From individual provers to Gridcrews: how 560,000 runners built the network together
When we launched Node Runners in September, our thesis was clear: the Verifiable Internet would not be built by institutions — it would be built by individuals. And those individuals, when given the right structure, would become a force greater than the sum of their parts.
Over the last several weeks, that thesis was tested and validated.
Highlights at a glance:
Total Node Runners: 560,000+
Quests completed: 2 million+
Points distributed: 15 billion+
Glyphs minted: 765,000+
Participation was high and it was consistent. Runners returned daily to prove, build, and grow the Hexgrid.
Gridcrews: a new layer of coordination
Halfway through the season, we introduced Gridcrews — SYN, ACK, and FIN. A new structure for coordination, competition, and team identity.
From Oct 16 to Nov 7, 78,500 new runners chose a crew and joined the fray.
Crew breakdown:
SYN: 33,345 (42.5%)
ACK: 22,584 (28.8%)
FIN: 22,575 (28.8%)
At peak, nearly 11,000 runners joined in a single day (Oct 17). And even near the end, daily join rates remained strong (~2,900/day), signaling sustained momentum, not a short-term spike.
More than a numbers game, Gridcrews served a deeper function: turning decentralized participation into measurable, mission-driven teamwork. Runners chose crews that reflected not just a strategy, but a philosophy:
SYN: Start fast. Build relentlessly.
ACK: Endure through uptime and precision.
FIN: Exit clean. Operate with autonomy.
The survey: who are the runners?
To understand who joined, we surveyed participants across crews. The results paint a telling picture of how different archetypes coalesced within each team.
Technical Proficiency by Crew:
SYN members were the most technical overall.
Dominant role in the blockchain ecosystem:
Across all crews, Validator/Node Operator was the most reported role.
ACK led with 55.1% identifying as Validators.
FIN followed with 44.6%.
SYN showed more diversity: just 39.3% Validators, but higher percentages of Students (10.5%) and Traders/Market Participants (21.3%).
These distinctions help explain the variance in participation and uptime across crews:
SYN drew a broad spectrum of blockchain participants, including many students and traders, suggesting this crew was both technically capable and diverse. ACK and FIN, meanwhile, showed higher concentrations of dedicated validator/node operators, likely with more focus on reliable uptime and operations.
Competition results
When we looked at consistent uptime—the metric that truly separates node runners from spectators—a clear winner emerged.
Crew ACK, leveraging its high percentage of Validator/Node Operator runners, demonstrated unparalleled endurance and technical stability.
ACK: Led the daily uptime ranking for 14 out of the 21 days of the Gridcrew competition, accumulating 333 hours as the leader (68.66%).
FIN: Showed strong operational discipline, holding the top spot for 151 hours.
SYN: SYN led the daily rankings for only one single hour across the entire competition, holding the top spot for zero full days.
This is a testament to the core philosophy of ACK: endure through uptime and precision. Their commitment to keeping nodes online translated into a decisive performance advantage in the uptime challenge.
Gridcrews finale medals
The teams’ medal images and videos are now listed in the Gridcrews Finale collection, so you can mint yours (or all of them, if you prefer) to commemorate your experience.
For a limited time, stats on how many times each one has been minted can be viewed live at gridcrew.nexus.xyz – over 35,000 so far.
Final transmission
To every runner, every prover, and every crew member: thank you.
You built the early backbone of the Hexgrid. You tested new primitives for decentralized coordination. And you proved, once again, that networks don’t need central control to move with power.
This season is over, but we may have something new coming up.
