Challenger Guide
How any user polices the validators: what you can challenge and when, posting a bond and evidence, what happens during the jury vote, and exactly what you win or lose under each verdict.
The protocol stays honest because anyone can challenge a validator who vouched for something false. This guide is for that person — the challenger. You don't need to be a validator or a holder; you need evidence and a bond.
What you can challenge, and when
You challenge a validator's attestation on a specific project. Because that attestation vouches for the asset's Smart Trust — its legal strength and ongoing compliance — you can contest far more than obvious fraud:
- a forged permit, or a milestone that was approved but never actually happened;
- the Smart Trust failing to deliver what it legally promised; or
- legal rot — local laws changed and the validator never updated the documents to keep the asset compliant.
Conditions:
- The project must be in
EXECUTINGorOPERATIONAL, with the validator's coverage still locked against it. (DuringFUNDINGthere's nothing to dispute — contributors are already protected by the full-refund guarantee.) - There can be one open dispute per (project, validator) at a time.
How to open a dispute
- Gather your counter-evidence and store it on Walrus (the explorer/app helps you reference it).
- Open the project or the validator and choose Open Dispute.
- Post the challenger bond — a fixed USDC amount set by the protocol (shown on the Governance page) — and attach your evidence reference. Sign.
- Why a fixed bond? It makes the cost of challenging predictable and prices out spam: a frivolous challenge loses the bond.
What happens next
- The targeted validator's pool freezes immediately — all of their pending approvals everywhere are voided — and the project's tranche releases halt.
- A jury of other validators votes guilty or innocent. Each staked pool gets one vote; the accused validator can't vote on their own case.
- After the voting deadline, anyone can resolve the dispute. (Resolution waits for the deadline so late votes can't be front-run.)
You can follow the live tally on the dispute page in the explorer.
What you win or lose
| Verdict | What it means | Your money |
|---|---|---|
| Upheld | The jury agreed the validator was guilty. | You get a bounty (a percentage of the slashed amount) plus your bond back. The rest compensates investors. |
| Rejected | The jury found the validator innocent. | You lose your bond — half goes to the jurors, half to the wrongly-accused validator. |
| Expired | The jury never reached quorum by the deadline. | Your bond is returned in full — you're not punished for the jury failing to show up. |
After an upheld challenge
The guilty validator's coverage is slashed and their pool is permanently marked as slashed. The slashed funds (beyond your bounty) flow into a compensation pool for the project's investors, distributed through the yield index after a grace window. If the project was still building, it moves onto the compensation path; if it was already operational, revenue keeps flowing to investors. See Trust & Security for the full dispute mechanics.