MEV stands for Maximal Extractable Value. Let's explore what this means for staking.
While it might sound complex, MEV is actually fairly simple from a big picture perspective, but of course the nitty-gritty technicals of how it works are far more nuanced.
MEV (Maximal Extractable Value) refers to the extra profit validators can make by controlling the order of transactions in a block.
In the context of Chorus One as a staking provider, our winning MEV strategies help validators optimize their operations and earn greater yield.
By understanding and managing MEV, Chorus One ensures that validators can maximize their earnings while maintaining network integrity and fairness for users.
If you'd like to take a deep dive, Chorus One's pioneering MEV research led to the design of , an in-house, optimized Ethereum MEV-boost client that increases our MEV rewards by optimizing the way we interact with the transaction supply chain.
In a recent pilot study with Adagio, we were able to generate 4.75% additional MEV rewards on Ethereum.
This ensures that our customers receive optimal MEV yields consistently, rather than solely during periods of high volatility or rare occurrences.
In adherence to transparency principles, our research is entirely accessible to the public on .
Feel free to reach out to our Support Team if you would like any clarification.
For direct support, please create a ticket on our .
A link for a support request can also be found along the top of this webpage as well as many other Chorus One resources including , , and .
Chorus One is one of the largest institutional staking providers globally, operating infrastructure for over 60 Proof-of-Stake (PoS) networks, including Ethereum, Cosmos, Solana, Avalanche, Near, and others.
Since 2018, we have been at the forefront of the PoS industry, offering easy-to-use, enterprise-grade staking solutions, conducting industry-leading research, and investing in innovative protocols through Chorus One Ventures.
As an ISO 27001 certified provider, Chorus One also offers slashing and double-signing insurance to its institutional clients. For more information, visit or follow us on , , and .
A consensus mechanism where token holders delegate their staking power to validators who participate in network consensus on their behalf.
Examples:
Networks like Tezos and Solana use DPoS among many others that use either DPoS directly or a combination of this consensus model with new novel models.
Benefits:
Greater scalability and efficiency compared to traditional Proof of Stake (PoS).
Lower barrier to entry for token holders who want to participate in staking.
This is one of the many services Chorus One offers. SaaS involves a trusted third party solution that simplifies the staking process for users or institutions, typically by managing validator infrastructure.
To learn more please feel free to review Staking Options: White Label vs Public Node
Example:
Chorus One offers staking services for multiple networks, ensuring secure and reliable validator operations.
Benefits:
Reduces technical complexity for stakers.
Provides institutional-grade reliability.
Allows White Label branding and dedicated support for all your staking needs.
Comprehensive rewards reporting directly from Chorus One or via
A penalty imposed on validators (and their delegators) for misbehavior, such as downtime or double-signing blocks. It is the punishment mechanism to ensure and incentivize good behavior on a network for all participants and helps keep the network secure.
Slashing risks are a part of many networks using a staking model, although slashing is not active on every network that uses staking.
However, this is why choosing a reliable staking provider such as Chorus One is so important when considering which validator to stake with.
By operating highly reliable validators, Chorus One minimizes slashing risks for its delegators.
A mechanism that automatically reinvests staking rewards into the staked principal, allowing users to earn compound interest without manual intervention.
Not all networks have auto-compounding of staking rewards.
For these networks, it is advisable to find a cadence that works for you to periodically claim and stake the newly earned rewards to maximize your reward potential.
Benefits:
Auto-compounding maximizes yield without additional effort for the user.
This can make networks with this mechanic ideal for long-term stakers.
Staking Pools use a collective staking approach where multiple users combine their tokens to meet the minimum requirements for staking to create accessibility for users who otherwise could not participate and to increase reward efficiency.
Examples:
OPUS Pool — By pooling ETH in a custom solution, Chorus One has created an Ethereum staking solution that allows any user to stake any amount of ETH instead of being limited to quantities of 32 ETH.
Stacks (STX) has a high requirement to stake. By using a STX pool run by Chorus One, users with lower amounts of STX can participate and earn rewards.
