Sidechain validators (SCVs) operate second-layer sidechains. Block production and validation happen in TEEs. Therefore, the validators can trust each other and the consensus protocol is greatly simplified, leading to superior scalability in terms of both latency and throughput. It is expected that sidechains will need to operate no more than a handful of SCVs to guarantee availability.
SCVs pay fees in TEER in order to register their TEE’s remote attestation (RA) on the parachain, and to gain finality on the sidechain blocks. RA is needed to know the exact software that is executed on the SCV and it also guarantees that this software is executed by genuine TEE hardware operated with the latest security patches.
SCVs have to regularly renew their RA and pay fees in TEER, so they should only be relied upon by their users if they can show they have enough TEER to pay fees during a reasonable upcoming time span. Integritee does not incentivize SCVs because they are dApp-specific. It is up to the stakeholders of each dApp project that deploys on Integritee to incentivize infrastructure providers. This gives projects deploying on Integritee a great deal of independence.