ECH0.RE general presentation and updates
Dear Polkadot community,
In October 2024 I wrote this post ( Introducing ECH0.RE validators: trusted nodes on Kusama and Polkadot ) introducing myself and my validators on Kusama & Polkadot networks.
I’m writing this new post to give you a few updates about what has happened since then, and to present my current situation. The general idea from the main post remains the same (who I am, my motivations, my experience, etc.) so I will only focus on what changed and what comes next.
About my validators
What happened in 2025?
I already wrote about on my X profile, website, discord… But let me re-clarify it here: I stopped validation on Kusama.
For most of 2025, and currently, I run two Polkadot validators:
- 126cWhehuBFhQvbDqt26dWBNgELfkpc72WvJV3sx82qRogkT (ECH0.RE/01) - 5% commission
- 15KhD36jXQsqrAbYCjcTmguPYvBdCNdZFvEZbntAB1mrRN8Y (ECH0.RE/02) - 5% commission
Both are located in South Africa, unlike before when they were in France. The idea was to increase decentralisation, even if overall performance was slightly reduced.
Another key change is that both validators were selected in all cohorts of the Decentralised Nodes programme run by W3F:
- Cohort 1
- Cohort 2
- Cohort 2.1
- Cohort 3
I thank W3F for their trust by selecting me for the entire duration of the programme (a bit more than a year), which unfortunately is ending this month.
I’ll keep it short here, but you can find full details about infrastructure, location, history, identity, hardware specs and more on:
- https://ech0.re/validator (web page on my blog)
- https://validator.ech0.re (dedicated page for my validators)
What comes in 2026?
Following the end of the Decentralised Nodes programme, changes will happen starting February 2026:
- Both validators will be relocated to France, significantly improving performance, but reducing decentralisation. Hardware details are already visible on my website and dashboard.
- Commission fees will be reduced. The exact value is not decided yet. However, if Ref #1827 passes, a minimum of 10% will be enforced, and I will set it to the minimum.
No other significant changes are planned for now.
About my registrar
This is new. My Ref #1803 to become a Polkadot registrar was approved and executed 2 days ago, making me official Polkadot registrar #5. Currently, as far as I know, four registrars are actively operating: Polkassembly, PolkaIdentity, myself, and OpenSquare.
Registrars provide judgements for on-chain identities. Anyone can set an identity, but a registrar is needed to validate it using their own verification methods.
All operations can be done through my web app:
You can use it to:
- Teleport DOT from Asset Hub to People chain
- Set / update / remove identity
- Verify socials: X, Discord, Matrix, email
- Verify KYC (for KnownGood judgement)
- Request a judgement: Reasonable or KnownGood
- Browse all identities via the Directory
I also posted a full walkthrough here: https://x.com/ech0re/status/1995995810266538399?s=20.
You may also contact me directly if you prefer a more human approach rather than using the app.
The system also auto-processes on-chain judgement requests (if you used external tools like Polkadot.js) every 10 minutes if verifications are completed.
FYI, registrar address:
https://people-polkadot.subscan.io/account/12gL6BDsAMQCij7Ni5CxeN3J9VYwsKAUgbSLxAMbceCkxqv1
About my participation in the ecosystem
Just a few things about my participation in the ecosystem beyond my validation and registrar activities.
-
Actively participating in governance, by voting on-chain but also as a voting member of Le Nexus DAO.
-
Tool development for the community:
- Discord bot on the official server to provide the Validator role to active validators
- The missed-rewards dashboard to help users and developers to identity accounts and amounts affected by the staking rewards bug from era 1981 to 1986
- and other small fun projects that went live (and disappeared) in 2025 such as the Kusama oracle (AI agent), my NFT project, etc.
-
Activity on social media: I mostly post about Polkadot on my X account, but I’m also active on Discord, especially the community server.
What I need from you
If you appreciate the work I’m doing, nominating my validators would help me re-enter the active set after W3F nomination ends.
I aim to remain a trusted, reliable, incident-free validator, and I hope you will consider nominating me.
Wrap up
That’s it for now, just a summary of 2025 highlights and what’s coming in 2026.
I will publish more detailed posts soon about specific projects I’m building for Polkadot.
If you have any questions, need help, or want to discuss identity/validator topics, feel free to reply here or message me directly, I’m always happy to talk.
Thank you, and I wish you all a happy new year!