Vote Delegation Factors To Consider

While on the surface, it looks like a simple decision, and it still is, there's a few more factors you should be considering over and above the "fees" a signal provider charges.

I will also first point out, the process to delegate your votes will be simple and dynamic. You can change quickly if you're not entirely happy, plus you can spread your votes across several providers, currently a maximum of 2 per address.

If you're looking to spread your votes across more than 2 signal providers you could always split your FLR (WFLR) across multiple wallets.

Here's some areas we feel you should consider.

Fees Charged + Win Rate %

There's no point choosing the signal provider based solely on the fees if their % win rate is well below the others.

Example:

Signal Provider X charges a 10% fee. Signal Provider Y charges a 20% fee.

On the surface, Signal Provider X looks like a good deal, but it turns out they only achieve a 40% win rate, so you're not getting rewards as often as you'd probably be expecting.

Signal Provider Y might charge a higher fee but they have a win rate of 85%, so you'll be issued with rewards on a much more frequent basis.

The win rate % for any given signal provider won't be established until the network is live, so you won't be able to compare that metric to begin with, but it should be something to keep an eye out for soon after launch and it should be something a signal provider publicizes.

So without that key metric to start with, you should also consider these points in the lead up to the network launch:

Participation In The Flare Community

You want an FTSO that's engaged in many areas of the Flare Community.

An engaged FTSO suggests they're visible to many and by that they should naturally gain a decent percentage of votes.

With a decent percentage of votes comes the voting weight which will aid in the acceptance of the signal providers price estimates.

Look at platforms like Twitter, Discord & Telegram and see how active and engaged they are.

This is also a good sign of the level of customer support you may receive should you require it.

Supporting The Ecosystem

Things like running validators / nodes for Flare and other integrated networks, XRP, XLM, LTC, DOGE etc.

This demonstrates their technical proficiency and highlights their investment in the infrastructure that powers their price submissions.

While it's technically possible to submit price estimates from a home server, it's not something you could rely on when trusted with customers vote delegation.

You're looking for a signal provider with maximum uptime. AWS (Amazon Web Services) as an example, their SLA (Service Level Agreement) guarantees a Monthly Uptime Percentage of at least 99.99%.

Informative Website

A thorough, well designed and maintained website should give you peace of mind you're dealing with a professional and trusted business.

Although the front-end is mainly a marketing exercise it's still an insight into the professionalism of the business you're dealing with.

An About page, FAQ section, blog author bio's, easily found contact details, a Terms & Conditions page are all good signs the provider operates in a professional and transparent manner.

Extras

We're working on a few delegator benefits at the moment, as i'm sure all other providers are, but we won't be revealing those until closer to launch of the network.

When everything else is even, the extras might be what you're looking for.

Final Word

There'll be a lot of worthy signal providers to choose from, all offering a sound service and deserving of votes.

The technical ability required to aggregate and submit pricing to the FTSO automatically, and continuously, is higher than most people would give credit.

The financial investment in hardware and neccessary tools to do so is also beyond what most people would comprehend.

If done right, the social media, admin & marketing along with customer support all takes a considerable amount of time and resource.

All this is done from the "10-20%" fees we collect, leaving you with "80-90%" of the reward for trusting us with your votes.

Arbitrary numbers used throughout post as reference only, these numbers don't necessarily represent real world numbers.

If we don't perform, we don't get paid ... so you can be assured, we'll be doing our absolute best!