Participating in Echo

Echo is open to any user who holds the required Pondora NFTs. Participants earn ADA rewards from connected application layers for helping to secure the network.

Requirements

To run an Echo node, you need one of the following:

• 10 Pondora Pioneer NFTs, or
• 1 Pondora Partner NFT

Pioneer NFTs may be purchased on the open market at jpg.store. Partner NFTs were distributed to various stake pool operators, Cardano projects and development partners to bootstrap the initial network.

These NFTs must be held in your Smart Account (Pond). The on-chain validators verify NFT ownership as part of the membership registration process — there is no way to participate without provably holding the required NFTs.

Option 1: Browser Node

The simplest way to participate. No installation, no servers, no technical setup.

1. Visit the Echo platform and connect your wallet.
2. Deposit your NFTs into your Smart Account if you haven't already.
3. Register your node — your browser session is authorized to the network.
4. Keep the tab open — your node participates in consensus as long as the browser tab remains active.

Browser nodes are first-class participants. They perform the same consensus work as any other node type and earn the same rewards.

Option 2: Docker Node

For users who prefer a persistent setup that doesn't depend on keeping a browser tab open.

1. Pull the Echo client image:

docker pull pondora/echo-client:latest

2. Start the container with the required environment variables:

docker run --rm \
  -e CARDANO_NETWORK=Mainnet \
  -e ECHO_COORDINATOR_URL=wss://echo-ws.pondora.org \
  -e ACCOUNT_MNEMONIC="word1 word2 ... word24" \
  pondora/echo-client

Variable	Description
CARDANO_NETWORK	Network identifier (e.g. Mainnet)
ECHO_COORDINATOR_URL	WebSocket endpoint for the coordinator
ACCOUNT_MNEMONIC	24-word seed phrase for your rewards account

On first launch, the node displays a Smart Account address where you send your required NFTs.

3. Deposit your NFTs — either send them directly to the displayed address or use the Echo platform's interface.

4. The node connects automatically — once the NFTs are confirmed on-chain, the node joins the Echo network and begins participating in consensus.

To persist state across container restarts, mount a data directory:

docker run \
  -v /path/on/host/echo-data:/var/lib/echo \
  -e CARDANO_NETWORK=Mainnet \
  -e ECHO_COORDINATOR_URL=wss://echo-ws.pondora.org \
  -e ACCOUNT_MNEMONIC="word1 word2 ... word24" \
  pondora/echo-client

Rewards

For each application payload processed, a subset of participating NFTs is selected cryptographically and the corresponding Smart Accounts receive a reward. This selection is enforced on-chain by the application's smart contracts.

Because rewards are tied to individual NFTs rather than nodes, your likelihood of earning rewards over time scales with the number of qualifying NFTs held in your Smart Account — not the number of nodes you operate.

Reward amounts, frequency, and conditions are determined independently by each consuming application. See Sailfish Rewards for an example.