1) Identification
Northstake
Northstake is a regulated institutional staking infrastructure provider headquartered in Copenhagen, Denmark (FTID: 17520). We operate an enterprise-grade ETH Validator Marketplace and staking infrastructure for regulated financial institutions, custodians, asset managers, and ETF/ETP issuers.
Our platform enables compliant staking, validator lifecycle orchestration, and staking liquidity solutions via UI, API and SDK, with a strong emphasis on operational transparency, AML/KYC compliance, and regulatory reporting.
We are applying for stVault Professional Operator status to support the growth and institutional adoption of Lido V3 stVaults by enabling compliant institutional Ethereum staking with deep DeFi liquidity via stETH.
Northstake is a Lido Institutional contributor and a Lido Simple DVT operator (Honest Hoopoe). Our partners include node operators, custodians, liquidity providers and asset managers.
We intend to continue our support for Lido stETH institutional adoption by facilitating compliant and enterprise access to stVaults incorporating compliance requirements and customisable validator and operator parameters.
Primary Contacts:
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Entity: Northstake ApS
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Website: northstake.dk
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Headquarter: Copenhagen, Denmark
2) Business Case
Operator Type Request: stVault Tier 1 Professional Operator
Northstake’s mission is to bridge institutional requirements with decentralized staking primitives combining a compliance backbone with robust protocol liquidity and security. Through the integration of Lido V3 stVaults into our Staking Vault Manager (SVM) platform, we enable regulated institutions to stake ETH with segregated vaults operated by identified node operators, retaining both capital efficiency and operational control.
Northstake offers UI, API and SDK for clients to easily interact with Lido V3 stVaults, while allowing institional stakers the capability to operate multi-vendor staking models that leverages stETH for liquidity.
Key differentiators of our business case include:
- Institutional Compliance & Risk-Aligned Design
Northstake’s infrastructure and processes are built for regulated clients offering AML/KYC adherence, audit readiness, asset segregation, and compliance reporting that align with institutional requirements and custody risk frameworks.
- Enterprise-Grade Staking Orchestration
Our SVM platform provides a unified interface for stVault orchestration across multiple node operators and validator sets, making it easier for institutions to deploy, monitor and scale staking strategies while integrating with existing workflows leveraging our UI, API or SDK.
This facilitates distribution to Northstake’s existing node operator partners while meeting client’s growing demand for multi-vendor staking models.
Our API and SDK enables node operators, custodians and clients to adopt stVaults at an accelerated pace cutting timelines down to a few weeks.
- Liquidity & Capital Efficiency via stETH
By leveraging stVaults, institutions gain access to Lido’s liquid staking token (stETH), enhanced by Northstake’s existing liquidity partnerships and settlement partners.
Business case
Market sizing and clients
Northstake has existing partnerships and relationships with North American, European and Nordic asset managers, digital asset treasury (DATs) companies, banks and credit institutions.
| Segment | Approx. ETH Held | % of Circulating Supply |
|---|---|---|
| Spot Ethereum ETFs (global) | ~6.8 M ETH | ~5.6 % |
| DATs / Corporate Treasuries | ~4.5–5.7 M ETH | ~4 – 4.7 % |
The two market segments combined are approx. 10-12 mill. ETH in total serviceable market.
Our joint business development work with Lido Institutional, node operators and liquidity providers has a proven track record for building solutions for regulated institutional stakers (see links).
We will continue our business development work towards institutional segments with Lido V3 being the primary value proposition.
Primary segments, channel and partners
We will target a growing pipeline of ETH ETFs (US, Canadian and European), Digital Asset Treasury companies (North American), Asset Managers (US and Canadian), Banks (Nordic, EU and Luxembourg and Swiss-based) and credit organisations (US, EU and UK-based)
We will be operating through direct channels and network while in close coordination with the Lido Institutional team.
Secondary segments, channel and partners
We will grow a pipeline with existing node operators and custodians targeting both institutional clients (primary segment) and hedge funds, crypto treasuries, HNWI and family offices.
We will operate through indirect channels supporting our partners (node operators and custodians) on integration of our SVM API (Lido V3) and business development activities to support uptake on stVaults and ultimately stETH/wsteth.
3) Operations & Decentralization Posture
Northstake can operate validator infrastructure directly as a node operator; however, we intend to enable institutional clients to allocate ETH across a diverse set of identified stVault node operators selected by clients according to institutional compliance criteria and risk parameters.
When Northstake operates validators, it is in a high-availability validator setup with proven client, infrastructure, and geographic diversity.
Client Mix & Versions
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Execution layer (EL): Geth, Reth
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Consensus layer (CL): Lighthouse, Prysm
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DVT – SSV: CL: Teku, EL: Geth
Infrastructure Footprint & Geography
Infrastructure and footprint
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DVT-SSV validators run on Google Cloud Platform (GCP US)
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Execution and beacon nodes run on VMs with strict firewall. No cryptographic credentials. Setup with redundancy (hot standby).
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Validator clients are not directly accessible for security reasons.
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Validator clients access validator keys from key vaults
Geography
- Northstake operates validators on dedicated servers in North America and EU with multiple providers (cloud and bare-metal), and intends to expand its infrastructure footprint to Middle East/UAE (VARA/Dubai/Abu Dhabi)
Key Management & Security
- Validator keys are protected using key vaults
MEV Posture
- We subscribe to OFAC compliant MEV Relays
Monitoring
- Prometheus and Grafana for infrastructure monitoring and validator performance monitoring (24/7)
Security controls
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Network security: All VMs are protected by firewall and accessed only using VPN
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Audit trail: All operations and logins are logged for audit and compliance purposes.
4) Licenses and Audits and Links
Links
Northstake Official Site: https://www.northstake.dk/
Northstake Ă— Lido stVaults Blog: https://blog.lido.fi/lido-v3-northstake-simplifying-institutional-ethereum-staking-with-stvaults/
Northstake stVaults Press Release: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/northstake-adopt-lidos-stvaults-bringing-110000953.html
Northstake and 3iQ: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/northstake-launches-eth-validator-marketplace-as-3iq-commits-to-stake-80-of-its-assets-unlocking-institutional-eth-total-returns-302304092.html
Northstake and Moody's Ratings: https://www.moodys.com/research/Digital-Economy-Bits-Bytes-Basis-Points-Ethereums-evolution-a-Sector-Interview--PBC_1456738#4a148f5478576003b0c456ca4ab82a36
Licenses and audits
- Northstake is ISAE3402 - SOC type 1 and 2 compliant (auditor EY and Beierholm)
- Northstake is a Virtual Asset Service Provider and EU MiCA compliant under Danish FSA (FTID: 17520)