The NOM contributor workstream on behalf of the Lido Node Operator Subgovernance Group (LNOSG) would like to provide an update regarding the results of the Obol Simple DVT testnet participant evaluations that took place on February 20th, 2024. This evaluation meeting followed the conclusion of the Lido x Obol testnet, wherein Obol’s DVT implementation surpassed all of the minimum performance requirements outlined in the Simple DVT Module Proposal.
The next round of Simple DVT testnets are expected to begin in late March. All solo stakers, community stakers, and professional node operators are welcome to join. See here for more information.
Obol Testnet Participant Evaluation
A total of 214 operators, including 40% of which were solo stakers, participated in the Lido x Obol Simple DVT testnet in November 2023. These participants were sorted into 32 clusters of 7 participants each, with various types of infrastructure configurations and geographic locations. Due to a lack of responsiveness or issues with node configuration, a total of 195 participants completed the testnet from start to finish and were subsequently evaluated by the LNOSG. For more information regarding the testnet process and the results, see the Lido blog or Obol blog posts.
Evaluation Results
During the evaluation discussion, the LNOSG together with testnet coordinators from the Lido DAO NOM Workstream and Obol Labs suggested 161 individual participants across 26 clusters with a 5/7 threshold configuration be onboarded to mainnet Obol clusters in the Simple DVT Module over two Cohorts. The proposed participants include 70 solo stakers, 28 community stakers, 41 professional node operators, and 22 members of the Lido on Ethereum Curated node operator set. Of these participants, 21 were deemed to have shown exceptional performance and are proposed to participate across two clusters.
The candidates proposed by the LNOSG were considered to have shown strong performance, responsiveness, and reliability over the course of the 69 day Lido x Obol testnet. These candidates operate nodes out of 36 countries, utilize diverse infrastructure hosting setups including on-premise, bare metal in a datacenter, and public cloud, and support a wide range of both EL & CL clients.
The compositions of the 26 proposed clusters are designed to minimize latency and support infrastructure diversity. Additionally, all clusters have participants that support a range of EL & CL clients.
The proposed participants have been asked to confirm their desire to join the Simple DVT Operator Set via an Obol cluster. In case they do not reply affirmatively in a timely manner, or for some other reason cannot participate, the LNOSG will make an adjustment to the proposed list and share an update in this thread.
During the final meeting on February 20, 2024, the LNOSG suggested to propose the following Obol based clusters for inclusion into the Lido Simple DVT Module Ethereum protocol:
You can find the full PDF with summary statistics and the LNOSG meeting recordings of the introduction, as well as the audio (video unavailable) for the final conclusion and cluster 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/1I1bEvJXn2b4FPIi1PBrH3UInbM8wb3eU
All participants in the testnet have been emailed notifying them of the results and are welcome to reach out via email to [email protected] for further clarification.
Path to Mainnet
The Simple DVT Module is expected to be deployed to mainnet this week as the on-chain vote has reached quorum (objection period still pending).
Pace of Node Operator Additions
The Simple DVT Module Proposal outlines an initial mainnet stage where 12 clusters for both Obol and SSV Network undergo a 30 day monitoring period with 5 validators.
Clusters 1-12 of the proposed list constitute Cohort 1, while Clusters 13-26 constitute Cohort 2. After the initial 30 day monitoring period, a performance report will be presented to the DAO. If the performance is comparable to other mainnet operators, a proposal will be made to begin the process of adding clusters from Cohort 2 to mainnet and to potentially raise key limits for the existing clusters. The addition of Cohort 2 clusters are not all guaranteed to start at the exact same time, as the pacing may require additional monitoring time.
DAO Discussion Period
A 7 day discussion period is now open for the DAO to discuss the proposed participants for the initial Obol clusters within the Simple DVT module.
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.
If after 7 days, no major changes are required by the DAO, the Simple DVT coordinators from the Lido DAO NOM Workstream and Obol Labs will begin the coordination process with cluster participants.
Next Steps
If no adjustments are required after the week discussion period, the Obol clusters from Cohort 1 will be added to coordination threads and begin the process of verifying addresses and setting up cluster multisigs. The Lido Simple DVT Module Committee will create their entries in the Simple DVT Node Operator Registry via Easy Track, however key limits will not be raised above 0 until Cohort 1 SSV clusters are also prepared to run validators.
The Lido x SSV Network Simple DVT testnet is currently underway and expected to be complete in the next two weeks. Upon the conclusion of the testnet, a follow up blog post presenting cluster performance will be published, and an LNOSG evaluation for SSV participants will take place.
An update will be posted to the research forums before validator key limits are raised for any clusters.
Future Simple DVT Testnets
Another round of Simple DVT testnets are expected to begin in late March. All participants that were not proposed to participate in Cohort 1 or 2 of the Obol trial are welcome to participate, in addition to any other solo stakers, community stakers, or professional node operators. The testnets will be followed by another LNOSG evaluation, whereafter additional participants can be proposed to move forward to mainnet.