Curated Module

Curated Module Overview

📝 Summary

The Curated Module (CM) is Lido’s origin, its first and — in terms of stake allocation — currently largest Staking Module (SM). Formerly known as the Node Operators Registry, the CM today, alongside the Simple DVT Module (SDVTM), operates as one of two permissioned and bondless SMs.

The Curated Module consists of allow-listed independent professional staking organizations and Ethereum client teams, which operate validators using the protocol. Within the CM, stake is allocated in a “bottom-up” and withdrawn in a “top-down” approach based on the node operators (NOs) amount of currently active keys. Over time, this mechanic organically distributes stake evenly throughout the Staking Module.

The Curated Module, thanks to its maturity and robustness, acts as the fallback whenever the remaining SMs have no depositable keys or are at capacity.

🔭 Vision

The ultimate goal of Lido in general, and the CM in particular, is the democratization of staking in Ethereum as enshrined in the Lido DAO Vibe and further refined in Hasu's GOOSE, ReGOOSE and GOOSE-2 proposals.

In the Lido protocol, the Curated Module serves as the bulwark of the modular Staking Router (SR). Predicated on a permissioned, bondless design, historic onboardings where LDO tokenholders approved additions of NOs have focused on a diverse, distributed and ecosystem-aligned NO set. The CM allows for allocation of unrivalled amounts of stake, all while promoting credible neutrality for the network. Additionally, the NOs have worked together with DAO contributors to prioritize robust staking setups and transparency, resulting in initiatives such as the Validators and Node Operator Metrics (VaNOM) reports. In practice, the participation of NOs from underrepresented regions, emphasis on diverse infrastructural setups, and promotion of usage of minority clients in the Curated Module have led to significant improvements in the decentralization of the Ethereum validator set as a whole.

As new modules and ways for NOs to use the Lido protocol emerge, the Curated Module’s robustness enables the protocol to process both large volumes of deposits and withdrawals — helping it keep pace with market demand at speed.

🏷️ Characteristics

Operator Onboarding: Permissioned & performed in waves as required
Bond Requirement: None
Rewards Share:

90% Stakers
10% Module

5% CM NO set
5% Lido DAO treasury

Distributed Validator Technology (DVT): Currently not supported
Stake Share Limit: None

📜 Status

🟢

Curated Module on mainnet is live

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Curated Module on Hoodi is live

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Curated Module on Holešky is deprecated

⚙️ Mechanisms

🛫 Deployments

Core Protocol contracts:

Mainnet
Hoodi
Holešky [deprecated]

Oracle contracts:

Mainnet
Hoodi
Holešky [deprecated]

Easy Track Factories for SMs:

Mainnet
Hoodi
Holešky [deprecated]

💹 Economics

LoE’s non-custodial design, combined with the Curated Module bondless economic model, empowers stakers to help secure the Ethereum network without the need to deposit the full 32 ETH required to activate a validator or run the underlying infrastructure. Instead, validator operation and node maintenance are carried out by a diverse and values-aligned set of independent professional NOs and client teams within the CM, approved by LDO tokenholders. This synergy allows stakers to benefit from stETH’s unmatched utility and deep liquidity, enabling seamless participation in a wide range of DeFi opportunities, while rewarding NOs for their services to maintain the overall health and security of the protocol and Ethereum network.

Stakers and NOs receive both Execution Layer (EL) and Consensus Layer (CL) rewards. EL rewards and general block proposer expectations for NOs are addressed in the Block Proposer Rewards Policy. The information about historic protocol APR can be found at the dedicated Dune dashboard; or you can utilize the Lido API to query a summary of the numbers yourself. A per-module APR information is available on Rated Network.

If incoming stake is directed to the Curated Module by the Staking Router, the new stake is allocated prioritizing NO(s) that have the fewest amount of active validators (provided they also have depositable keys). From the perspective of validator exits, when needed e.g. as a result of demand for stETH withdrawals, the Validators Exit Bus Oracle (VEBO) prioritizes the exit of validators of NOs who operate the most active and longest-running keys. More information about validator exits can be found in the Validator Exits SNOP (Standard Node Operator Protocols). Given these deposit and exit mechanisms, over time this has created an organic balancing effect — resulting in a relatively even distribution of stake across the CM. This is conducive to increasing fairness between NOs and the decentralization of the network.

Finally, the Curated Module also acts as the backup for other Lido Staking Modules, as it has no limit on its "stake share limit", ergo always being available for deposit allocation if other modules are full or lack capacity of depositable keys.

