Adding staking products or services

We want to make sure we list the best resources possible while keeping users safe and confident.

Anyone is free to suggest adding a staking products or service on ethereum.org. If there's one that we have missed, please suggest it(opens in a new tab)!

We currently list staking products and services on the following pages:

Proof-of-stake on the Beacon Chain has been live since December 1, 2020. While staking is still relatively new, we've tried to create a fair and transparent framework for consideration on ethereum.org but the listing criteria will change and evolve over time, and is ultimately at the discretion of the ethereum.org website team.

The decision framework

The decision to list a product on ethereum.org is not dependent on any one factor. Multiple criteria are considered together when deciding to list a product or service. The more of these criteria are met, the more likely it is to be listed.

First, which category of product or service is it?

Node or client tooling
Key management
Staking as a service (SaaS)
Staking pool

Currently, we are only listing products or services in these categories.

Criteria for inclusion

Staking products or services submissions will be assessed by the following criteria:

When was the project or service launched?

Is there evidence of when the product or service became available to the public?
This is used to determine the products "battle tested" score.

Is the project being actively maintained?

Is there an active team developing the project? Who is involved?
Only actively maintained products will be considered.

Is the product or service free of trusted/human intermediaries?

What steps in the users journey require trusting humans to either hold the keys to their funds, or to properly distribute rewards?
This is used to determine the product or services "trustless" score.

Does the project provide accurate and reliable information?

It is crucial that the product's website features up-to-date, accurate, and non-misleading information, particularly if it pertains to the Ethereum protocol or other related technologies.
Submissions containing misinformation, outdated details, or potentially misleading statements about Ethereum or other relevant subjects will not be listed or will be removed if already listed.

What platforms are supported?

i.e. Linux, macOS, Windows, iOS, Android

Software and smart contracts

For any custom software or smart contracts involved:

Is everything open source?

Open source projects should have a publicly available source code repository
This is used to determine the products "open source" score.

Is the product out of beta development?

Where is the product at in its development cycle?
Products in the beta stage are not considered for inclusion on ethereum.org

Has the software undergone an external security audit?

If not, are there plans to conduct an external audit?
This is used to determine the products "audited" score.

Does the project have a bug bounty program?

If not, are there plans to create a security bug bounty?
This is used to determine the products "bug bounty" score.

Node or client tooling

For software products related to node or client setup, management or migration:

Which consensus layer clients (i.e. Lighthouse, Teku, Nimbus, Prysm, Grandine) are supported?

Which clients are supported? Can the user choose?
This is used to determine the products "multi-client" score.

Staking as a service

For staking-as-a-service listings (i.e. delegated node operation):

What are the fees associated with using the service?

What is the fee structure, e.g. is there a monthly fee for the service?
Any additional staking requirements?

Are users required to sign-up for an account?

Can someone use the service without permission or KYC?
This is used to determine the products "permissionless" score.

Who holds the signing keys, and withdrawal keys?

What keys does the user maintain access to? What keys does the service gain access to?
This is used to determine the products "trustless" score.

What is the client diversity of the nodes being operated?

What percent of validator keys are being run by a majority consensus layer (CL) client?
As of last edit, Prysm is the consensus layer client being run by a majority of node operators, which is dangerous for the network. If any CL client is currently being used by over 33% of the network, we request data related to its usage.
This is used to determine the products "diverse clients" score.

Staking pool

For pooled staking services:

What is the minimum ETH required to stake?

e.g. 0.01 ETH

What are the fees or staking requirements involved?

What percentage of rewards are removed as fees?
Any additional staking requirements?

Is there a liquidity token?

What are the tokens involved? How do they work? What are the contract addresses?
This is used to determine the products "liquidity token" score.

Can users participate as a node operator?

What is required to run validator clients using the pooled funds?
Does this require permission from an individual, company or DAO?
This is used to determine the products "permissionless nodes" score.

What is the client diversity of the pool node operators?

What percent of node operators are running a majority consensus layer (CL) client?
As of last edit, Prysm is the consensus layer client being run by a majority of node operators, which is dangerous for the network. If any CL client is currently being used by over 33% of the network, we request data related to its usage.
This is used to determine the products "diverse clients" score.

Other criteria: the nice-to-haves

What user interfaces are supported?

i.e. Browser app, desktop app, mobile app, CLI

For node tooling, does the software provide an easy way to switch between clients?

Can the user easily and safely change clients using the tool?

For SaaS, how many validators are currently being operated by the service?

This gives us an idea of the reach of your service so far.

How we display results

The criteria for inclusion above are used to calculate a cumulative score for each product or service. This is used as a means of sorting and showcasing products that meet certain objective criteria. The more criteria that evidence is provided for, the higher a product will be sorted, with ties being randomized on load.

The code logic and weights for these criteria are currently contained in this JavaScript component(opens in a new tab) in our repo.

Add your product or service

If you want to add a staking product or service to ethereum.org, create an issue on GitHub.

Create an issue(opens in a new tab)