ETH Staking Overview

Welcome to the world of Ethereum staking!

You are about to become an active participant in the Ethereum network. Your role will involve running a node and acting as a validator. Validators have the responsibility of proposing, verifying, and vouching for the validity of blocks. To ensure the honesty of validators, you are required to post some ETH as collateral. In return for your services as a node operator, you will receive rewards from new issuance of ETH.

The Different Ways to Stake ETH on AVADO

There are different ways to stake ETH on AVADO:

1. Solo Staking with 32 ETH Solo staking is considered the gold standard of ETH staking. It involves directly depositing your stake with the Ethereum network and having full control over it. To start solo staking, you will need a minimum of 32 ETH.

1. Staking through Rocketpool with 8 or 16 ETH Rocketpool is a decentralized smart contract platform that allows you to stake with less capital. It matches your 8 or 16 ETH with other stakers' deposits to make up the required 32 ETH. Additionally, you have the opportunity to earn commissions from other stakers. Using Rocketpool requires a level of trust in the smart contracts.

2. Staking through Stader with 4 ETH Stader is another decentralized staking pool for Ethereum that enables you to start staking with as little as 4 ETH. Like Rocketpool, Stader matches your deposit with contributions from other stakers to reach the 32 ETH requirement. By running validators with Stader, you can earn ETH and SD tokens. Similar to Rocketpool, there is an element of trust involved in the Stader smart contracts.

You can learn more about each staking avenue on this website. You also have the flexibility to run some validators solo and others through Rocketpool or Stader.

Regardless of the staking avenue you choose, your AVADO machine will need to perform the same basic validator duties. Therefore, the initial setup is the same for all options. You will need to install and run an Execution Client and a Consensus Client.

In the world of computing, the term "client" often refers to a piece of software or an application. In the context of web3 and Ethereum, a client can also refer to a distributed app, commonly known as a "DApp."

Choosing an Execution Client and a Consensus Client

The Execution Client is responsible for listening to Ethereum transactions, executing them, and holding all necessary ETH information in its database. This is also known as the Execution Engine, the Execution Layer client, or the ETH1 client.

On the other hand, the Consensus Client plays a crucial role in the Ethereum network. It runs the proof-of-stake algorithm, which enables the network to reach consensus on the blocks proposed by the Execution Clients. Sometimes it is also referred to as the Consensus Layer client or ETH2 client. It's important to note that the Consensus Client is actually composed of two clients: the Beacon Chain client and the Validator client.

AVADO provides options for both Execution and Consensus Clients.

For the Execution Client, you can choose between Geth and Nethermind.

As for the Consensus Client, you have the choice of Teku, Prysm, or Nimbus. You only need to install one of each.

The choice of clients may seem overwhelming, but in reality, they all perform the same standard functions defined by the Ethereum protocol. They are equally robust and reliable, regardless of the development team or programming language behind them. AVADO has standardized the user interface for these clients, making their setup and operation very similar.

You are free to choose any combination of Execution and Consensus Clients, and switching clients in the future is straightforward.

Having a diverse set of client software is beneficial for the Ethereum network. It increases resilience by limiting the impact of bugs or attacks to only a portion of the network using the affected client. As a node operator, you can contribute to this client diversity by choosing a client that does not have a supermajority. You can check the current client distribution on the Client Diversity website.

Source: https://clientdiversity.org/ (March 2024)

Here is a snapshot of the client distribution as of March 2024. Currently, Prysm is the most popular Consensus Client. Overall, the client diversity is fairly good. However, it's worth noting that Geth has a majority among the Execution Clients, which is not ideal. Node operators are encouraged to consider switching to a minority client to contribute to a more balanced client ecosystem. Please take this information into consideration when making your decision.