# What is Redacted’s node network?

Redacted’s node network is a group of independent, bonded operators who carry private actions on-chain and approve every deposit, each choosing what it checks before it approves. No single node can send a deposit back or pause deposits alone.

Also called Redacted nodes or relayer nodes.

## What nodes do

- Carry private actions on-chain. The app picks a node at random for each action, which leaves no pattern to read.
- Approve deposits with a signature that is single-use, bound to that exact deposit, valid for an hour at most and public.
- Check addresses before they approve, each through the Ozone instance it trusts.
- Confirm which part of a return from Spending is your own money, so that part comes back at once.
- Vote on five safety switches, which act only on money coming in and need two thirds of the active nodes, and at least three.

## Bonds and places

An operator locks a bond when it registers, 100 RUNE at launch. Unbonding takes about 14 days, and the bond can be cut until it is paid out. There are 21 active places at launch, filled by stake and rotated once a day, while nodes on standby wait for a place.

## What nodes can’t do

No one holds a key that can spend users’ notes, nodes included. Withdrawals are never put to a vote, although a node can check the destination address first, and if nodes decline withdrawals, governance can remove them and cut their bonds. If no node is active for 7 days, the emergency exit opens by itself.

## Status

Coming soon. The node network rolls out in upcoming updates, and until then one relayer carries the actions.

More: [How the node network works](https://redacted.gg/docs/node-network/node-network.md)

## Related terms

- [Relayer](https://redacted.gg/glossary/relayer.md): A relayer submits a transaction to the blockchain on someone else’s behalf and pays its network fee. Privacy tools use relayers so that a private action doesn’t have to come from, or be paid for by, the user’s own wallet.
- [The wait](https://redacted.gg/glossary/deposit-wait.md): With Redacted’s node network, new money waits about two hours before it can be used privately, so a deposit can’t be matched to what you do with it a few minutes later.
- [Ozone](https://redacted.gg/glossary/ozone.md): Ozone is the reference screener for THORChain and Rujira, built by Redacted’s core contributors. It answers whether an address is tied to known hacks or sanctions lists, works only from public data and decides nothing itself.
- [Emergency exit](https://redacted.gg/glossary/emergency-exit.md): The emergency exit opens by itself if no active Redacted node carries an action or sends a heartbeat for 7 days. Anyone can then withdraw from the Reserve, or close positions and move funds out of Spending, by submitting the action from their own wallet.
- [RUNE](https://redacted.gg/glossary/rune.md): RUNE is THORChain’s native asset. Node operators bond it to take part in the network, and it sits on one side of every pool of liquidity, so a swap from Bitcoin to Ether runs from BTC to RUNE to ETH in one flow.
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Page: https://redacted.gg/glossary/node-network/