Anticipating the mainnet launch of the Simple DVT module, Lido contributors invite proposals from software providers specializing in node/validator setup to enhance their existing tools by incorporating a user-friendly pathway for community stakers to engage with the Simple DVT module. For more details follow the Request for Proposal | CSM and SDVTM integration.
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Hello everyone, the following post contains an update on the status of the ongoing Simple DVT testnets with Obol and SSV Network. It also contains additional information related to the processes currently being used on the Holesky testnet, which are intended to be replicated on mainnet.
One recurring challenge faced, that will be mentioned in this update and discussed more extensively in future blogs posts, was an underappreciated lack of battle-tested community infrastructure for the Holesky testnet at the beginning of both the Lido Obol and SSV testnets. This includes key infrastructure such as SAFE, MEV-Boost, and relay infrastructure that, while well-established on the Goerli testnet, were only deployed on Holesky near the same time the trials began (some of which was supported by LEGO in order for it to happen), causing some issues.
Nevertheless, the overall testnet process to date for both Obol and SSV has gone smoothly (or as smoothly as coordinating with hundreds of participants running 448 nodes can be); with hundreds of individuals and organizations participating, there’s clear enthusiasm to move forward to mainnet.
The Simple DVT module represents the fastest way to enable hundreds of net-new Node Operators to use the protocol in 2024. Should the DAO vote to deploy the module to mainnet in Q1, the protocol could see 100+ net new Node Operators using the Lido protocol to run validators in less than three months.
As a reminder, the Simple DVT Module Proposal calls for a 30 - 45 day monitoring period. For both the Obol and SSV tesnets, the best consecutive performance of 30 - 45 days starting from the activation of validators or for the time period prior to the exit of validators will be used as the performance result and compared to the outlined benchmarks of Uptime of at least 95%, Block Proposal Success Rate of 70%, and Attestation Effectiveness per Rated Network comparable of that with the broader Holesky validator set.
Obol
The Obol testnet began on November 3rd comprising 32 clusters with a 5/7 threshold configuration, with a total of 214 total participants.
In some cases, cluster participants were replaced due to backing out or lack of adequate presence. After going through the validator setup process and running the nodes for ~8 weeks, a total of 196 individuals and organizations are expected to have participated in the full testnet process. This near final count of participants includes over 100 solo and community stakers.
Each of the 32 clusters initially started with 5 validators and, after a performance monitoring period, key limits were raised to 50 validators each. During the subsequent monitoring period, it was observed that while Uptime and Attestation Effectiveness were well above the network benchmarks, the Block Proposal success rate was lagging below the 70% threshold set during the original module proposal. At this point, analysis of the missed proposals identified four issues: 1. General NO misconfigurations, 2. Cluster latency, and two issues related to the early-stage nature of Holesky deployments, 3. Issues with Holesky relays, and 4. Lack of MEV-Boost support.
Shortly after the commencement of the testnet, the Obol team deployed an upgraded version of Charon, v0.18.0, that included support for MEV-boost (vs. prior direct connection to relays via the CL client) and began troubleshooting with the relay teams.
Concurrently, one of the clusters, Glacial Gull, had two members leave the testing round. It was determined at that time that the validators from the cluster should be exited and re-created via DKG with replacement members. The Crimson Coyote cluster also had a member leave the testnet, though the cluster continued to run with 6 participants.
Following a Charon upgrade which improved Block Proposals success rate, and further performance analysis, the validator limits for the vast majority of clusters were raised to 100 validators, while the Glacial Gull and Crimson Coyote clusters remained at 50 validators.
Over the course of December and early January, improvement was observed in the aggregate Block Proposal Success Rate, and for the 45 day monitoring period of November 28th - January 11, the metric stands at 71.2%. In the 7 days prior to this post going live, the daily aggregate Block Proposal Success Rate has remained at 85% or above for 6/7 days.
