Announcement: Onboarding for Ethereum (Wave 5)

Node Operators
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Following the successful launch of Lido V2 and requests from the community to expand the Node Operator set, the Lido Node Operator Subgovernance Group (LNOSG) has suggested to the DAO that an onboarding round should take place for the Lido on Ethereum protocol.

Lido on Ethereum

The last Lido on Ethereum onboarding round (wave 4) was completed in June of 2022, expanding the number of Node Operators participating in the protocol on mainnet to 29. As of the most recent VaNOM release, a majority of these operators now have stake over the 1% soft cap outlined in the Operator Set Strategy.

LoE

With solid staking inflows since the last onboarding round and the successful completion of the Lido V2 Upgrade, the timing is appropriate for another onboarding round.

The general areas that the LNOSG will assess through the application process include:

  • Expertise with validator software and managing validator infrastructure at scale
  • Key Generation and Management
  • Infrastructure and Client Diversity
  • Geographic and Jurisdictional distribution
  • Business Continuity & Disaster Recovery

Factors to Consider:

  • As of Q1, over 50% of validators operated by Node Operators participating in Lido on Ethereum connect to Lighthouse or Prysm and 84.5% connect to Geth. Applicants are encouraged to utilize minority clients that would improve the protocol’s client diversity as outlined in the Operator Set Strategy.
  • As of Q1, 49% of validators operated by Lido Node Operators are based in public cloud providers. Applicants are encouraged to utilize solutions that decrease reliance on public cloud.
  • As of Q1, over 50% of validators operated by Lido Node Operators are located in the EU or the United States. Applicants are encouraged to locate validators in geographies that would further improve Ethereum’s geographic distribution as suggested in the Operator Set Strategy.
  • The Lido V2 upgrade implemented the Staking Router, which will allow for Node Operators to join the operator set in novel ways. It is expected that the protocol will become less reliant on the curated set over the next 12 months as new methods of participation become available.

You can find the Lido Node Operator portal here. This landing page contains information relating to previous and current onboarding rounds, and provides a general summary of the application process for all permissioned networks on which Lido operates.

Applying

If you are a Node Operator interested in joining Lido’s Ethereum Node Operator set, you are invited to submit an application by following the link on the operator portal or directly here.

The LNOSG has proposed a two part process for this onboarding round, with an initial evaluation held limited to return-applicant Node Operators from recent rounds who received high scores in prior Lido on Ethereum LNOSG evaluations.

Return-applicant Node Operators interested in expedited evaluation must apply to Lido on Ethereum Wave 5 by June 26th to be eligible.

Applications for any interested party (returning or new) would still be accepted during this time, and another LNOSG evaluation round would be held in the weeks following with the goal of proposing additional Node Operators to join the set.

If you’ve applied in a previous Lido on Ethereum onboarding round but weren’t selected for the short-list, you may indicate that you have already applied and you will not need to fill out the entire form. Alternatively, you may choose to re-fill out the form in case you wish to add additional details to your application.

Deadline

The application form will be open from June 8 - July 13 23:59 UTC. For those Node Operators that are re-applying, to be eligible for expedited evaluation an application must be submitted by June 26th 23:59 UTC.

Evaluation and Onboarding

Applications will be evaluated by the Lido Node Operator Subgovernance Group (LNOSG) and proposed shortlists will be sent to the DAO for approval. Please note that being shortlisted is not a guarantee that you will be onboarded. The DAO ultimately chooses who will be onboarded, and can modify or reject the proposed list, in the event of DAO and/or community requests to review and propose further options.

Once approved, onboarding new operators usually takes 1-3 weeks, so tentative timing for the new set of operators to be live on mainnet will likely be in August.

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Quick update: clarification has been added to the original post regarding the application window for return-applicant Node Operators interested in expedited onboarding.

Node Operators interested in expedited evaluation must have applied to an onboarding round in the past and re-apply to Lido on Ethereum Wave 5 by June 26th to be eligible.

Node Operators that apply and are not onboarded during stage 1 of the evaluation process will still be eligible during the 2nd stage with an evaluation to take place in late July/early August.

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Quick reminder - the deadline to submit an application for Lido on Ethereum Wave 5 is two weeks from today, July 13.

Thank you to everyone who has submitted an application so far. Contributors from the NOM workstream will be reaching out in the coming weeks to discuss next steps.

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@KimonSh Hi, thanks for the detailed post!

I am Aditya from https://king.super.site. We currently validate 27 networks and would love to get onboarded on Lido.

