Prospective Ethereum NOs

Interested in becoming a Lido Node Operator (NO)?

Click to see which networks are currently onboarding new operators: New Operator Resources. If you’re interested in applying, click the link to the application form for the onboarding round for which you wish to be considered.

Lido on Ethereum Onboarding

Onboarding rounds are opened on an ad hoc basis as Lido seeks to balance decentralization, node operator profitability, and the overall security of Lido's liquid staking solutions. Currently, the Lido on Ethereum operator set is permissioned (i.e. operators are chosen by the DAO to run validators) given the resiliency requirements and increased risk of managing validators at scale.

The Lido Node Operator Sub Governance group (LNOSG) periodically opens onboarding rounds to balance these aforementioned factors. To learn more about the guidelines used to assess applicants please see the Lido Operator Set Strategy. Upon the LNOSG’s submission of a shortlist of Node Operator candidates to the DAO, the candidates are voted upon by the DAO and, if confirmed, become Lido Node Operators.

From this point on, user-deposited ETH to be staked by Lido is allocated to validators which are run by node operators.

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Stake is currently allocated to NOs on the following basis: operators with the least amount of active validators and >0 depositable validators in the registry buffer are prioritized. This mechanism helps ensure that new operators are provided with ETH as soon as possible after joining, and effectively flattens stake across Lido operators over time.

Best Practices & Requirements

The only requirement is that Node Operators run and maintain their own infrastructure (i.e. no use of white-label services). Exceptions may be made in special cases where an infra provider has a special relationship with the Node Operator and the Node Operator and the infra provider may be considered and treated as a singular entity (i.e. the infra provider would not be allowed to provide similar services to other Node Operators, and the relationship would be public).

Currently, Lido does not specify best practices or standards for Ethereum validators in order to reduce the potential for single points of failure, however an exemplary level of proficiency is expected across the categories of:

Expertise with the inner workings and maintenance of node software, especially running validators at scale
Key Generation and Management
Infrastructure and Client Diversity
Business Continuity
Geographic and Jurisdictional distribution

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With the introduction of validator exits in Lido V2, Node Operators are now obligated to promptly process exits upon protocol request. This entails setting up appropriate tooling to facilitate the process or utilizing the tools provided by the Lido DAO. For further information on this topic, you can refer to the documentation.

As part of Lido’s roadmap to decentralization on Ethereum, it is expected that the DAO will continue to hold onboarding rounds as market conditions allow as work towards permissionless entry is made. The Lido forums are the best place to keep track of future onboarding announcements and other DAO discussions.

If your organization is already operating validators and is interested in learning more about becoming a Lido Operator please send an email to nom@lido.fi.

Onboarding Process Overview

FAQs

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What to expect during the evaluation?

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How do rewards work for Node Operators?

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What is Lido’s stance on MEV?

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Does Lido force operators to censor?

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How are priority fees distributed?

Additional Resources:

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