# Propagation into the Validation Layer

After successfully joining as a node operator, your account undergoes a crucial "propagation" process. During this phase, your wallet address is entered into a distributed wallet pool across the network. This important step occurs before you're assigned to the existing validator network. Every node operator is a validator for their peers, assignment for which (peer and task) is randomly assigned with weight criterion for FLEXE token stakers and for validators with high node uptime levels, and long validation history. 

#### Purpose of Propagation:

* Ensures fairness in the validation process
* Prevents potential manipulation by malicious validators
* Protects against unfair scoring of your account

#### Rules for Propagation:

* There should be no correlation between the geography of the wallet and the geography of the validator validating it
* The process of wallet assignment must be agreed upon by more than 50% of the validators

## How the propagation works

<figure><img src="/files/LB96ALJEQ2eCNKPml4la" alt=""><figcaption><p>Overview of wallet propagation</p></figcaption></figure>

1. The Flex smart contract adds connected wallets to the wallet pool. The wallet pool is a list of wallets in chronological order of being connected.
2. Every Epoch *(defined as 00:00 UTC)*, the validators begin sending requests to the wallet pool.
3. Once the validator is assigned a wallet from the wallet pool, they must wait for *10 Seconds* until they can request the next wallet. This ensures fairness such that a validator with more computing power does not necessarily outperform another.


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