The first Obol cluster was exited on January 12th, and the remaining Obol testnet participants will begin exiting validators and testing the staking reward claiming process later this week.
An extensive update regarding the trial will be posted on https://blog.lido.fi/ in the following weeks.
SSV Network
The SSV testnet began on November 22nd and includes 32 clusters with a 5/7 threshold configuration, and a total of 192 participants.
During the end of November and early December, clusters coordinated to create Holesky SAFEs representing their clusters in the Simple DVT Node Operator Registry and participants set up their SSV Operators and DKG nodes. Unfortunately, due to infrastructure and tooling issues on Holesky due to its recent deployment, an issue was discovered between Holesky SAFE, Walletconnect on Holesky, and the SSV Webapp. Due to the timing of the holidays, the testnet was put on pause until January 3rd. As of today, 175 individuals and organizations are participating in the resumed testnet.
Over the break, SSV deployed an upgrade to their DKG tooling that significantly improves the efficiency of the process for participants. Over the following weeks, Node Operators updated their DKG nodes and clusters began the DKG process and key submission to the Simple DVT Node Operator registry for their initial 5 validators. So far 26 of 32 clusters have had 5 validators deposited to, and the remainder are expected to be running by the end of the week.
More information regarding the SSV testnet and cluster performance will be shared in the coming weeks, and an extensive blog post will be published at the conclusion of the testnet.
Simple DVT Process Updates
Simple DVT Module Committee
As described in the Simple DVT Module proposal, the “Simple DVT Module Committee” is a multi-sig committee responsible for creating and executing Easy Track motions specifically for Simple DVT that can create new clusters, activate and deactivate existing clusters, raise and lower cluster key limits, and change cluster manager and reward addresses.
The Simple DVT Module Committee will be made up of contributors from the Lido DAO, Lido Node Operator Sub-governance Group, Obol, and SSV Network DAO. The multi-sig is expected to consist of: two Lido DAO contributors, three LNOSG contributors, one Obol contributor, one SSV contributor. In the coming weeks, the participants for this multisig will be shared according to the processes outlined in the Lido DAO Ops Multisig Policy.
The Easy Track optimistic governance process allows for streamlined execution of processes related to the operations of what will potentially be 40-80 mainnet Simple DVT clusters in 2024. On mainnet, a 72 hour objection period exists for LDO voters to veto any active motions related to these cluster operations by using the Simple DVT EasyTrack smart contract, with an optional UI also available.
Simple DVT Reward Distribution
Each cluster participant submits their “Individual Manager Address” (1) and “Individual Reward Address” (2) during the cluster setup phase, from which (1) cluster specific multi-sigs representing their Cluster Node Operator entries are generated and (2) reward splitter contracts are deployed.
To simplify the reward claiming process for Simple DVT Node Operators, both the Obol and SSV Network clusters will utilize two sets of smart contracts: 1. a wrapper developed by Obol that wraps stETH rewards into wstETH, charges an (optional) fee, and sends the remainder of the wstETH to the next smart contract, 2. An 0xsplits set of smart contracts that allows for the distribution of rewards between participants. The Obol wrapper contract was audited by a solo auditor (obol-splits/audit at main · ObolNetwork/obol-splits · GitHub), and the Obol team plans to undergo an additional audit of the contract in the coming months.
A wrapper contract is created via the ObolLidoSplit factory and this contract is specified as each cluster’s reward address. This contract is responsible for wrapping stETH rewards to wstETH and when applicable, gives the DVT provider their reward share. This contract can be called by anyone, and will transfer wstETH to a split contract created via another factory (the main 0xsplit contract), from where each individual cluster participant can claim.
During the third round of testnets to date, the Obol team has deployed the splitter contracts for the Obol testnet, and Lido DAO contributors have deployed the contracts for the SSV testnet.
Additional updates regarding the status of the testnets, cluster performance, the Simple DVT Module Committee, and reward distribution will follow in the coming weeks.
