# Overview

The main defining feature of the TON Liquid Staking protocol is independent modularity (encapsulation) that separates the functionality of the platform into independent interchangeable modules. This allows engineers to develop, test, and update each module individually as needed. Relatedly, the prevalence of basic independent modules allows for the assembly of the protocol in different ways for various tasks and utilities.

### Participants groups

TON Liquid Staking protocol participants consist of three main types. These include:

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_Governance_ - actors that support the work of the pool and are represented by a set of roles in the protocol. All roles could be handled from DAO or Multisig Governor component.

_Validators_ - actors with hardware for operation work.

_Stakers_ - actors who desire to share their funds for the pool.

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### Governance&#x20;

Governance are network participants that help carry out Validator and Staker pool management on the protocol. One of their main roles is to track participant token liquidity in the TON Ecosystem using independent analytics based on data from TON Blockchain.

Governance makes use of various analytics tools and dApps to improve user utility and integrity by helping provision various protocol improvements over time.

Governance consists of the following components within the Protocol:

Governance components(Roles):

* Governor&#x20;
* Sudoer
* Halter
* Governor
* Interest Manager&#x20;

### Validators

Validators are the most powerful nodes operating on the TON Network. Their main utility on the TON Liquid Staking protocol is to provide hardware that allows the protocol and its underlying liquidity pools to function. Validator groups can be made up of one Validator or several Validators that alternate with each cycle. Validators can also provide hardware independently or a combination of hardware and capital. The TON Liquid Staking Protocol is designed to allow for the participation of validators that provide both hardware or capital, meaning the system is designed to be more equitable than other similar renditions (lowering the barrier to entry for Validators).

Validators are represented by with following components of the Protocol:

* _Wallet_ (basic Ecosystem component owned by Validator with a Private Key)
* _Validator Controller_
* _Validator hardware and software (mytoncntrl)_

### Stakers

Users of Ecosystem which provides their funds in pools.

This group supports with following components of the Protocol:

* _Wallet_ (basic Ecosystem component owned by Staker with a Private Key)



### Common Components

* _Pool_ - central smart contract, which handles the whole TON LSt protocol workflow within other components.
* _Pool Jetton Minter_ -  Pool Jetton master contract owned by Pool that manages minting Jetton Pool amounts for users when it requested by Pool contract.
* _Payouts Collection_ - Special NFT Collection contract for delayed deposit/withdrawal processing owned by Pool. There are two minters - one for Withdrawals, and one for Deposits.
* _Pool Jetton Wallet_ -  a liquid staking collateralized receipt token that is fully exchangeable for TON and represented by a Jetton Wallet Smart Contracts&#x20;
* _Payouts_ - Special tokens (as main version - NFT items), that are used for processing delayed payouts: deposits or withdrawals which will be processed at the end of the current round.