🎁 Rewards Share

Staking rewards in the CM are currently split in a straight-forward manner: 90% of the daily rewards go to stakers via stETH rebases, while the remaining 10% go to the Curated Module module share, which is equally distributed between the CM NOs and the Lido DAO treasury with 5% each.

As with the Simple DVT and the Community Staking Module (CSM), the lion's share for fulfilling validator duties — including performing attestations, proposing new blocks, participating in sync committees, and reporting violations of Ethereum’s slashing rules — goes to stakers who provide the ETH deposits essential to network’s security.

For the technical component of validation, unlike in the SDVTM, CM NOs do not have to split their rewards with cluster peers and a DVT infrastructure provider, which is why the Curated Module NO share is relatively lower, at 5%, compared to the Simple DVT Module 8% share.

In contrast to the CSM, NOs that use the CM do not have to provide a bond, which is why their share (5%) is comparatively lower than that of the CSM (6%). The share of each Curated Module NO is calculated pro-rata based on the amount of validators operated by each NO as a share of total CM validators. The NO’s relative performance compared to each other and the relative performance differences in staking rewards for specific days are not taken into account.

The remaining portion (5%) of the CM share goes to the Lido DAO treasury for the ongoing protocol development and maintenance of the Curated Module.

🔮 Oracles

The Lido Oracle Daemon monitors the state of the protocol across both the CL and EL and regularly submits update reports to the LoE smart contracts.

There are two Lido Oracle sub-modules relevant to the Curated Module:

The Accounting Oracle (AO) updates the protocol TVL, allowing for the daily rebase which reflects the rewards from the previous day in stETH holders' balances and the rewards shared to NOs as well as the DAO Treasury, updates information about the number of exited and stuck validators, reports possible slashings, and processes stETH withdrawal requests. The AO also provides information to the protocol in case bunker mode needs to be enabled — a protective mechanism for the event of mass slashings or large negative rebases.
The VEBO is a mechanism for the protocol and Staking Modules to request validator exits (e.g. in the case that there are not enough funds in the buffer and validator exits are needed to fulfil withdrawal requests).

More information can also be found in the Oracle Operator Manual.

Contract addresses:

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Toggle for details

🛡️ Security

Lido incorporates a comprehensive range of built-in security mechanisms. At the foundation is a non-custodial design, ensuring that no one has access to or control over staker funds.

DAO governance ensures that changes to LoE's permissioned NO sets, parameters and code are only possible with the approval of LDO token holders. This dimension will be further strengthened by Dual Governance (currently under development), paving the way to an unprecedented staker involvement and greater control by stETH holders over the protocol’s development.

Every line of code undergoes several extensive audits and is only deployed on-chain once all critical findings have been resolved. Audit reports are published alongside the open-source code, allowing anyone to inspect it—for example, on GitHub. If, against all odds, a vulnerability is discovered, one of the most extensive Immunefi bug bounty programs is in place to reward ethical researchers for their contributions to the security of the Lido protocol.

The selection process of NOs for the Curated Module begins with an open and transparent application process after which the Lido Node Operator Sub-governance Group (LNOSG) recommends a non-binding shortlist of NOs for consideration. Applications are assessed not only on the basis of performance and technical expertise, but also based on factors such as NO security practices, geographic distribution as well as the diversity of the hardware and node setups used. Through this value alignment, the Lido NO set has led network robustness, decentralization, and resiliency efforts, e.g. through calls for more balanced use of client software and the introduction and scaling of out-of-protocol proposer-builder separation (PBS).

⚠️ Risk Mitigation

Not exclusive to the Curated Module or Lido, there are certain risks associated with staking through liquid staking protocols (LSPs).

Like for any on-chain system, there is an inherent risk that application (protocol in this case) could contain a smart contract vulnerability or bug. This is why, as already described in the Security section, to mitigate smart contract risks, all core contracts and upgrades are audited, the entire Lido code is open source, and covered by an extensive Immunefi bug bounty program.

Another risk to consider is penalties and slashing. During active network participation, validators risk staking penalties, with up to 100% of staked funds at risk for severe misbehavior. To minimize slashing risk, the SR allocates stake evenly across the CM’s broad NO set of independent professional staking organizations and Ethereum client teams, who are also consistently supported in improving their processes, e.g. via the promotion of initatives like the Distributed Utilization of Configurations and Knowledge (D.U.C.K.), with additional mitigations in the form of Lido’s bunker mode and self-coverage Insurance Fund.

