Like all DPoS chains, core asset holders get a say in who can be a block producer. In other words, MUSE holders elect the people and organizations that act as the foundation of the Muse Blockchain. Unlike say, the Bitcoin blockchain, where no matter how much stake you have in the network - be it 1 or 5000 bitcoins – you have no say whatsoever in what is going on (no matter how much you stand to lose!)  

MUSE vs Vesting MUSE

  It should be noted that only the MUSE that is in your vesting account is counted when it comes to voting for witnesses. Vesting MUSE is your power and influence within the network.

  So make sure most if not all of your MUSE is in your vesting account otherwise your votes won’t mean anything. There are many other reasons why you want your MUSE vested by the way but it isn’t the focus of this post.

  Important note: The MUSE sitting in your Vesting account can’t be transferred out quickly. It takes 13 weeks for vesting MUSE to be transferred back to a liquid, tradable form. You need to know this if you are a day trader!  

  

Why should I vote? Who should I vote for?

  The strength of the network resides on the block producers (called Witnesses from now on) since they are the ones processing all the transactions and ensuring the Muse network is adequately decentralized.

  Not all Witnesses are the same! Some have faster/slower hardware, higher or lower latency, have redundant backup nodes, provide seed nodes, seldom or frequently miss blocks, etc. These are basic criteria you can look for before voting but there’s much more to consider. Elected Witnesses receive block rewards for their work and there are limited slots available, which leads to competition. Witnesses can add tremendous value by offering more then just a block-producing node! For example, some have already added to the Muse codebase, created/ported over useful libraries, offered to translate content into different languages, created sites such as https://muse-db.com/, etc.

This is why I’ve created this post, so that each potential candidate may explain why he would be a good Witness and how he can add value to the Muse ecosystem.  

  Keep in mind the needs of the ecosystem will change over time. Added value will not come from the same sources down the line. Some value can be gained by decentralizing the network, some value can be gained by advertising in a specific geographical region, some value can be gained by building apps on top of Muse that does X, Y or Z.

It is my personal opinion that the most pressing need for Muse in these early days would be with development assistance. And that will change a few months down the road once Muse is stable and all easy-to-squish bugs have been dealt with. At that point, added value will come from somewhere completely different.  

  

How do I vote?

  Alrighty then! Let’s get down to it.   First make sure you have as much of your MUSE sitting in your Vesting account. This ensures there’s some power behind your votes.  

  Next up, click the sandwich bar at the top right corner and select “Vote for Witnesses”  

  Pause here for a sec and read this:  

  Read it? Ok you may proceed!  

  Finally find the Witnesses you like and push the thumbs up button next to their name. You can vote for as many Witnesses as you like. If you can’t see a Witness you want to support in the listing, you can scroll to the very bottom of the page and type in the account name manually.  

  

Don’t know which Witnesses to vote for?

  Not everyone has the time to keep up with the rapid changes taking place in the crypto-space and then see how it affects the music world or the business models based on the Muse blockchain. Not everyone feels like following each discussion on message boards either. Whether the reason is time of lack of interest, there’s a solution for you, other than refraining from voting: You will be able to vote by proxy

Although the wallet does not yet provide an interface for you to do so, it will eventually be added to the voting page. Voting by proxy allows you to pick a Muse username you think will take good decisions as for whom to vote for. Your account will vote for whoever this chosen proxy account votes for. Whenever that account decides to vote for Witness X with its stake of 40 MUSE, your account will also vote for Witness X with your voting power of say, 50 MUSE. Giving Witness X a combined weighted vote of 90 MUSE.

  It will be announced as soon as this feature is added to the user interface.  

  

Message for the Witness candidates

  Comment this post with ONLY the TL;DR bullet points “why vote for me” + a link to your Steemit post providing your more in-depth Witness proposal. I will only upvote the comments that respect this and would recommend all readers do the same in order to keep the whole thing clean.  

  Now remember: