VALIDATOR GUIDE

Become a validator
with one command.

A validator checks every block and transaction, keeps the history, relays news to other nodes, and mines — competing for rewards. A simple Linux server is enough, and every independent validator makes The Coin more secure and more widely shared.

curl -fsSL https://the-coin.cloud/install.sh | sudo bash -s --
            --yes

Read the installer before running it ↗

01 — WHAT YOU NEED

A modest Linux server.

No programming or blockchain knowledge needed. You only need to log in to the server over SSH (your provider’s dashboard shows how) and paste one command.

SYSTEM

Linux + systemd

x86_64 or ARM64 get prebuilt binaries; other architectures build from source. Ubuntu or Debian recommended.

CPU

1 vCPU

Minimum. 2 or more vCPU recommended for better mining.

MEMORY

1 GB RAM

Minimum, with swap. 2–4 GB recommended. Below 2 GB with no swap, the installer creates a 1 GB swap file.

DISK · NETWORK

5 GB to start

20 GB SSD recommended. TCP port 7333 open to the internet for mainnet peers.

02 — THE COMMAND

Log in over SSH and paste.

curl -fsSL https://the-coin.cloud/install.sh | sudo bash -s --
            --yes

That’s it. With --yes there are no questions: the installer accepts the defaults, creates a wallet just for you, and leaves the node running and mining.

How long does it take?

Usually about a minute with prebuilt binaries. If there is no binary for your processor, or the download fails, it builds from source (10 to 30 minutes on a small VPS). The node then downloads and verifies the existing blocks — mining starts automatically once it has caught up with the network.

What gets installed?

thecoind (the node), thecoin-wallet (the wallet), tccl (the smart-contract tool), and the thecoin helper command to manage everything.

Can I run it again?

Yes. Running the command again upgrades the programs and keeps your configuration and wallet. You can also use sudo thecoin update.

Write down your 24 recovery words.

At the end of the installation, 24 recovery words appear in a yellow box. Write them on paper and keep them away from the computer. Anyone with these words controls your coins, and nobody can recover them for you. You can show them again with sudo thecoin mnemonic.

03 — STEP BY STEP

What the installer does.

01

Checks the server.

Operating system, architecture, systemd, memory, disk, and whether the clock is NTP-synchronized (block timestamps are validated by the network). With less than 2 GB of RAM and no swap, it creates a 1 GB swap file.

02

Downloads safely.

It downloads thecoind, thecoin-wallet, and tccl and verifies their SHA-256 checksum. If the checksum does not match, the installation stops.

03

Creates a rewards wallet.

With --yes, it creates a wallet protected by a strong random password, stored in a root-only file next to the wallet in ~/.thecoin/. Without --yes, a menu lets you choose your own password, use an existing address, or skip mining.

04

Configures the service.

It writes /etc/thecoin/thecoind.toml and the thecoind systemd service, which runs as the unprivileged thecoin user with its data in /var/lib/thecoin, isolated from the rest of the system and at a lower priority so it does not slow the server down.

05

Joins the network.

It opens the P2P port in ufw (if ufw is active) and starts the node, which synchronizes with the network and starts mining.

06

Installs the `thecoin` command.

A helper so you can follow everything without memorizing much.

04 — DAY TO DAY

Watch your validator.

Commands that need root re-run themselves with sudo when necessary.

thecoin status            # service, height, sync, peers, mining, and balance
thecoin logs              # live logs (Ctrl+C to exit)
thecoin balance           # rewards wallet balance
thecoin address           # your mining address
sudo thecoin mnemonic     # show the 24 recovery words again
sudo thecoin restart      # restart the node
thecoin signals           # open governance proposals and the ones you support
sudo thecoin signal <id>   # support a proposal with the blocks you mine
sudo thecoin unsignal <id> # withdraw that support
sudo thecoin update       # upgrade to the latest version
thecoin version           # installed versions
thecoin help              # all commands

You can also search for your address in the Explorer to see mined blocks, the spendable balance, and rewards still in cooldown.

05 — REWARDS

How mining rewards work.

Who earns

Each new block pays a TCN reward to the node that found it, plus the fees of the block’s transactions (minus the congestion surcharge, which is burned). Your chance of finding a block is proportional to your machine’s share of the network’s work: more cores, more chances. Rewards are not guaranteed.

When it becomes spendable

For safety, each reward goes through a cooldown: 25% becomes available after 100 blocks (about 1 h 40 min) and the rest after 1,000 blocks (about 17 h). Meanwhile it shows as “maturing” in thecoin status. This prevents coins from a block the network later discards from being spent.

06 — GOVERNANCE

Vote with your blocks.

Protocol changes need approval from holders and miners. As a validator, you support a proposal by making the blocks you mine signal in favor. Find proposals on the Governance page, copy the id, and run:

sudo thecoin signal 3f9a…c2   # the full id has 64 hex characters

The command saves the id in the configuration and restarts the node. To stop: sudo thecoin unsignal <id>. Manually configured nodes use thecoind --signal <id> or the signal list in the [mining] section.

07 — DISK SPACE

How the chain grows.

Measured growth

Measured on version 0.2: each transaction takes about 430 bytes of data with the address index enabled (the default, used by the explorer and wallet history) and about 350 bytes without it. An empty block takes about 765 bytes (roughly 400 MB a year).

1 million transactions ≈ 430 MB (≈ 350 MB without the index);
10 million transactions ≈ 4.3 GB.

The database file reserves space ahead, so it can be larger than the data; compacting reclaims the difference.