I just read the blog post and went through all the attached links. I have a few doubts and was wondering if you could help clear them:

  1. In the Lido Operator Set Strategy, it is mentioned that no one node operator should have more than 1% of the total ETH staked via Lido. For this to be true, the number of node operators has to be greater than 100. I see that the number of operators is currently 29, so I was wondering how many validators we are looking to onboard this wave. To hit the 1% per operator mark, we must onboard 71 more operators. However, based on the past waves, it seems like the average onboarding number for new operators per wave is 5 to 7.

  2. Looking at the geographical distribution of the node operators, it seems that the majority of them are being run in just two continents: North America and Europe. Only a little over 3% of the primary nodes are being run outside those two continents. I see this listed in the Lido Operator Set Strategy, but I was wondering how much weight this criterion really holds since the current geographical distribution looks concentrated in a few continents.
    (Just curious as we will be running our infrastructure from India)

  3. We would love to get onboarded and will be filling the form soon too. We were wondering what the process of joining the testnet is and is there anything we can do to increase our chances of selection during evaluation ?

  4. I was reading the FAQs and “proof of team” sparks curiosity in me. Is this just a video call with all the team members, or is it something else? I couldn’t find more info on it.

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Hi Aditya,

Thanks for taking the time to read through the Operator Set Strategy, Validator and Node Operator Metrics, and other docs - appreciate the detailed questions!

  1. A few points here. The scenario you outline with >100 validators would only hold true if the protocol had 100% of total staked Ethereum - it currently has ~ 32%. Nevertheless, this target is being exceeded by a number of Node Operators which is something that is monitored by DAO contributors and publicly reported on the Lido on Ethereum Scorecard. With the Shapella (and Lido V2) upgrades completed, stake inflows have generally increased across the Ethereum protocol which has led to additional NOs exceeding this target. One of the main proposed goals of this onboarding round is to add additional Node Operators so that stake flows to NOs below the 1% soft-cap. The number of NOs onboarded will be a DAO decision, however initial discussions with the LNOSG suggest somewhere in the 5 - 10 range will be suggested across the two shortlists. It’s also important to remember additional modules will allow for stake to be distributed in novel ways in the coming months.

  2. As described in the Factors to Consider portion of the OP, over 50% of validators operated by Lido Node Operators are located in the EU or US. While no single country exceeds 20%, reducing the concentration of validators in these regions is something that I personally believe to be very important (and I believe this is true for most if not all LNOSG participants). I believe this will be an important factor that LNOSG participants consider when going through the evaluation process and consequently in the proposed shortlist to the DAO. There are a number of complications in running infrastructure that maintains liveliness in a cost-effective way in certain geos, but I personally hope to see more validators being run in e.g. Latam, Africa, and Asia after this onboarding round.

  3. The testnet process is generally only for onboarded Node Operators to trial-run setting up their infra before moving to mainnet, however there are opportunities to participate in DVT trials (the next of which will likely start in Q3). You can fill out this form to express interest. In terms of increasing your chances, I would highly suggest reading through the Ethereum onboarding section of the Node Operator Portal. Generally the LNOSG considers factors such as expertise with running validators at scale, key management, infra and client diversity, and geographic distribution when proposing the shortlist to the DAO. As the LNOSG is generally made up of other Node Operators, it is helpful to build a reputation in the space by giving back to the community and ensuring strong performance of the validators that you operate.

  4. During the evaluation process, the LNOSG and NOM Workstream often will host a video call with the applicant teams to dive into the applications and meet the team members.

Thanks again for the questions and hopefully these answers help! If you’d like to discuss in more detail, feel free to respond here or happy to take it offline or to a call if you reach out via email at [email protected].

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Thanks for the detailed answers @KimonSh . Really appreciate it ! I’ll follow up offline about it.

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Reminder, the application deadline for the Lido on Ethereum Wave 5 onboarding round is this Thursday at 23:59 UTC. Please make sure to submit your application before then if you intend to apply.

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The NOM contributor workstream on behalf of the Lido Node Operator Subgovernance Group (LNOSG) would like to provide an update regarding the results for Stage 1 of the Lido on Ethereum Wave 5 Onboarding LNOSG evaluations that took place Tuesday, July 11th.

Onboarding Round Update

As a reminder, Lido on Ethereum Wave 5 Onboarding is being held in two separate stages. Stage 1 includes a limited number of return-applicant Node Operators that reapplied and had previously been assessed high scores by the LNOSG. Stage 2 includes all non-shortlisted Stage 1 candidates, in addition to all other applicants across both stages.

As of the Stage 1 application deadline, 66 applications were received, 14 of which were eligible for Stage 1 evaluations. While the deadline to apply for Lido on Ethereum Wave 5 is Thursday July 13th, the total number of applicants currently stands at 100.

