PERCH Proposal: Request for Node Operators to opt-in to mev-commit

Department of Decentralisation
7

Hey Everyone! After discussion with the Lido team, we have agreed on the below details in order to enable greater testing and support of mev-commit by Lido operators. The below pillars of participation ensure the community has visibility, operators have clarity, and Lido can move forward with a governance-backed framework for participation in mev-commit on mainnet. We summarize the key benefits for Stakers and Lido, and dive further into them in the below details:

Benefits for stETH Holders

  • Economic upside: Direct ETH rewards plus protocol token claims to ETH revenue.

  • Risk minimization: Low collateral, blockbuilder-first slashing design.

  • Transparency: Governance-defined rewards router ensures stakers are primary beneficiaries.

Benefits for Lido

  • Strategic alignment: Advances the reGOOSE roadmap on preconfirmations.

  • Positioning: Leverages the only production-proven fair-exchange solution.

  • Clarity & Safety: Simple onboarding with independent risk validation.

Two Pillars easing Lido Participation

Lido validator participation in mev-commit can be enabled through two key mechanisms:

  1. Lido Reputation Vault – allowing reputable operators to onboard with minimal collateral requirements while ensuring accountability.

  2. Lido Rewards Router – enabling Lido to define and enforce an on-chain, verifiable framework for distributing rewards (e.g. directly to stETH holders).

Together, these provide a safe, flexible, and governance-conforming path for Lido operators to participate in mev-commit while keeping incentives transparent and aligned with Lido’s goals.

mev-commit Recap

  • Proven mainnet performance:

  • Testnet adoption:

    • Extensive Holesky testnet participation (50,000+ validators, ~20% share).

    • Now active on Hoodi testnet, integrated with Lido v3, SSV bApps, Obol DV, and more.

  • Transparency:

  • Independent validation:

    • Third-party risk assessment by Chaos Labs confirms safety of Primev’s reputation vault design (risk analysis).

Pillar 1: Validator Onboarding via Reputation Vaults

Instead of requiring large collateral structures designed for permissionless registry, Lido operators can register under a dedicated registry with just 1 ETH or stETH/wstETH. Supporting stETH/wstETH aligns incentives with Lido stakers, while accountability is maintained through on-chain mechanisms. This design removes friction for Lido operators while ensuring that network safety is preserved, since slashing risk is primarily borne by blockbuilders.

Two vault options available:

  • Vanilla mev-commit registry contracts, or

  • Symbiotic reputation vaults (live, with multiple operators — including Lido node operators — already using them).

  • Node Operators (NOs) can onboard any number of validators with 1 ETH/stETH/wstETH collateral per operator (technical documentation).

  • This design is possible because mev-commit’s blockbuilder-first architecture shifts slashing risk primarily to blockbuilders, not validators.

  • Primev provides operational support to remediate misconfigurations before any slash occurs.

  • Reputation vaults allow the whitelisting and tracking operator participation in a transparent, on-chain way.

Pillar 2: Lido Rewards Router to standardize a Rewards Split Framework

The mev-commit rewards contract introduces a flexible but enforceable way for Lido to govern how mev-commit derived rewards are distributed. By defining a single standardized ruleset through a Lido Rewards Router contract, Lido can mandate that operators route rewards in a way that aligns directly with community goals such as ensuring that value flows transparently to stETH holders and Lido fee recipients. This mechanism provides both clarity and verifiability on-chain, while remaining adaptable for governance to update over time.

  • The mev-commit rewards contract was recently finalized through an audit competition (https://cantina.xyz/competitions/217af22c-957e-4c13-bc2a-1d5255e72309?utm_source=x&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=september)

  • Lido can:

    • Define a Lido-wide ruleset for reward distribution.

    • Mandate operators to integrate this rewards contract upon onboarding.

    • Verify adherence on-chain, ensuring transparency.

  • Rewards can be programmatically distributed directly to stETH holders, Lido fee recipients, or other beneficiaries as defined by governance, including custom splits.

  • Flexible for future changes, with multisig or other primitives layered in if desired.

This can be done by deploying a Lido-specific Rewards Router contract that abides by the defined ruleset, and having operators point rewards to this contract upon registry through the mev-commit validator dashboard. Afterwards, any chain explorer such as Etherscan can be used to verify operator adherence by checking the rewards contract or checking the rewards accrual through the Lido Rewards Router. Primev is happy to assist in developing this Rewards Router contract in conjunction with Lido.

Secondary Capabilities

1. Validator Re-Registry / Migration

  • Will enable validator key rotation, migration, or operator churn. To be available after the two main pillars.

  • Provides long-term operational flexibility without changing vaults or rewards rules.

2. mev-commit Points Program (Mainnet Only)

  • Running since early 2025, with 18-month accrual windows per validator opt-in.

  • Operators who have earned points will be able to claim:

    • Network tokens upon full decentralization of the mev-commit chain.

    • Tokens will enable claims to ETH accruing in the protocol treasury, scaling with adoption.

  • Provides upside incentives for both operators and stETH holders who participate early.

Next Steps and Action Items for Operators - HOODI TESTNET

Details: Lido Opt-in - Documentation

Operators are expected to:

  1. Use this Google Form to submit your operator name and address for whitelisting: https://forms.gle/GrN3XfYnz42nasn66

  2. After whitelisting, use this contract: https://hoodi.etherscan.io/address/0x736fcbDc59b633d8c7DD7fE4F097520A202199cf#cod and write directly to the contract as proxy via the ‘addStake’ method to:
    a) deposit 1 (one) Hoodi ETH and
    b) list the PubKeys of all validators that you wish to register without quotes or brackets, just comma separated. (Ie. 0xkey1, 0xkey2, 0xkey3, etc.)

  3. Join our dedicated Lido Coordination Telegram group for updates and communication: https://t.me/±aiQNWqjZRQ1OWJh

The entire process can be done in less than 5 minutes and requires no new software. We reiterate that there is no validator sidecar or software specific to mev-commit as it’s designed to be a layer on mev-boost.

Benefits for Lido and Stakers upon Mainnet Approval

This proposal aligns with Lido’s reGOOSE proposal, where preconfirmations are identified as a strategic priority. Raising mev-commit participation through governance and testing ensures that operator onboarding is transparent, DAO-controlled, and designed with staker interests at the center.

The framework delivers clear advantages anchored in the two pillars:

  • Lido-specific Reputation Vault: Simple, collateral-light onboarding (1 ETH or stETH/wstETH per operator) with transparent, on-chain accountability.

  • Lido Rewards Router: Directs rewards in a governance-defined, verifiable manner — ensuring stETH stakers and fee recipients remain the primary beneficiaries.

For stakers, this means minimized risk through low collateral requirements, direct receipt of ETH rewards, and additional upside via protocol tokens that entitle them to treasury claims as mev-commit decentralizes.

For Lido as a protocol, it ensures strategic positioning in Ethereum’s emerging preconfirmation layer while maintaining strong DAO oversight. With Ethereum’s upcoming Fusaka upgrade (Nov 2025) expected to scale block gas limits and reduce transaction costs, mev-commit provides the complementary mechanism for low-latency, fair-exchange execution on Ethereum mainnet and is currently the only protocol with a live, production-proven solution to the fair-exchange problem. Together, these developments will allow Ethereum to scale transaction capacity without compromising UX, strengthening its role as the leading platform for DeFi, stablecoins, and token issuance.

Conclusion

We urge the Lido community to begin testing, engage on the specifics of the pillars detailed above, and consider placing mev-commit mainnet on the track for approval for Lido and stakers to be best positioned to reap compounding rewards.

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