Benefits:
Accessibility for for more users leading to more equitable access to rewards potential.
Increased network decentralization.
A staking mechanism that locks liquidity-providing tokens (e.g., LP tokens) in return for network rewards, aligning staking with liquidity provisioning.
Example:
Berachain’s PoL mechanism locks LP tokens in exchange for staking rewards, creating incentives for deep liquidity in its ecosystem.
Benefits:
Encourages liquidity in trading pairs.
Dual rewards from staking and trading fees.
Feel free to reach out to our Support Team if you would like any clarification.
For direct support, please create a ticket on our support platform.
A link for a support request can also be found along the top of this webpage as well as many other Chorus One resources including OPUS Pool, The Chorus One SDK, and our Blog.
Chorus One is one of the largest institutional staking providers globally, operating infrastructure for over 60 Proof-of-Stake (PoS) networks, including Ethereum, Cosmos, Solana, Avalanche, Near, and others.
Since 2018, we have been at the forefront of the PoS industry, offering easy-to-use, enterprise-grade staking solutions, conducting industry-leading research, and investing in innovative protocols through Chorus One Ventures.
As an ISO 27001 certified provider, Chorus One also offers slashing and double-signing insurance to its institutional clients. For more information, visit chorus.one or follow us on LinkedIn, X (formerly Twitter), and Telegram.
You may have heard the term, but what does it mean? Let's dive in.
When assets are staked, they generally can’t be used for other things. This creates some capital inefficiency.
Enter Liquid Staking, a developing in the staking ecosystem that allows staked assets to be leveraged to earn additional yield.
Liquid staking generally works by creating a smart contract that pools the stakeable asset.
The smart contract then stakes these assets with various providers.
The delegator receives a token that represents a claim on the staked assets. This is a token that can be used and transferred without limitations, opening up new possibilities to leverage your staked assets.
These are known as Liquid Staking Tokens (LSTs) or Liquid Staking Derivatives (LSDs) and open up new ways to maximize the benefits of your staked assets.
Liquid staking allows quite a few benefits such as:
Selling the staked asset instantly without going through an unbonding or unstaking period.
Use the asset as collateral to borrow against it.
Providing the staked asset as liquidity in exchanges and earning trading fees as well as staking rewards at the same time.
These are only a few examples of what LSTs can do. There are a variety of DeFi platforms out there where users can get creative with how to maximize the utility of their staked assets.
Restaking refers to using already staked assets (or their derivatives) to secure additional networks or participate in other staking mechanisms, effectively “stacking” staking opportunities.
Example:
EigenLayer or Symbiotic enable restaking of staked osETH through to secure new protocols known as AVS's (Actively Validated Services).
Benefits:
Feel free to reach out to our Support Team if you would like any clarification.
For direct support, please create a ticket on our .
A link for a support request can also be found along the top of this webpage as well as many other Chorus One resources including , , and .
Chorus One is one of the largest institutional staking providers globally, operating infrastructure for over 60 Proof-of-Stake (PoS) networks, including Ethereum, Cosmos, Solana, Avalanche, Near, and others.
Since 2018, we have been at the forefront of the PoS industry, offering easy-to-use, enterprise-grade staking solutions, conducting industry-leading research, and investing in innovative protocols through Chorus One Ventures.
As an ISO 27001 certified provider, Chorus One also offers slashing and double-signing insurance to its institutional clients. For more information, visit or follow us on , , and .
Enhanced security for emerging networks and bootstrapping potential.
Considerations:
However, in some cases this can lead to Increased risks since slashing could impact the same asset across multiple protocols.
LSTs are tokens that represent staked assets in a liquid form. They allow users to continue earning staking rewards while maintaining the flexibility to trade, transfer, or use the tokens in other DeFi applications.
Use Case:
If you stake ETH on a liquid staking platform like OPUS Pool, you receive osETH, which can be used across certain DeFi protocols while your original ETH remains staked.
Alternatively, it can be restaked to a protocol like EigenLayer or Symbiotic.
Benefits:
Liquidity for staked assets.