Finally, the fourth round of Lido DVT Testnets for interested participants of the mainnet Simple DVT module is expected to commence in late February/March. If you are interested in participating, please fill out this form: https://forms.gle/Akq7poKXF7p7x6QU9
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Since my last update, the SSV network has successfully transitioned to a permissionless network. To support this effort, the SSV smart contracts have undergone updates, most notably the removal of their previous permissioned restrictions, enhanced support for in-protocol validator exits and addressed bug fixes identified through the ongoing bug bounty program.
As a result, a new audit have been issued and completed, and full audit reports could be accessed here .
With this update, the SSV network renews their commitment to their outmost transparency to keep the Lido community informed by sharing each new audit report, not only for this recent change but also for any future updates throughout the life cycle of the Simple DVT module clusters.
Furthermore, there are additional updates in the work, primarily focused on enabling bulk operations for validators, such as registration, removal, and exits. Once these updates are finalized, SSV would conduct a new audit, and the results will be shared right here.
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We’re pretty excited to share some thoughts following the recent conclusion of the first wave of the Obol SimpleDVT testnet. It’s been a rewarding journey, and we’re happy to see we hit our performance targets. We’ll be releasing an in-depth report soon highlighting some of the issues faced and here is a quick overview:
- Node Configurations: Charon, as a middleware, offers unparalleled composability. We’re pleased to confirm that Charon itself exhibited no inherent flaws. However, the testnet highlighted challenges in node configurations, stressing the need for operators to tailor these settings instead of blindly relying on our template demo repo. Our commitment to decentralization means empowering operators with the knowledge to configure their nodes effectively, preventing Obol from becoming a centralizing force. We will intensify our efforts to educate the market on optimal configurations and invest in diversifying DV setups as much as feasible.
- Latency Challenges: We observed latency issues, particularly for operators in Asia and Australia proposing blinded blocks. We plan to provide detailed guidelines on acceptable latency levels to optimize operator pairings based on geographical proximity. We also noticed that solo stakers sometimes faced additional latency challenges, possibly due to ISP limitations.
- MEV-Boost and Relay Integration: The integration of MEV-Boost and relays, particularly with the new and evolving support on Holesky, was an area of active experimentation. While a detailed report will follow, preliminary findings indicate potential configuration optimizations to mitigate latency. The disparity in relay proximity and performance also offered insights, which will be crucial as we refine DVT’s synergy with MEV in a more developed and stable mainnet environment.
- Hardware Considerations: Holesky’s high validator count revealed that some participants’ hardware (particularly those using virtual cloud servers and those using HDDs rather than SSDs) was not sufficient, contributing to syncing difficulties, latency and missed duties. This aspect will be an important consideration in future deployments.
- Optimizing the Lido Exit Sidecar: The testnet was the first deployment of the Lido exit sidecar which yielded significant optimization learnings, which we intend to apply not only to this specific use case but also to generalize for broader pre-signed exit use cases.
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Just bumping this as the interest form will close soon!
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Hi everyone! The next step for the Simple DVT module proposal is on-chain voting.
A separate post provides a comprehensive overview of all the technical aspects related to this release:
On-chain vote to be announced soon, please stay tuned for updates 
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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 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.
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Congrats to all participants. We are happy to be part of shortlisted candidates in cohort 2. I hope everything will go as planned, and cannot wait to get started. Shout out to all testnet participants, and especially to our Brisk Beavers cluster 
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Hello everyone,
This is an update regarding the status of the Lido x SSV Network testnet and Lido x Obol mainnet deployment.
The aggregate SSV performance metrics are currently indicating performance well above the required benchmarks, and if trends remain on track will lead to a successful completion of the Lido x SSV testnet.
Over the period of January 27th to March 11th, aggregate metrics are 97.7% uptime (vs. 95% benchmark), 83.55% Block Proposal Success Rate (vs. 70% benchmark), and Attestation Effectiveness of 78.24% (vs. network 30 day average of ~ 71.4%).
However, due to a new version of SSV’s DKG tool that is intended to be used on mainnet, the ongoing SSV testnet has been extended for 2-3 weeks to test this version before it would be used with mainnet clusters.
We expect all clusters will generate another 20 keys using the new DKG version next week, and will then monitor performance for a week to ensure things look sound. Assuming performance continues to remain above the benchmark at that time, the clusters will exit their validators, test the reward claiming flow, and the testnet will conclude. Concurrently, the SSV team is working on an audit for the new DKG version that is required to be completed before moving to mainnet.
For Obol, mainnet participants from Cohort 1 have been added to cluster coordination threads and have begun the process of setting up their multi-sigs. As the SSV testnet has been extended, it is now expected that the first 12 Obol clusters from Cohort 1 will go live on mainnet after keys have been generated, likely by the end of this month.
The next Obol testnet is expected to begin at the end of this month/early April, with another SSV testnet to follow. Submissions for all solo stakers, community stakers, and professional node operators to participate in the Obol testnet will be closed on March 20th, with the form remaining open for those interested in participating in the next SSV testnet. If you would like to sign up, please fill out the form here: https://forms.gle/SXGjCuKwq8usNQk1A
Additional updates will be shared in the coming weeks regarding the SSV testnet, Obol mainnet status, and next round of testnets.
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Hello Lido Community!
The SSV community and core team are all super excited to be in the last leg of testing. Having surpassed the requirements, participating on the Lido mainnet is on the horizon, and we cannot wait to see our decentralized clusters going live. The successful testing on Holesky demonstrates outstanding coordination among numerous distributed node operators, the Lido community, and ourselves. The commitment toward making the Simple DVT module a reality is apparent in the hard work put in by all participants during this time of testing.
We share the much-warranted enthusiasm for onboarding new node operators as the module goes live, the enhanced decentralization of the validator set that the Simple DVT module will bring to Lido, as well as playing a part in the foundations of future permissionless modules. Stay tuned for the final testing results.
We urge everyone who wants to be part of future cohorts to join; our team is dedicated to making the process as seamless as possible. Thank you all and until next time!
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The Simple DVT Module Committee has started an Easy Track motion that is currently active that would add the 12 Obol Cohort 1 clusters to the Simple DVT Node Operator Registry on mainnet.
In addition to signed messages confirming each participant’s agreement to the Operating Rules of the Simple DVT Module for Lido x Obol Node Operators, the following link contains sheets showing Cluster Manager Addresses, Obol Wrappers, and 0xSplits addresses well as all of the participant Individual Manager and Individual Reward Addresses tied to each cluster: Public Master Address Form (Obol Mainnet) - Google Sheets
If this motion passes, it is expected a subsequent set of motions will be created later this week to raise the key limits of these Obol Simple DVT clusters to 5 validators. Once validators are deposited to, a monitoring period will be in place to assess cluster performance, and an update will be made in this thread to share the results of the first 30 days.
It is expected that if this 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 potentially raise key limits for the existing clusters.
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This is notice that an Easy Track motion will be started in the coming hours to change the Reward Address for two clusters: Lido x Obol: Azure Albatross and Lido x Obol: Ingenious Ibis.
These changes come as a result of two participants: CvJoint (member of Azure Albatross) and Mahof (member of Ingenious Ibis) requesting changes: CvJoint’s Reward Address changing from 0x87138Ead456276321663c8cb0b7a5c4cA1278850 to 0x2C88DB9e49f43a7525D693df6605B4fE07672F4A and Mahof’s Individual Manager Address (and Reward Address) changing from 0x8c64a78ad1ba9ff86df8b98a4a10ba16e3cc825c to 0x03D825A2aD0534e39EC7e72e659AD520e9130d98.