A third dimension is users risking an exchange price of stETH which is lower than its inherent value due to withdrawal restrictions on Lido, making arbitrage and risk-free market-making impossible.

From a protocol governance perspective, every proposal — e.g., for the addition of an NO, a change in Lido’s strategic direction or code — requires the approval of the Lido token holders at least through a Snapshot vote, and in specific cases, an additional on-chain vote. Thus, active participation in LDO governance is the strongest option to mitigate risks that could arise from emerging developments.

For those who do not have the capacity to always stay up-to-date on the latest proposals and vote on them, it is possible to transfer the voting power of one’s LDO tokens to a delegate, who then participates on delegators’ behalf, a privilege the LDO token holder can revoke at any time.

With Dual Governance, Lido decision making will soon become even more inclusive, allowing even those who hold stETH, but no LDO, to delay enactment of proposals against their liking, if they succeed in mobilizing enough disapproving stETH to reach the required veto threshold and thus signal that they demand rectification of the proposal, or at least enough time to withdraw their tokens from the system before changes come into effect.

Contributors to the Lido DAO are driven to mitigate all the above risks to the extent possible. Despite this, they may still exist and, as such, it is the duty of contributors to communicate them.

Finally, the above-mentioned and many other aspects are available transparently on the Scorecard, allowing everyone to explore the latest updates and current state of Lido.

🤝 Node Operators

The Curated Module consists of the NOs, who are professional service providers responsible for running and managing the infrastructure and operations. The current 37-entity-set of independent staking providers and client teams of the Curated Module has been onboarded in a total of six waves.

🗣️ Lido Node Operator Sub-governance Group

The LNOSG is a committee of NOs representatives and industry experts that, together with the contributors to the Node Operator Mechanisms (NOM) workstream, aids the Lido community in curating the Curated Module by providing counseling. Ultimately, all decisions are subject to the approval of LDO token holders, who retain final authority over proposed actions. The LNOSG serves in an advisory capacity and does not have direct control over the Curated Module or any other part of the protocol.

Maintenance of the Curated Module is largely automated by LoE, with all regular module operations carried out through the use of Easy Track motion — an optimistic form of governance that allows any LDO token holder to object to actions proposed by the Curated NOs, the NOM workstream, or members of the LNOSG they may not agree with.

The LNOSG's key task is to advise on the on- and off-boarding of permissioned NOs. This includes the due diligence on the teams behind potential NOs, evaluation of infrastructure setups and performance metrics, review of the value alignment and impact of community contributions, and recommendations to the Lido token holders and broader community — based on the findings gained and NOM's detailed insights into participant behaviour during testnets and the application process.

Other LNOSG activities include the participation in discussions on developments in the Ethereum, Lido protocol and broader staking ecosystem, as well as sharing proposals and updates on improvements to Lido with the community through the Research Forum and governance channels.

🤝 Onboarding, Lifecycle & Business Continuity

To date, 39 NOs have been registered with the Curated Module, 37 of which still actively utilize the module today — albeit sometimes under different names due to mergers, acquisitions, or rebrandings that have taken place since the NOs have been onboarded.

The high-level goal of the CM's onboarding approach — driven by stake growth — is to maximize the positive impact of new NOs on the decentralization and resilience of the Ethereum network as well as the profitability of LoE, while minimizing the potential risks posed by the NOs and the protocol.

The NO lifecycle within the Curated Module — from expressing interest in joining and DAO approval, through testnet and running initial validators on the mainnet, to actively operating within the Lido protocol, or eventually exiting the CM—is as follows:

Application Submission: An NO expresses to the Lido community its interest to join the Curated set via a dedicated form adherent to the announcement of an onboarding wave on the Lido Research Forum, X, Discord or Telegram.
Evaluation & Shortlisting: The application is evaluated by the LNOSG and contributors to the NOM workstream and, if deemed suitable, the NO is shortlisted for discussion and vote on the inclusion in the Curated Module Registry of the Lido protocol.
DAO Voting & Activation: If the vote is supported on Snapshot by LDO token holders, the NO’s address, provided to the Lido DAO for the purpose of submitting signing keys to be used by the protocol and receiving stETH as a compensation for the services provided, will be added to the list of active NOs.
Key Submission: Once activated, the NO can generate and submit sets of signing public keys and associated signatures for future validators that it will operate.
Key Review & Approval: The community will check the submitted keys for correctness and, if everything is compliant, initiate a vote to approve them. After successful approval, the keys become usable by the protocol.
Stake Allocation: The share of Lido's total pooled ETH allocated to the CM is distributed evenly between all active NOs in 32 ETH chunks.