Need to save space?

In /etc/thecoin/thecoind.toml, under [storage]:

prune = true           # keep only recent blocks
address_index = false  # no per-address history

Then run sudo thecoin restart. To return freed space to the disk, compact the database with the node stopped:

sudo systemctl stop thecoind
sudo -u thecoin thecoind --config /etc/thecoin/thecoind.toml compact
sudo systemctl start thecoind

08 — YOUR WALLET

Keep your wallet safe.

Most important: the 24 words

Write the words on paper, in order, and store them safely.
Don’t take photos, don’t send them in messages, don’t save them in the cloud.
Lost the server? With the words you can recreate the wallet on any machine: thecoin-wallet restore.

Files on the server

Encrypted wallet: ~/.thecoin/wallet-mainnet.json
Password generated by the installer: ~/.thecoin/wallet-mainnet.password (readable by root only)
Want more security? After writing down the words, move your coins to a wallet only you control, or reinstall without --yes and choose your own password.

09 — NETWORK

Firewalls and cloud providers.

Other nodes need to reach TCP port 7333 on your server (17333 on testnet). Without it the node still works and mines, but receives fewer connections.

ufw active: the installer opens the port for you.
ufw installed but inactive: before enabling it, run sudo ufw allow 7333/tcp (and keep your SSH port allowed).
Other firewalls (iptables, nftables, firewalld): allow TCP port 7333.
AWS, Google Cloud, Azure, Oracle, OVH, Hetzner, DigitalOcean, …: also allow 7333/TCP in the provider’s firewall or security group.
The node API (port 7334) stays private, bound to 127.0.0.1. Don’t expose it unless you need to.

10 — MAINTENANCE

Update and uninstall.

sudo thecoin update               # download the latest version, keep wallet and configuration
sudo thecoin uninstall            # remove the node (keeps blockchain data and configuration)
sudo thecoin uninstall --purge    # also delete blockchain data and configuration

Wallet files are never deleted by the uninstaller. Without the helper, use the standalone uninstall.sh script: curl -fsSL https://the-coin.cloud/uninstall.sh | sudo bash (add -s -- --purge to delete data and configuration).

11 — OTHER WAYS TO INSTALL

Installer options.

# choose the wallet password or use an existing address (interactive menu)
curl -fsSL https://the-coin.cloud/install.sh | sudo bash

# mine to an address you already have
curl -fsSL https://the-coin.cloud/install.sh | sudo bash -s -- --yes --miner-address tc1...

# validate only, without mining
curl -fsSL https://the-coin.cloud/install.sh | sudo bash -s -- --yes --no-mine

# try the testnet
curl -fsSL https://the-coin.cloud/install.sh | sudo bash -s -- --yes --network testnet

Option	Effect
--yes, -y	Non-interactive: never ask, accept the defaults.
--network <mainnet\|testnet>	Network to join (default mainnet).
--miner-address <tc1...>	Mine to an existing address instead of creating a wallet.
--no-mine	Validate and relay only.
--threads <n>	Mining threads (0 = automatic: CPU cores − 1).
--version <x.y.z\|latest>	Release to install (default latest).
--from-source	Build from source instead of downloading binaries.
--public-api	Bind the node API on `0.0.0.0` (only for nodes that serve a public explorer or website).

Every option is also accepted as an environment variable (for example THECOIN_NETWORK or THECOIN_NO_MINE=1). See Run a node and the operator guide ↗ for manual installation and configuration.

Bonus: smart contracts.

The installer also sets up tccl, so you can write and test TCCL contracts locally at no cost: tccl check my_contract.tccl checks types and lists the functions, tccl run my_contract.tccl deploy simulates locally, and thecoin-wallet contract deploy my_contract.tccl publishes to the network.

TCCL guide ↗

12 — QUESTIONS

Frequently
asked.

Will my server become slow?

No. Mining threads run at the lowest system priority and, on machines with 2 or more cores, one core is left free by default; each mining thread uses 16 MiB of memory. If needed, adjust threads in /etc/thecoin/thecoind.toml and run sudo thecoin restart.

How much will I earn?

It depends on how many validators are mining and on your machine’s share of the work. It is a fair competition: every attempt has the same chance, and the CoinHash algorithm is designed for ordinary CPUs rather than specialized hardware.

“Syncing: true” in the status — is something wrong?

No. The node is downloading and verifying the existing blocks. Mining starts automatically once it has caught up with the rest of the network.

No peers connected

Check the server’s outbound internet access and port 7333 in the firewall and your provider’s dashboard. See the details with thecoin logs.

Does the clock need to be right?

Yes. Blocks with timestamps too far in the future are rejected. Enable time synchronization with sudo timedatectl set-ntp true.

Can I run several validators?

Yes, one per server. To collect everything in a single wallet, install the others with --miner-address pointing to your address.

What if the server is shut down?

Your coins live on the blockchain, not on the server. With the 24 words you can recover them anywhere. When the server comes back, the node restarts on its own.

Is it safe to run the command with sudo?

The script is public and verifies the checksum of everything it downloads. To read it first: curl -fsSLO https://the-coin.cloud/install.sh && less install.sh. The node itself runs as an unprivileged user.

What about proof of stake?

Proof of work is the active consensus in v0.2. The hybrid PoW/PoS and proof-of-stake phases are roadmap proposals, not active consensus: the hybrid phase could start no earlier than block 1,250,000 (about 2.4 years) and only with governance approval. See the consensus roadmap ↗.