New splitter contracts have been deployed and as a result the new Rewards Address for Azure Albatross will be 0xD3759421a025CAcee7f6a9b1c2D44b5952B9389b from 0x1bE56168350795B2E8Bd47BaB65c87372AF066Bc and the new Rewards Address for Ingenious Ibis will be 0x7A475eF84BB0ef069928f9f1438110925523395B from 0x477D65e6513789075257A2d37183Eee78500a74C.
As a result of changing the Individual Manager Address, Mahof has signed the Node Operator Agreement with the new address. Signatures from both CvJoint and Mahof’s new addresses and a full summary of the changes and information for all SDVTM Mainnet participants is available: Public Master Address Form (Obol Mainnet) - Google Sheets
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An Easy Track motion is currently active that would raise the key limit for the first 5 Lido x Obol Simple DVT clusters to 5 validators on mainnet. 1-2 additional Easy Track motions will be created in the coming days to raise the key limits of the remaining 7 Cohort 1 clusters to 5 validators as well.
After the Easy Tracks are enacted, it is expected that validators will join the entry queue for activation when the protocol receives net-deposits.
Thirty days after all 12 clusters reach 5 active validators, a performance summary will be shared here for the DAO to review. If performance looks comparable to the overall mainnet validator set, the performance summary will include a proposal with a week discussion period to raise the key limits of these clusters to 10 validators each and start the onboarding process of the Lido x Obol Cohort 2 clusters.
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As mentioned above, the Easy Track motion is now active that would raise the key limit for the remaining 7 clusters in Lido x Obol Cohort 1 of the Simple DVT Module.
The monitoring period will begin when each of the 12 clusters receives deposits and has their 5 validators activated.
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Hello everyone, I am Massimo, Developer Relations from the SSV core team.
I wanted to provide an update regarding the work SSV core team has been doing on the DKG tool.
Version v2.1.0 of the ssv-dkg project was just released
This release follows an official audit, and as such, it’s usage is also available on Mainnet.
Main Changes from v2.0.0
- Deposit file validation
- Audit changes
- TLS support
Important note regarding TLS
Version v2.1.0 introduces the use of https protocol. The DKG server handles everything, including certificate. The only change from previous version is that operator metadata needs to be updated to include https, instead of http in the DKG endpoint.
Check out the release on GitHub: Release DKG v2.1.0 · ssvlabs/ssv-dkg · GitHub and more detailed release notes
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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 of the SSV Simple DVT testnet participant evaluations that took place on May 7th, 2024. This evaluation meeting followed the conclusion of the Lido x SSV testnet, wherein SSV’s DVT implementation surpassed all of the minimum performance requirements outlined in the Simple DVT Module Proposal. Information about the Simple DVT Module is available here.
The next Simple DVT testnet with SSV Network is expected to begin in June. All solo stakers, community stakers, and professional node operators are welcome to join: https://forms.gle/3HeeX4octtAhj2tU9
SSV Testnet Participant Evaluation
A total of 192 participants participated in the Lido x SSV Simple DVT testnet which started in November 2023. These participants were sorted into 32 clusters of 7 participants each, with various types of infrastructure configurations and geographic locations. Generally due to a lack of responsiveness or issues with node configuration during the initial stage of the testnet, a total of 163 participants completed the testnet from start to finish and were subsequently evaluated by the LNOSG. This included 29 community stakers, 40 solo stakers, 69 professional node operators, and 25 members of the Lido on Ethereum curated set. For more information regarding the testnet process and the results, see the Lido blog post.
Evaluation Results
During the evaluation discussion, the LNOSG together with testnet coordinators from the Lido DAO NOM Workstream and SSV Network team suggested 146 individual participants across 21 clusters with a 5/7 threshold configuration be onboarded to mainnet SSV clusters in the Simple DVT Module over two Cohorts. The proposed participants include 53 solo and community stakers in addition to 93 professional node operators including members of the Lido on Ethereum Curated node operator set. Due to the need to fill an additional spot in a cluster, one participant was proposed to participate across two clusters after having been deemed to have shown exceptional performance during the testnet.
