Base pricing
Arcium uses base pricing, which sets a floor price for computational tasks, even during periods of low demand. Node Operators vote the base price toward a level that covers their operational costs, accounting for hardware maintenance, energy consumption, and infrastructure.Computational units
As a reminder, the execution cost of a Computation is measured in Computation Units (CUs), a standardized metric representing a fixed amount of computational work. The cost per CU is determined for each epoch through a voting process. Node Operators cast one vote per Node to decide the price of a CU in the upcoming epoch. Abstaining from voting counts as a vote for maintaining the current price. Only Node Operators can vote; Third-Party Delegators cannot vote. Delegator incentives may differ from those of Node Operators (delegators may prioritize short-term gains, whereas Node Operators bear infrastructure costs and have a direct, vested interest in long-term network health), so voting eligibility is restricted to operators. Nodes are incentivized to vote when they feel adjustments to the base price are necessary for maintaining economic viability. Abstaining from voting is considered normal in stable market conditions where the current base price is already effective. Operating the physical infrastructure also inherently locks Node Operators into long-term engagement, as they bear the ongoing costs of maintaining hardware, energy consumption, and related resources. The lock-up periods for stake function as a secondary mechanism and together, these measures uphold the reliability and sustainability of the network until base pricing adjusts in the next epoch. Base pricing establishes a floor for compensation, but customers can still pay additional priority fees to expedite computations (explained below). This dual-layered pricing gives Node Operators a predictable baseline and customers flexibility for time-sensitive tasks.Priority fee markets
While base pricing provides a baseline cost for computations, priority fees enable Computation Customers to expedite their tasks by participating in dynamic fee markets. These markets incentivize Nodes to prioritize higher-paying computations, ensuring that time-sensitive tasks can move to the front of the queue when network demand is high. Priority-fee ordering is scoped to the Cluster’s mempool. Computations compete only with other computations queued for the same Cluster, which prevents unrelated tasks from interfering with resource allocation. For urgent computations, customers can offer a sufficiently high priority fee to raise a computation’s rank within its Cluster’s mempool. Once per dispatch cycle, the Cluster’s current leader (selected stake-proportionally via the D’Hondt method, see Staking overview) may pre-empt the top of the queue with one chosen computation; remaining slots fall back to priority-fee ordering and lock-conflict checks. By balancing supply and demand, priority-fee markets create a flexible and efficient system for task execution, complementing the stability of base pricing.Economic incentives for Arx nodes
Arx nodes earn revenue from both base pricing and priority fees, ensuring sustainable operation while incentivizing high performance. Base pricing revenue gives every completed computation a predictable price floor, helping Node Operators cover operational costs. Meanwhile, priority fee revenue rewards Clusters of Nodes for processing high-priority computations. This encourages efficient resource utilization and incentivizes nodes to stay competitive in the market. Lock-up periods for Node Operators promote long-term participation. Slashing penalties for non-participation and misbehavior are part of the protocol roadmap.Cluster-level competition
Arcium’s pricing system balances customer flexibility and nodes’ economic viability through dynamic, market-driven mechanisms within shared Clusters. Dynamic Clusters ensure that fee markets naturally emerge as computations compete for the shared resources of a Cluster. When demand is high, priority fees dynamically increase, directing limited computational resources toward the most urgent and valuable tasks. This adaptive system efficiently allocates resources, ensuring that the network can meet varying customer needs without overloading nodes. Priority fees flow into the Cluster pot alongside base fees and distribute stake-weighted at epoch close, with the MXE’s Recovery Peers receiving a separate stake-weighted slice. This aligns node incentives with stake committed to the network. Through this combination of dynamic competition and stake-weighted reward distribution, Arcium adapts to changing demand while keeping node compensation tied to committed stake.How customers optimize costs
The execution fee paid by a Computation Customer includes a base fee plus any chosen priority fee. The priority fee and base fee are both multiplied by the number of CUs used. This adjusts the total execution fee for the size of the computation while still letting customers compare per-CU prices across workloads. Computation Customers can optimize their costs by carefully managing execution parameters:- Choose submission timing: Submit lower-priority work during quieter periods instead of paying high priority fees during peak demand.
- Adjust Priority Fees: Use priority fees strategically to balance cost and urgency. Lower fees are ideal for non-urgent computations, while higher fees improve a computation’s queue priority.