Following the last iteration of the programme in 2023, we were overwhelmed with quality applications both from our existing validators and those wishing to join and support the cheqd ecosystem, a huge thank you to all of those who applied.
We would also like to thank the validators (both existing and prospective) for their patience whilst the core team has focused on executing the Dock migration, since the migration meant the amount of $CHEQ available to be delegated was a constantly moving target.
We are thrilled to be delegating ~240m $CHEQ to ~30 validators providing a wide range of support to the cheqd ecosystem, from providing relaying to other Cosmos networks (Lavender.Five, Whispernode & DECALI, Blockval), support with network deployment (Vitwit) through to marketing support (Stake.capital) as we head into a busy year for the cheqd ecosystem. Special mention should also go to our SSI partners who maintain nodes and use their rewards to provide cheqd utilities to their clients, and to those planning to use cheqd’s identity functionality going into 2025.
Whilst we would love to be able to delegate to all of those who applied, we have needed to focus and prioritise those providing solid infrastructure, support (e.g. hackathons or marketing) or using cheqd identity utilities to ensure that any delegations were material rather than spread too thin.
We hope the cheqd community will help support any validators who have not been successful.
cheqd Foundation Delegations Programme | Cycle 2
Validator Name : Delegation Amount ($CHEQ): Support area

We will also separately continue to delegate to “small” validators in the interests of both decentralising the network per the principles of increasing entropy outlined by Alex in this blog, as well as to help these small validators become more economically viable and hence sustainable and successful over the long term.
Maintenance of the Network
Once the delegations are distributed, validators who have received a delegation will retain the delegated tokens for a period of 1 year from delegation (9th January 2025), provided they continue to maintain a healthy node and avoid any infractions (slashing or tombstoning). If a validator does incur an infraction, the delegation will be assessed on a case-by-case basis, depending on how the infraction occurred, how the validator responds, and whether the infraction is remunerated.
Given the nature of delegations, it is important to be clear that these are not the same as grants. It is the sole discretion of the cheqd Foundation to retract a delegation if there is, for example, poor node maintenance, poor governance participation, or bad behaviour within the active delegation set.