All of the candidates proposed by the LNOSG were considered to have shown strong performance, responsiveness, and reliability over the course of the Lido x SSV testnet. These candidates operate nodes in over 30 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 proposed participants have been asked to confirm their desire to join the Simple DVT Operator Set via an SSV 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 May 7th, 2024, the LNOSG suggested to propose the following SSV 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/1Ek9IsfFgg4VfRcs947exgYKSvQIJwSQe
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 Proposal outlines an initial mainnet stage where 12 clusters for both Obol and SSV Network undergo a 30 day monitoring period with 5 validators.
SSV Clusters 1-12 of the proposed list constitute Cohort 1, while Clusters 13-21 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 SSV 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 SSV Network will begin the coordination process with cluster participants.
Next Steps
If no adjustments are required after the week discussion period, the SSV clusters from Cohort 1 will soon after 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, and clusters will submit keys to the Lido Simple DVT Module once they are deemed to be ready for deposits.
An update will be posted to the research forums before validator key limits are raised for any clusters.
Future SSV Network Simple DVT Testnet
Another Simple DVT testnet with SSV Network is expected to begin in June. All participants that were not proposed to participate in Cohort 1 or 2 of the SSV 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. Sing up here if interested: https://forms.gle/3HeeX4octtAhj2tU9
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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 SSV Simple DVT mainnet participant proposal.
While the week discussion period for the DAO to consider the proposed candidates successfully passed, during the participant confirmation period two participants have decided not to move forward to mainnet, while one participant has not provided any response or acknowledgement during the requested contact period.
As a result, the LNOSG has discussed replacement candidates to be proposed for these clusters, all of which are experienced participants that have participated in multiple Simple DVT Testnets and were approved during the discussion period to move forward in different clusters.
The three clusters and participants that will not move forward to mainnet are SSV Cluster 7 (participant Prime Cut), SSV Cluster 9 (participant bobby wen), and SSV Cluster 19 (participant OranG3cluB). In order of cluster ID, the proposed replacements are: Tessier-Hashpool Ltd. replacing Prime Cut, blockblaz(g11tech) replacing bobby wen, and Republic Crypto replacing OranG3cluB.
All three of the Node Operators proposed as replacements for these participants were considered to have shown very strong performance, responsiveness, and reliability throughout multiple testnet rounds. All of the proposed Node Operators have participated in multiple clusters and have acted as a Cluster Coordinator during testnet.
The proposed participants have been asked to reconfirm their desire to join the Simple DVT Operator Set via two SSV clusters. 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.
The changes can be seen in the following spreadsheet: The Updated Proposal (5.21.24) sheet includes the updated participant proposals, the Participant Updates sheets shows the change of participants per cluster, and the Original Proposal sheet shows the clusters proposed on May 9.
A week discussion period for the DAO now begins to consider the updated cluster configuration for Clusters 7, 9, and 19. In the meantime, optimistic onboarding of these clusters will begin, and if any changes are required the LNOSG will reconvene and share an update in this thread.
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The ssv.network DAO would like to thank all the participants who played a part in the Simple DVT Testnet. Having surpassed the minimum requirements, we are excited for the SSV cluster to kick off on mainnet as they start onboarding. To get a deeper look into the Holesky testnet results, insights, and recommendations, the full report is available in the blog post linked below.
Good luck to all the cluster participants going to mainnet!
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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 Obol Cohort 2 Simple DVT mainnet participants. As a reminder, Cohort 2 has not yet onboarded to mainnet (though a performance report from Cohort 1 is expected in the coming days).
The proposal for both Obol Cohort 1 and Cohort 2 passed the DAO discussion period in February. Since that time one participant, Finoa, has updated their selection of MEV-Boost relays that they can connect to their validators, resulting in an incompatibility with the other participants of their Cohort 2 cluster, Lido x Obol: Unfettered Urial.
