Congratulations to the New Set of Witnesses

On the Steem blockchain, witnesses serve a role of validating signatures and timestamping transactions by including them in blocks. A block is any group of transactions (posts, votes, transfers, etc) which update the state of the database. Each time a witness produces a block, they are paid for their service. If a witness fails to produce a block, then they are not paid, and may even be voted out.

Every round of block production begins with the shuffling of 21 witnesses: the top 20 witnesses (by vote), plus one randomly-selected standby witness. Each is given a turn to produce a single block at a fixed rate of one block every 3 seconds. If a witness does not produce a block in their time slot, then that time slot is skipped, and the next witness produces the next block.

https://steemd.com/witnesses

The following are the ones that I've voted for to become witness:

@abit
@arhag
@ausbitbank
@bacchist
@bhuz
@bitcoiner
@blocktrades
@bue
@chainsquad.com
@charlieshrem
@chitty
@clayop
@curie
@delegate.lafona
@furion
@fyrst-witness
@good-karma
@gtg
@jesta
@klye
@pharesim
@roelandp
@smooth.witness
@someguy123
@steemed
@steemychicken1
@timcliff
@wackou
@witness.svk
@xeldal