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Evaluation Results

During the evaluation discussion, the LNOSG suggested two applicants should be proposed for the Stage 1 shortlist for onboarding onto Lido on Ethereum.

The two shortlist candidates proposed by the LNOSG were deemed to appropriately reflect the onboarding goals outlined in the Lido Operator Set Strategy and the “Factors to Consider ‘’ section of the onboarding announcement.

Shortlisted applicants have been asked to confirm their desire to join the Lido on Ethereum operator set. In case they do not reply affirmatively in a timely manner, or for some other reason cannot join this round, they will not be onboarded and will need to re-apply in a future round.

With a record number of applications received for this onboarding round, the LNOSG suggested a smaller number of Node Operators should be onboarded during Stage 1 to give fair opportunity to new applicants during the Stage 2 evaluations.

Tentatively scheduled for the end of August, Stage 2 will include evaluations for over 90 Node Operators, with the mainnet onboarding optimistically complete by mid-September.

During the meeting on July 11, 2023, the LNOSG suggested to propose the following applicants for inclusion into the node operator set for the Ethereum protocol:

Shortlist (in alphabetical order):

Launchnodes Limited

SenseiNode Inc

You can find the full PDF with summary statistics and the recordings of the introduction and conclusion to the LNOSG evaluation meeting in the public drive below. Due to the privileged/confidential nature of some of the information provided in some of the applications, the portion of the call where applications were discussed in detail was not recorded.

https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/folders/1C2WKe37YkaFAXo1Dk3gHcq0jMnVgkQ8p

Both shortlisted and non-shortlisted applicants have been emailed notifying them of the results. Non-shortlisted Stage 1 candidates have also been reminded that their applications will be re-assessed during Stage 2. If for some reason you were notified that you were part of the Stage 1 evaluations but did not receive an email, please reach out to [email protected].

Governance voting

A snapshot will be proposed in the coming days and the link will be added here: The snapshot will be for the inclusion of the 2 (or fewer, in case applicants cannot continue) Ethereum Operators. Should the DAO disagree with any of the proposed applicants, request additional information, or otherwise request additional input for the onboarding, the LNOSG will reconvene to propose a next course of action.

Next Steps

Following DAO approval (or during the vote optimistically so that teams can execute faster), the NOM workstream will collaborate with the respective teams to onboard the new node operators onto relevant communication channels and prepare operators for inclusion onto mainnet by completing preparatory work on the Goerli testnet. The estimated timeline for the two potential new node operators to be fully on mainnet is mid August.

Stage 2 evaluations are likely to take place at the end of August, with all new Node Operators from Wave 5 onboarded by mid-late September.

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The NOM contributor workstream, @KimonSh, thanks you so much for organizing the process and follow up here! The shortlisted applicants will really improve and diversify the current Lido on Ethereum Node Operator sets, both geographical and client software perspectives.
Looking forward to the voting phase!

Tbh, I am excited and scared of the amount of applicants at the same time. May the force be with us for Stage 2 evaluation :facepunch:t3:

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Snapshot vote started

The Should the Lido DAO add the 2 shortlisted Ethereum operators to the Lido on Ethereum operator set? Snapshot has started! Please cast your votes before Thu, 27 Jul 2023 18:00:00 GMT :pray:

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Snapshot vote ended

The Should the Lido DAO add the 2 shortlisted Ethereum operators to the Lido on Ethereum operator set? Snapshot has passed! :partying_face:
The results are:
For: 53.9M LDO
Against: 303 LDO

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a. Node Operator Registry Name: SenseiNode
b. NOR Address: 0xE556Da28015c04F35A52B3111B9F4120E908056e
c. Link to the Tweet: https://twitter.com/SenseiNode/status/1687535700000833553
d. Link to etherscan or hash of verification message: Ethereum Transaction Hash (Txhash) Details | Etherscan

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a. Node Operator Registry Name: Launchnodes
b. NOR Address: 0x5a8B929EDBf3CE44526465DD2087EC7EFB59A561
c. Link to the Tweet: https://twitter.com/launchnodes/status/1688501631988473856?s=20
d. Link to etherscan or hash of verification message: Ethereum Transaction Hash (Txhash) Details | Etherscan

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The On-chain vote to onboard SenseiNode and Launchnodes is over and enacted! :tada:

Results:

  • For 55,279,179.485
  • Against 0.

Thank you for participating!