As a result, the LNOSG has discussed and would like to propose moving Finoa into a cluster that will utilize the same selection of relays that they would like to connect to, Lido x Obol: Quixotic Quail.
In order to move Finoa into the Lido x Obol: Quixotic Quail cluster, the participant 01node has agreed to switch places with them and join the Lido x Obol Unfettered Urial cluster, wherein Node Operators will connect to all relays on the “Must Use Some” list.
This would have a very limited impact on both clusters given that both Node Operators will run nodes in Europe and are professional organizations.
The changes can be seen in the following spreadsheet: Proposed Lido x Obol SDVT Clusters - Google Sheets
The Updated Proposal (6.6.24) sheet includes the updated participant proposals, the Participant Updates sheet shows the change of participants per cluster, and the Original Proposal sheet shows the clusters proposed on February 22.
A week discussion period is now open for the DAO to consider the change, whereafter if no additional changes are sought the participants will officially be part of the proposed clusters.
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Summary
This update serves as the first performance report for the 12 Lido x Obol Cohort 1 clusters active on mainnet via the Simple DVT Module. In light of overall satisfactory performance, it is proposed that the key limits for Obol Cohort 1 are raised to 40 validators in a phased approach, and the key limits for Obol Cohort 2 are raised to 5 validators once they have completed onboarding.
Performance Analysis
Since the May 2nd activation date of the Lido x Obol Cohort 1 validators, overall cluster performance has been strong, with a single temporary caveat.
During the first four days following activation (most of which were over the weekend), a string of four missed block proposals was observed across a range of Lido x Obol mainnet clusters.
Upon looking into the logs from clusters, it was noted that a flag was missing from most participants using Lodestar to set useProduceBlockV3 to False due to configuration errors. A fix was rolled out to the Lodestart component of lido-charon-distributed-validator-node and participants were asked to update their configurations, a process that took approximately 48 hours to fully complete across the 84 participants. However, during this time, another block was missed as more than 3 nodes of the cluster had not yet updated their configurations.
Since May 7th when all clusters had rolled out the update, the Block Proposal Success Rate for Lido x Obol mainnet validators has been 100%. Over the course of the total initial monitoring period of May 2nd to June 6th, the aggregate block proposal success rate stands at 73.68%, with 14 proposed blocks and 5 missed blocks.
During this time, as per Rated average uptime across clusters stands at 99.95% and the Average Validator Effectiveness is 96.48%. This compares to the 30 day overall Ethereum validator set performance with an average Uptime of 99.7% and Average Validator Effectiveness of 96.36%.
Despite the initial issue with Block Proposals, it is clear from the 100% Block Proposal Success Rate since the fix, as well as the above network average performance metrics, that performance to-date is more than acceptable to continue scaling Lido x Obol mainnet clusters.
For a detailed overview of cluster level metrics & the list of validator keys, see the analysis: Obol Cohort 1 Performance Metrics - Google Sheets
Proposed Next Steps
As a result, it is proposed that the key limits for Lido x Obol Cohort 1 clusters be raised to a maximum of 40 validators each until the next performance monitoring period (which will end no earlier than 37 days after the publication date of this update), in a phased approach of raising the key limits to 20, followed by an additional raise to 40 after the initial 15 additional keys have been deposited to and observed to activate without issues.
It is also proposed that the key limits for the Lido x Obol Cohort 2 clusters are raised to 5 validators each, with a performance monitoring period and follow up performance report to be shared no earlier than 30 days after the keys are deposited to.
The relevant Easy Track motions for these key limit raises would be communicated in this thread and would follow the default approach of being veteoable by LDO holders over a 72 hour period.
This begins a 7 day discussion period for the DAO to consider the performance report and proposal to raise key limits to 40 validators in a phased approach for Obol Cohort 1, and raise key limits to the 5 initial validators for Obol Cohort 2.
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