Become a Bitvm Staker

Before becoming a validator on the fiamma network, you should register your validator address with the committee program, so that your validator address is allowed to join the network

Prerequisites

This guide assumes you have some familiarity with Bitcoin wallets and general Bitcoin usage. For example, know what UTXO is, Bitcoin RPC service etc, for more information, please see bitcoin developer reference.

Ensure you have Rust installed on your system. You can install Rust from the official Rust website.

Step 1: Clone the Repository

Next, clone the Fiamma committee repository:

git clone https://github.com/fiamma-chain/fiamma-committee.git

Step 2: Compile the fcli Tool

Navigate into the cloned repository and compile the fcli tool:

cd fiamma-committee
cargo build --release

This will generate the fcli binary in the target/release directory.

(optional) Step 3: Obtain UTXO Information

Before proceeding with the registration, you need to obtain a usable UTXO from your Bitcoin wallet. We use bitcoin-cli as example (This could be different in other Bitcoin wallet):

1. List Unspent Transactions:

   bitcoin-cli listunspent

   This will list all unspent transactions. Look for a UTXO that you want to use and note the txid and vout. Make sure the UTXO has enough amount balance for stake.

2. Dump the Private Key:

   bitcoin-cli dumpprivkey <your-bitcoin-address>

   Replace <your-bitcoin-address> with the address corresponding to the UTXO you selected. This command will output the private key associated with that address.

Step 4: Register as a Staker

Use the fcli tool to register as a staker with the obtained UTXO information. Below is an example command:

fcli tx -n <network> register -v <validator_key> -t <txid> -o <vout> -s <private-key> -u <rpc-user> -p <rpc-password>

Replace network <validator_key>, <txid>, <vout>, <private-key>, <rpc-user>, and <rpc-password> with the appropriate values.

Explanation of Command Parameters

• -n: Specifies the committee service network and Bitcoin RPC service. It can be local for local testing or dev for the testnet, or main for the mainnet.

• register: The subcommand used to register.

• -v: Specifies the Fiamma validator_key. Ensure the format is correct. Refer to Show your Validator Addr section on obtaining the validator_key. The validator key should have a prefix of fiammavaloper.

• -t: Specifies the transaction ID of a UTXO in Bitcoin we did in step 3. This transaction must be associated with the private key specified by -s.

• -o: Specifies which output of the UTXO to use as we did in step 3, e.g., 0.

• -s: Specifies the private key of Bitcoin account.

• -u: Specifies the Bitcoin RPC user.

• -p: Specifies the Bitcoin RPC password.

Expected Output

If everything is correct, you will receive a registration ID:

You have submitted your registration application.
The registration number is 6, please wait patiently.

Now the Bitcoin transaction is staked, we have successfully register validator_key as BitVM staker.