From this point, the NO is responsible for keeping the validator associated with the signing key operable and well-behaving.

Rewards: As long as the validator is running, the AO periodically reports the combined balance of all validators launched by the protocol. When this balance increases as a result of CL rewards, MEV and priority fees paid on the EL, the Curated Module fee is charged and distributed among the active NOs as described in the Rewards Share section.
Withdrawals & Exits: If stakers request withdrawals in excess of what is readily available within the protocol buffer, the VEBO algorithmically determines which validators have to exit and publishes a report on the requests which should be picked up and executed on by the NO through exiting the requested validator.
Offboarding: If, at any time, an NO is unable to continue operations, e.g. has become insolvent, the NO must notify the community via the Lido Research Forum of the circumstances and signal intent to exit all of the validators the NO operates using the CM. If LDO tokenholders do not instruct the NO otherwise, the NO must proceed with triggering all of the exits. Contributors to the NOM workstream will assist the NO in completing the offboarding process from the Curated Module Registry.

The table below gives an overview of the scope of the past onboarding waves, the IDs and names of the Curated Module NOs as of May 2025.

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Legend

To view the notes referenced in the image, open the legend toggle above. It includes additional context such as rebrandings, acquisitions, community-approved exits, and other relevant organizational details.

🛠️ Expectations & Consequences of Non-conformance

The Curated Module, in line with the rest of the protocol, sets a number of expectations of its NOs: good performance, robustness and resilience in businesses and setups, and foremost an ethos alignment with the underlying network. The specifiable aspects of the individual dimensions of Ethereum validator operations are detailed in dedicated documents and reflect the current state of Ethereum, Lido, as well as the expectations and approaches of each of its Staking Modules. Two of these docs revolve around Block Proposer Rewards and Validator Exits SNOPs.

The most important and relevant to the CM NOs expectations are the following:

When generating, validating and submitting signing keys as well as configuring Lido validators, care must be taken to use the correct parameters.
Apart from withdrawal credentials to be derived from the withdrawal address provided by the protocol, this also plays a crucial role in terms of the feeRecipient for MEV and the priority fees, which must always be set to the LidoExecutionLayerRewardsVault to avoid MEV hiding related consequences.
Further attention with regard to MEV and PBS is required when subscribing to relays serving blocks from external builders. While NOs should subscribe to as many of the relays on the must-include and any number of the entries on the allow-list, both of which maintained by the Relay Maintenance Committee (RMC) and curated through DAO governance by LDO token holders, no unvetted relays should be set. A list of the vetted relays can be found on the Node Operator Portal or on-chain by querying the respective smart contract’s get_relays method.
NOs must also timely process the exit requests pertaining to the validators they operate for the Curated Module, e.g. by using the Keys API to pre-sign voluntary exit messages (VEMs) and the Validator Ejector to capture and process the requests emitted by the VEBO. Alternatively, custom implementations of community-built open-source tooling or any internal tools, APIs or manual processes may be used to aid in identifying and processing signalled requests.

Non-conformance with the expectations, parameters and afforded time frames as described in the guiding documents and SNOPs may lead to consequences like issues and requests of remediative actions being publicly raised on the Lido Research Forum, no new stake being allocated, NO rewards being reduced, exits of validators run for the CM being prioritized and, in the most egregious of cases, the respective NO being offboarded from the Curated Module or Lido protocol as a whole.

📢 Communication

🔗 Channels

For further discussion and updates, refer to:

Lido Discord: https://discord.com/invite/lido
Lido Telegram Public Channel: https://t.me/lidofinance
Lido X: https://x.com/lidofinance
Lido Research Forum: https://research.lido.fi/
Lido GitHub: https://github.com/lidofinance

📚 Resources

NOs interested or participating in the Curated Module can refer to the Node Operator Portal for initial information on the onboarding process, operations, expectations, resources, and tooling. Additional materials for further reading are also provided below.

🎓Tech Talks & Lectures

Learn more through the recordings of our public talks and Node Operator Community Calls (NOCCs):

📄 Documentation

Lido Improvement Proposals (LIPs) & Architecture Decision Records (ADRs):

Lido Docs
Lido Node Operator Portal

🛡️ Audits

Lido Audits

📈 Analytics

Follow the discussion on VaNOM on the Lido Research Forum

All-in-One Lido Analytics Dune Dashboard

📈 Module Performance & Statistics

Mainnet

Testnets

Hoodi

Holešky [deprecated]

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