1,000+ Forta Scan Nodes in Fortification: Forta’s Incentivized Network

The Fortification Network Introduced Economic Incentives to Further Decentralize, Harden, and Scale Forta. 

Forta is a real-time detection network for security & operational monitoring of blockchain activity. As part of its mission to monitor all transactions and protect all assets in Web3, Fortification was launched, an incentivized network to scale and stress-test Forta at high capacity.

Forta’s incentivized network, called the Fortification Network, launched just over a month ago. With more than 1,000 scan node operators participating worldwide and more than 1.2 million FORT tokens distributed to the community, Forta is the first decentralized, real-time monitoring network of blockchain activity.

A Forta scan node scans all transactions and block-by-block state changes on a specific blockchain for outlier transactions and threats. Scan node operators run the detection bots that Forta’s work assigner directs to them, against each block of transactions. When the detection bots identify a specific condition or event, the network emits alerts to subscribers notifying them of potential risks, which enables them to take action. To learn more about scan nodes, please read Forta Docs.

The Forta Network is already being used for system critical monitoring by protocols like Lido, Compound, MakerDAO, UMA, Instadapp, Liquidity and Flexa, among others, to monitor transactions in real-time across Ethereum and six other EVM compatible chains. 

To date, the Forta ecosystem includes 600+ bots actively running on the network, 7,000+ alert subscribers, and 4,996 active API subscribers. An independent market for bot development is taking shape with nine protocols already issuing grants for bots that provide critical monitoring for their systems.

1,000+ Nodes Join the Fortification Phase

Forta scan node operators community footprint

The Fortification Network has attracted over 1,000+ active node runners across seven major blockchains (Ethereum, Polygon, Avalanche, BSC, Optimism, Arbitrum and Fantom). Currently, Forta scan nodes run globally in more than 62 countries and 5 continents, including the Americas, Africa, Asia and Europe.

"Our experience running a node has been pretty straightforward and easy. The experience is pretty hands-off compared to other protocols. Upkeep and maintenance is also very hands-off and straightforward… For large institutions, as DeFi and blockchain technology grow more prevalent, there is going to be a lot of interest in smart contract security and monitoring” Patrick Berry of Foundry Digital.

Due to overwhelming interest (over 10,000 applications), participation in the ongoing Fortification Network is limited to node applicants with demonstrated technical experience in running blockchain nodes. Further, and out of an abundance of caution, the Foundation has not onboarded applicants from certain regions due to regulatory uncertainty, including those who reside in the US and do not meet the SEC’s definition of an accredited investor.

Unable to join the Fortification Phase? Get Involved in Other Ways!

If you weren’t able to participate in the Fortification phase, don’t worry, there are plenty of other ways to contribute to the Forta community:

- Get started with bot development
- Monitor personal your personal wallets and contracts
- Start a discussion in the Forta Forum
- Contribute to the protocol on Github
- Check out full-time roles in the Forta ecosystem

Finally, make sure to join the Forta Discord, follow Forta on Twitter, and subscribe to the Forta Newsletter so you never miss an update!