Access to DeFi opportunities like lending, borrowing, and trading.
Continued earning of staking rewards.
LSDs are a subtype of LSTs that represent not only the staked asset but also the accumulated staking rewards.
This means the value of the LSD increases over time, reflecting both the staked amount and the rewards earned.
Example:
With rETH from Rocket Pool, the token’s value grows as staking rewards are added, eliminating the need for separate reward distribution.
Benefits:
Simplicity in managing staking rewards.
This can be better suited for long-term holding in DeFi strategies.
It can help reduce operational complexities for liquid staking platforms.
A comprehensive overview of StakeWise V3
Jordan Sutcliffe, Head of Business Development at Stakewise, aptly coined StakeWise V3 as the ‘Swiss army knife’ for ETH staking, sparking a flurry of interest from ETH enthusiasts. During the unveiling, the team revealed that the new version opens the doors for anyone capable of running Ethereum validators to engage in liquid staking and receive delegations in a permissionless manner.
This is an approach that aims to welcome a broader range of participants, fostering control and driving decentralization within the Ethereum staking ecosystem.
Delegate ETH to a vault of the node operator(s) of their liking (1st layer)
Giving them the option to mint osETH to represent their stake (2nd layer)
This design enables anyone to join as a solo staker who can mint osETH tokens against their node, or delegate ETH across multiple nodes to counteract network concentration.
Notably, StakeWise v3 introduces a slashing-resistant staked ETH token, osETH, ensuring scalability without introducing systemic risk to the broader ecosystem.
Ethereum was conceived with the mission of building a permissionless, censorship-resistant and financially robust network for value exchange.
The transition to Proof of Stake (PoS) through the Merge aimed to democratize participation, shedding the hardware and compute costs of Proof of Work (PoW). A year on from the Merge, however, centralization remains one of Ethereum’s biggest challenges - ironically, drifting towards the paradox of its own mission statement.
Staking on Ethereum had previously mandated validators to lock up 32 ETH with the network. While this investment yields interest, any misstep or dishonest conduct by a validator can lead to the revocation of funds. Setting up a validator node to stake on the network can also be a complicated task, meaning financial penalties can result if things are set up improperly.
To address this, liquid staking protocols emerged as intermediaries, enabling solo stakers and institutions to pool their ETH, collectively forming the 32 ETH required for a node.
This innovation democratized ETH staking, allowing nearly anyone to participate. Intermediaries assumed the operational responsibilities, handling the pooling, staking, and technical requirements, while taking a share of the rewards for their efforts.
The drawback of the pre-existing version of StakeWise and its counterparts is simple but crucial.
The absence of technical or capital requirements, the ability to temporarily exit from staking, and the increased efficiency of staked capital presented by liquid staking protocols resonate with depositors to an extent that it leads to a decrease in solo stakers (for example, individuals setting up ETH validators at home).
Over time, this decline can significantly impact Ethereum’s security and decentralization.
To address this, the StakeWise DAO introduced StakeWise V3, its latest version that allows anyone from solo stakers to established node operators to financial institutions to participate.
As a solo staker, one can seamlessly launch their own nodes, mint staked ETH (osETH) tokens against their nodes, or delegate any amount of ETH across multiple nodes to counteract network concentration.
At the heart of StakeWise V3 are ‘Vaults’ - a network of permissionless, non-custodial staking mini pools that anyone can launch on the and receive ETH delegations on their nodes.
Chorus One's MEV Max Vault can be accessed or via .
If you'd like to learn more about what OPUS Pool offers, please refer to .
If you would like to operate your own vault please reach out to us at [email protected]
StakeWise vaults offer the user freedom to stake with whichever vault they want, choosing between vaults run by solo stakers, node operator companies, and groups of solo/commercial operators.
For every 32 ETH of deposits accumulated in a Vault, the Vault operator(s) registers an Ethereum validator in the Beacon Chain and starts staking. The staking rewards belong to the depositors, net of the staking fee charged by the Vault.
Importantly, each of these Vaults is completely unique to the configurations set up by its operator, meaning that the operator can fully customize its vault as per its own design, allowing users to pick a vault based on the features that best suit the depositor.
