Node Sales: What is it, and what value does it offer to project teams and investors? A simple guide
What are Node Sales?
Node sales have emerged as a novel method of early-stage fundraising in the crypto industry. This approach involves blockchain projects selling nodes directly to their community, which helps projects raise capital and achieve decentralization as nodes perform certain tasks for the network, such as challenging proofs, data storage and retrieval, and transaction validation.
By purchasing a node, users are not just buying into the infrastructure — they are becoming key players in maintaining and securing the network. And the best part? Users earn rewards for their participation.
What are Node Sale Rewards?
Each node sale may offer different reward structures to investors. Typically, nodes are eligible to receive a portion of the network’s transaction fees (typically between 25% and 50% of tx fees) and additional token rewards granted from a portion of the maximum token supply (can range between 5% to 75% of the maximum token supply).
Therefore, node sale investors are primarily interested in when they will break even based on the price they paid per node and the rewards they are getting in return:
Node Investors’ Profit = Node Price < Token Rewards + Portion of Network Fees
How and when will investors break even on their investment?
Node sales are often structured in a tiered pricing system, where earlier buyers can secure nodes at a lower price while later participants pay higher prices. Each tier has an FDV that signals the tier’s valuation to investors. Since most node sales occur before TGE, when tokens have yet to be circulated, FDV is a key metric investors use to determine a project’s value.
Node investors aim for the value of these token rewards to eventually surpass the price they paid for the node. Each node operator's rewards depend on the number of active nodes in operation.
Breakeven Price: [Cost of Node] ÷ [Node Rewards Per Month Per Node]
- Calculate the true buy price (implied FDV) before purchasing
- Add in the project’s withdrawal penalties and node key transferability
- Add in the bonus earnings
- Add in the cost of cap and node op expense
Why do a Node Sale over a direct Token Sale?
Valuation
The valuation delta of a pre-seed-to-public sale is ~10x. The delta from tier 1 to the last tier valuation for node sales is nearly 25x. The delta between a public token sale and the last tier node is 62x, but using a 66% sold-out benchmark of nodes, the delta is closer to 16 times. Therefore, projects will likely receive better valuation terms through node sales over direct token sales.
As a project founder, the most optimal route would be one token sale round to give investors a taste, but then, a node sale would be conducted for the lion’s share of the fundraising.
Cumulative Distribution
On average, projects sell 20–30% of the supply to private investors and then offer 5% to public sales. For node sales, the range is wider — 5–20%. Projects experience nearly two times less dilution via node sales.
Sell Pressure
With node sales, the token emission schedule is more gradual, typically spreading over 3 to 4 years rather than causing a supply shock from large token sales following the investor cliff period.
Furthermore, projects must implement mechanisms that incentivize long-term holding to minimize sell pressure and maintain token stability. Buy-back programs reduce circulating supply, while staking allows users to lock up tokens. Node performance bonuses encourage operators to stay active and committed, and liquidity incentives reward users for providing liquidity on decentralized exchanges, further stabilizing the token market.
Tiered reward systems, where higher token holdings unlock better benefits, and time-locked rewards or vesting schedules ensure a gradual release of tokens, help prevent large sell-offs, and align user incentives with the project’s long-term success.
In summary node sales are better than token sales because:
- Valued higher (up to 62 times)
- Reduces token dilution by up to ~50%
- Raise 20 times more
- Sell pressure is distributed across many small-sized sellers who aren’t deeply profitable.
Sources: 0xKapital, Impossible Finance, Arcanum Ventures
Trireme's Role in Node Sales
Our Role and Expertise
Trireme delivers comprehensive support for successful node sales, including node sale strategy, architecture, tokenomics, break-even strategy, introduction and negotiation with node brokers, stakeholder engagement, and marketing reach. With an established track record with our clients, we’ve facilitated significant fundraising efforts across layer-1 networks and protocols. Our approach has helped engage node buyers while activating a vibrant network of ecosystem partners.
At Trireme, we are committed to discovering and supporting high-potential teams and projects. Our advisory services and collaborations start well before any public launch, whether an IDO or a node sale. Connect with Trireme for expert guidance and tailored support.
