№ 06·0906 · Node system1 min read · Section 9 of 9
6.9 Node life cycle
Complete state machine from application, review, online to review, renewal, downgrade and exit.
Updated
6.9 · Node life cycle
Seats are defined by ongoing verification, not by one-time admission.
Financial licenses and institutional client relationships require annual review and triggered review; the same applies to node seats. Static whitelisting will cause zombie nodes to occupy routes and brands, diluting the marginal benefits of high-quality nodes - the life cycle is the regulating valve of the quality curve.
design goalsPrevent seat inflation; make contributions, violations and renewals readable in the same state machine
TradFi analogySimilar to broker-dealer annual inspection, regular KYC refresh for prime customers, and analyst compliance training cycle
Data usageStatus change log service risk control, incentives and external disclosure (aggregated anonymity)
Node state machine
AppliedSubmit qualifications, recommenders, business plans and proposed coverage; conduct a preliminary review of operations and compliance materials for completeness and conflicts of interest.
ApprovedThe qualifications are passed but the agreement signing, permission activation and training have not been completed; this is common in background checks or legal queues.
ActiveFull-featured routing and PoB submission permissions; participation in KPI statistics and incentive pools.
ProbationExamples of triggering conditions: The number of introductions is lower than the minimum for two consecutive quarters, customer complaints are true, and the suspicion of PoB fraud is outstanding.
SuspendedTemporarily frozen authority: investigating violations, pending supplementary materials or judicial cooperation; will not participate in distribution during this period.
Renewed / RevokedIf the renewal is passed, the authorization period will be refreshed; if it is revoked, it will enter the cooling period and the brand will be removed from the shelves. Key records will be retained in accordance with the law or agreement.
life cycle path
Application → Due Diligence and Agreement → Permission Activation → Active Operation → Quarterly/Annual Review → Renewal, Upgrade, Downgrade or Exit; temporary review can be inserted for major events.
Admission stageEvaluate resource authenticity, historical reputation, and overlap with existing subgraphs; request pilot tasks if necessary.
Online stageComplete rules training, confidentiality grading tests, and system tool onboarding; sign the boundaries of external speaking skills.
running phaseTrack pipeline, closed loop, PoB quality and customer feedback by KPI; data-driven routing weights.
Renewal stageCompare contributions and violation record decisions: renewal, reduction of permissions, observation period, or removal.
Nodes are not NFT-style permanent assets, but service-type contracts bound to performance and compliance; proper design allows the network to maintain marginal quality without degradation during the expansion period.
System rationale for strict life cycle
Static expansion will cause three types of problems: Routes are occupied by low-production nodes, PoB dispute processing costs increase, and new nodes are deterred due to old nodes occupying space (adverse selection). Dynamic renewal implies "seat rent" as a continuing contribution, which is consistent with the logic of coverage banker's annual book review in TradFi.
It is recommended to expose minimum transparency at the product layer: for example, node retention rates aggregated by track and changes in average closed-loop duration, so that market participants can understand whether the network is getting thicker or thinner - without revealing the commercial secrets of individual nodes.