Sometime during 09/10/22 - 09/20/22, the Ethereum Mainnet will merge with the Beacon Chain proof-of-stake (PoS) system. This will mark the end of proof-of-work (PoW) for Ethereum, and the full transition to PoS. Staked will manage the entire validator upgrade process, including the addition of MEV software to earn MEV fees. No action is necessary for stakers.
Transfers and withdrawals of ETH from the Beacon Chain will remain disabled until the Capella hard fork, 3 - 6+ months post merge. As a result, staked ETH and validator rewards on the Beacon Chain will remain locked until then.
Post-merge, Ethereum validators will continue earning rewards for block proposals and attestations. Importantly, validators will also start earning the transaction fees and MEV currently earned by PoW miners.
Unfortunately, the ETH2 key (BLS) used for the withdrawal credentials in staking deposits can't receive funds. These addresses are only designed for signing consensus messages, but can’t sign transactions. The option to upgrade from ETH2 credentials to a standard ETH address on-chain will be available in the Capella hard fork, 3 - 6+ months post merge.
For security purposes, Staked can only distribute the transaction fees and MEV to verified ETH addresses. As a result, stakers will earn the new fees and MEV, but won't receive them until upgrading their withdrawal credentials on-chain. A complete accounting of all validator rewards will be available via Staked’s reporting.
Stakers who used a standard ETH address in their staking deposit will receive the new fees and MEV on a bi-weekly cadence immediately post-merge.
To account for the new fees and MEV earned by validators, Staked will be moving to a commission-based pricing model. Post-merge, Staked will charge a 10% commission on all rewards and fees earned by validators (validator + transaction fees + MEV). Stakers will earn 90% of all rewards and fees. Staked will cancel all existing recurring subscriptions as of the merge.
Staked will charge a percentage that is equal to 10% of all rewards (validator + transaction fees + MEV). To remain non-custodial, Staked will collect this fee from the transaction fees and MEV earned by the validator (and not from the rewards distributed at the protocol layer to the validator). All rewards distributed at the protocol layer to the validator (sync committee, block proposals and attestations) will continue accruing to the validator. Because Staked will charge this fee on the transaction fees and MEV only, the percentage will be higher than 10%.
Stakers on the 1-time payment plan will only pay a 10% commission on transaction fees and MEV until transfers are active. They will not pay a commission on validator rewards (sync committee, block proposals and attestations). Once transfers are active, Staked will charge a 10% commission on all rewards and fees earned by all stakers.
Tornado Cash Sanctions
Staked believes in the importance of crypto being censorship-resistant and permissionless. As a leading ETH validator we are carefully monitoring the discussion on the potential implications of Tornado Cash sanctions for validators.
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