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Stage 2 Update: The LNOSG met today to discuss the Stage 2 applicants to the Lido on Ethereum Wave 5 Onboarding round and come to consensus on a final shortlist proposal. Due to the number of applications that are being considered and discussion that took place on the call regarding the initial scores, the LNOSG determined that another call will be required before a final shortlist can be proposed to the DAO. This will provide more time for LNOSG members to consider all of the applications received and the feedback from other evaluators during the call.

The LNOSG expects to meet next week with the goal of coming to consensus on a shortlist proposal to the DAO. An update will follow late next week to discuss the outcome of the meeting.

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The NOM contributor workstream on behalf of the Lido Node Operator Subgovernance Group (LNOSG) would like to provide an update regarding the results for Stage 2 of the Lido on Ethereum Wave 5 Onboarding LNOSG evaluations that took place over two meetings (on Wednesday August 30th and Tuesday September 5th, 2023).

Onboarding Round Update

At the Stage 2 application deadline, a total of 117 applications were received, and 111 were eligible for evaluation when taking into account duplicate applications and the 2 Node Operators onboarded during Stage 1.

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Evaluation Results

During the evaluation discussion, the LNOSG suggested 7 applicants should be proposed for the Stage 2 shortlist for onboarding onto Lido on Ethereum, in addition to the 2 Node Operators onboarded during Stage 1. A total of 9 Node Operators are being proposed for onboarding during the Wave 5 evaluation.

The 7 additional shortlist candidates proposed by the LNOSG were deemed to appropriately reflect the onboarding goals outlined in the Lido Operator Set Strategy and the “Factors to Consider’’ section of the onboarding announcement.

The operators proposed for onboarding are running active mainnet validators, using a diverse mix of execution layer and consensus layer clients, using non-public cloud hosting for their primary infrastructure, and generally running validators out of underrepresented geographies.

Shortlisted applicants have been asked to confirm their desire to join the Lido on Ethereum operator set. In case they do not reply affirmatively in a timely manner, or for some other reason cannot join this round, they will not be onboarded and will need to re-apply in a future round.

In the case of a shortlisted applicant being unable to join the set, an additional applicant was selected by the LNOSG as a wait-listed candidate that will be proposed to the DAO as a replacement only in the event that not all of the 7 proposed operators are able to move forward.

With a record number of applications received for this onboarding round, the LNOSG evaluation process was extremely competitive. In the near future, it is possible that additional methods of running validators using the Lido protocol will become available. Non-shortlisted candidates are encouraged to continue monitoring Lido communication channels and sign up for future initiatives such as Lido DVT testing.

During the final meeting on September 5, 2023, the LNOSG suggested to propose the following applicants for inclusion into the node operator set for the Ethereum protocol:

Shortlist (in alphabetical order):

A41 (a4x Inc.)

Develp GmbH (Nimbus)

Ebunker

Gateway.fm AS

Numic (a brand of QUTY Group Pty Ltd, ACN 634265204)

ParaFi Technologies LLC

RockawayX Infra

You can find the full PDF with summary statistics and the LNOSG meeting recordings of the introduction and conclusion of the first meeting, as well as the final conclusion and shortlist proposal in the public drive below. Due to the privileged/confidential nature of some of the information provided in some of the applications, the portion of the call where applications were discussed in detail was not recorded.

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/14gzDp3tXilGZazyXCEVejxvxbLW656kP

Shortlisted and non-shortlisted applicants have been emailed notifying them of the results and are welcome to reach out via email to [email protected] for further clarification.

Governance voting

A snapshot will be proposed in the coming days and the link will be added here: The snapshot will be for the inclusion of the 7 (or fewer, in case applicants cannot continue) Ethereum Operators. Should the DAO disagree with any of the proposed applicants, request additional information, or otherwise request additional input for the onboarding, the LNOSG will reconvene to propose a next course of action.

Next Steps

Following DAO approval (or during the vote optimistically so that teams can execute faster), the NOM workstream will collaborate with the respective teams to onboard the new node operators onto relevant communication channels and prepare operators for inclusion onto mainnet by completing preparatory work on the Goerli testnet. The estimated timeline for the seven potential new node operators to be fully on mainnet is late September.

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If no objection arises on the forum, the Snapshot to onboard new NOs will start on Monday, September 11th.

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Snapshot vote started

The Should the Lido DAO add the 7 shortlisted Ethereum operators to the Lido on Ethereum operator set? Snapshot has started! Please cast your votes before Mon, 18 Sep 2023 14:00:00 GMT :pray:

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Snapshot vote ended

Thank you all who participated in the Should the Lido DAO add the 7 shortlisted Ethereum operators to the Lido on Ethereum operator set? Snapshot, the proposal passed! :pray:
The results are:
For: 62.3M LDO
Against: 4.2k LDO

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