Essentially, Vaults are completely agnostic to the staking solutions that an operator wants to run - whatever client solutions, KYC features, MEV relays or DVT middleware that the entity wants to run are under their control.
This leads to a very diverse marketplace of staking solutions that users can shop around and choose from.
Moreover, Vault Operators can set their Vault to a private setting, allowing deposits only from addresses whitelisted by the Vault Operator.
This enables use cases like solo stakers depositing ETH into their own Vault and not accepting deposits from others. For instance, compliance-sensitive organizations can create a Vault to enable staking for only a limited number of KYC'd participants.
The osETH Token is a new type of overcollateralized ETH token introduced by v3, which is a liquid ERC-20 representation of staked assets that uses Vault Token(s) as collateral. It can be minted by anyone who has staked ETH into a Vault(s), or can be bought/sold on decentralized exchanges.
Importantly, osETH represents a new type of liquid-staked ETH token that has its value pegged to staked ETH 1:1, but that does not directly pass on the slashing losses to holders, ensuring that all the staking rewards and penalties remain isolated to the individual Vault.
To ensure this, V3 requires >1 ETH for every osETH that stakers in a Vault want to mint.
In the scenario where slashing does occur, there is always a reserve of ETH that absorbs the slashing losses before osETH holders are affected. This protects osETH holders from losing their principal, making osETH a safer option for staking.
Note that the stakers who mint osETH are of the Vaults in which they staked ETH, and excess collateralization makes sure that the other osETH holders are not affected.
StakeWise V3 empowers solo stakers by allowing them to mint osETH tokens against their nodes, providing access to DeFi opportunities while maintaining a non-custodial setup.
Solo stakers can set up private vaults, mint osETH, and even earn additional revenue by hosting validators for other stakers.
Alternatively, public vaults enable solo stakers to accept delegations, maximize their score, and mint osETH based on received vault tokens.
StakeWise V3 caters to users seeking yields by providing osETH tokens, tradable in decentralized exchanges or minted within vaults.
osETH integrates slashing protection, and ensures that staked capital is not co-mingled across funds, thereby offering a less-risky, diverse marketplace for users to mint osETH and use it in DeFi, even allowing users to take advantage of .
Financial institutions typically prefer direct engagement with trusted staking service providers to ensure due diligence and favorable terms.
StakeWise V3 caters to this preference by enabling institutions and exchanges to create private vaults, allowing exclusive collaboration with chosen operators and staking clients.
Vault tokens from staking represent staked ETH, offering institutions the flexibility to enable liquidity and utility within their ecosystem.
Additionally, for broader access to DeFi markets, institutions can mint or permit customers to mint osETH tokens.
In StakeWise V3, operators, whether independent or collaborating with other entities, can establish vaults to accept delegations, allowing depositors to tokenize their staked ETH into osETH.
Operators can choose to keep vaults private or public, showcase strong performance, and enhance their vault Score by taking risk-reducing measures.
As experienced node operators we have established our Ethereum staking solution, utilizing in StakeWise V3, providing individuals access to liquid staking while benefiting from our network expertise and proven MEV strategies.
Our institutional clients also have the option of launching a Dedicated Vault operated by Chorus One which can be private and ring-fenced or open and custom branded to meet your unique needs.
Feel free to reach out to our Support Team if you would like any clarification.
For direct support, please create a ticket on our .
A link for a support request can also be found along the top of this webpage as well as many other Chorus One resources including , , and .
Chorus One is one of the largest institutional staking providers globally, operating infrastructure for over 60 Proof-of-Stake (PoS) networks, including Ethereum, Cosmos, Solana, Avalanche, Near, and others.
Since 2018, we have been at the forefront of the PoS industry, offering easy-to-use, enterprise-grade staking solutions, conducting industry-leading research, and investing in innovative protocols through Chorus One Ventures.
As an ISO 27001 certified provider, Chorus One also offers slashing and double-signing insurance to its institutional clients. For more information, visit or follow us on , , and .
