.
We all want a more balanced and decentralized network since this is better for the future business success of the Cardano blockchain. Organizations and governments don’t want to run their businesses on a system that is dependent on a small amount of stake pool operators that have gained the majority in the network. This is a serious business risk for them.
So it is better to re-delegate your stake with stake pools that have less than 32 million stake instead of moving your stake from one stake pool to another stake pool of the same stake pool owner. This will result in a better balanced decentralized and secured network and ultimately translate in more businesses willing to build on the Cardano blockchain.
Stake pools with less than 32 million stake are able to produce the same amount of blocks with a similar amount of stake than another stake pool. It is a myth that large stake pools produce more blocks because they are better.
There are a few things to check before moving your stake to a smaller stake pool:
Does the stake pool have redundancy, more than one relay in different geographical locations? (Can be found for example via adapools.org)
Does the stake pool have a hot backup in place for the block producer? (You can verify this with the stake pool owner/operator of find it on the stake pool website)
Does the stake pool have a website and social media channels (Can you contact the stake pool owner directly with your questions?)
On what hardware are the block producer and relays running? (Home computer or cloud services ,VPS or Bare metal servers)
Does the stake pool have active monitoring and alerting in place?
Does the stake pool have best security practices in place?
The block producer and relays should be up and running 24/7/365 to support the network and not miss out on leadership to forge a block
Does the stake pool owner have a profound knowledge of linux and security? (You can ask questions about this to the stake pool owner/operator)
Does the stake pool owner actively market its stake pool?
Does the stake pool owner contribute to the Cardano network in any way?
Does the stake pool forge blocks on a regular basis?
What is the amount of pledge and is it guaranteed?
Are the stake pool fees reasonable for the activities the stake pool owner does employ?
Your stake moved from a large stake pool to a smaller stake pool will become active after 2 epochs or 10 days, so take this into account if you’re planning for such a move.
It is time to take your responsibility and stake with smaller stake pools. This will result in a better Cardano blockchain, more business and ultimately translate into a higher price per ADA.
What are you waiting for? Let’s build together on the success of the Cardano blockchain.
Above article was written by me on Reddit.