The move to Ethereum placed the Blind Computer on a global coordination layer and set the foundation for community operation and verification.
Today, we’re introducing Nillion Blacklight, a verification network for the Blind Computer built to both leverage and enhance this shift to community participation.
Nillion Blacklight enables the community to independently verify that private computations on the Blind Computer are executed correctly, without exposing sensitive data or execution details.
Starting today, anyone can run a Blacklight node to help verify private workloads on the network and earn rewards.
In this post, we cover:
- What is Nillion Blacklight
- Blacklight nodes and how they verify private computation
- Community rewards for node operators
- How to run a Blacklight node
Nillion Blacklight
Trusted Execution Environments (TEEs) are no longer niche infrastructure; they’re becoming a default choice for secure computation.
More providers are offering TEE-based compute, making it easier and cheaper to deploy sensitive workloads inside secure enclaves. As a result, TEEs are quickly emerging as the most practical way to bring real security to large-scale production systems, including AI inference and data-driven applications.
The core promise of TEEs is simple and powerful: you can prove that code is running inside a secure enclave that even the hardware operator cannot see, and you can prove it’s the right code.
That proof comes from attestation reports generated by the TEE itself, which cryptographically confirm that the correct code is running inside an untampered secure enclave.
The problem is that this promise only holds if attestations are continuously verified,checking once at deployment is not enough. Without ongoing verification, there’s no guarantee that the enclave remains secure or that the workload hasn’t been altered.
In theory, anyone relying on a TEE-backed service could verify these attestations themselves. In practice, almost nobody does: it’s time-consuming, technically complex, and easy to get wrong.
The result is familiar: trust quietly shifts back to operators and applications self-reporting that they are behaving correctly. In other words: “trust me bro.”
This is the gap the Nillion Blacklight was built to close. Nillion Blacklight is a decentralized verification network that anyone can join which is designed to continuously verify that the right private workloads are running inside real Trusted Execution Environments. No more relying on operators to self-report correctness.
Blacklight Nodes
Blacklight nodes are the backbone of the Nillion Blacklight.
They are permissionless verifier nodes run by the community. Their role is to verify the Blind Computer’s core computation layer by continuously challenging TEE-based workloads and confirming that the expected code is executing inside real secure enclaves.
At launch, Blacklight nodes are compatible with nilCC, Nillion’s confidential compute layer, as well as other TEE-based environments registered with Blacklight.
Nodes can verify:
- All workloads running on nilCC, Nillion’s confidential compute layer
- Any Phala workloads that are registered with the Nillion Blacklight
Over time, Nillion Blacklight will expand beyond these initial environments and provide accountability across multiple TEE and storage infrastructure providers.
Blacklight nodes do not run applications or handle user data. They exist solely to verify correctness and report results back to the network.
This makes them a critical part of turning the Blind Computer into community-operated, verifiable infrastructure.
Community Rewards for Blacklight Nodes
By running Blacklight nodes, community members verify the Blind Computer and earn rewards for securing the network.
Blacklight nodes are assigned verification tasks by the Nillion L2 network based on the amount of NIL staked to them. Nodes with more stake are eligible to verify more workloads, and earn a larger share of rewards as they complete that work.
To participate, a Blacklight node must stake a minimum of 70,000 NIL. Nodes below this threshold are not assigned verification tasks and can’t earn rewards.
Rewards are funded directly by the network. Each year, 0.5% of the total NIL supply is minted and allocated to a fixed Blacklight reward pool, which is distributed across node operators for verifications completed .
Rewards are allocated proportionally based on stake.Your rewards depend on how much NIL you stake relative to the total stake across all Blacklight nodes.
A simple example looks like this:
APY ≈ (0.5% × total NIL supply) / total Blacklight stake
Suppose there is a total supply of 1 billion NIL.
- If 15M NIL is staked across Blacklight nodes, APY is roughly ~33%.
- If 50M NIL is staked, APY is roughly ~10%.
In the future, developers deploying workloads will be able to to directly fund Blacklight verification, aligning incentives across the network.
How to Run a Blacklight Node
Running a Blacklight node is quite straightforward.
First, make sure you’ve migrated $NIL from Cosmos to Ethereum/ Nillion’s Ethereum L2 so you can stake to your node. You’ll also need a regular computer.
The setup flow guides you through:
- Starting your node and generating a node wallet
- Staking $NIL to activate your node
- Monitoring verification work and rewards through the Blacklight dashboard
Once active, your node is automatically assigned verification tasks proportional to the amount of $NIL staked.
Watch the walkthrough below or check out the docs for a step-by-step guide.
To Sum It Up
Nillion Blacklight marks a shift in how the Blind Computer operates.
By running Blacklight nodes, the community plays a direct role in securing the Blind Computer and earns rewards for doing so.
This is the foundation for an infrastructure that is private by design and verified by default.
The Blind Computer now belongs to those who run it.
Head to this link and start running a node today!