Node Operator Guide
Although it is technically possible to run a StakeWise node alongside an existing Ethereum node, we recommend using a completely isolated system, and this guide assumes this is the case.
There are technical limitations which make it very difficult to run a fully custom node environment for NodeSet's StakeWise integration. Therefore, you must use the Hyperdrive client to connect appropriately to NodeSet's web services.
Installation
1. Plan your node operation
See this page on planning your node operation.
2. Install Hyperdrive
See this page for more information on setting up Hyperdrive. Remember to enable support for StakeWise during the setup process!
3. Fund your node wallet
You must send ETH to your node wallet so that Hyperdrive can submit deposit transactions for your validators. This is an important mechanism in StakeWise to prevent griefing attacks (see here for more information).
We recommend at least 0.01 ETH for each validator key you generate. For example, if you generate 5 keys, you should fund your node wallet with at least 0.05 ETH.
For Holesky, you can use one of the following faucets. Be aware we have not verified these faucets. Use them at your own risk!
4. Add your node address to your NodeSet account
a) Go to https://nodeset.io/dashboard to create or login to your NodeSet account. Users who have gone through the onboarding process will automatically be given the permission to access the StakeWise portion of the dashboard.
b) Use the dashboard to add your new node address.
5. Generate validator keys
This command will generate new validator keys, upload them to NodeSet so we can refer them to the StakeWise vault, and add them to your validator client and sw_operator containers.
After this finishes, the status command should show your new validator public keys:
Additionally, you should see those validator keys in the NodeSet dashboard at https://nodeset.io/dashboard/stakewise/validators.
6. Backup your node wallet mnemonic and/or private key
Ensure you store your secrets safely and regularly test your access procedures. We recommend two copies in offline cold storage, each in different locations.
7. Maintain your node
Once NodeSet registers your node, we will submit batches of deposit data into the vault, and ETH may be automatically deposited into these validators at any time.
As always, you should use the same best practices for maintaining your operation.
Be careful! Even if there are no validators activated when your node goes down, Ethereum never goes down, so deposits might be made to those validators even while the node is offline. If this happens, those validators will be penalized, and you may eventually be ejected from NodeSet!
If you no longer wish to participate as an operator for any of NodeSet's StakeWise vaults, please contact us at [email protected]. We are working on a way to exit your operation automatically through the dashboard, but this is not ready yet.
Validator Lifecycle
The following is StakeWise-specific. For a refresher on the Ethereum validator lifecycle, see this page.
Key Generation & Uploading
Operators generate and upload public validator keys to NodeSet
NodeSet regularly uploads these keys to partner vaults using a randomized round-robin operator selection algorithm to ensure assets are assigned equally
Deposit & Activation
When there is enough ETH in the vault to make a validator, the owner of the next key in line must submit a deposit transaction
a. If this transaction is not made within an appropriate timeframe, NodeSet will blacklist the operator and create a new list of keys for the vault
After this transaction occurs, the vault automatically makes a 32 ETH deposit to the Ethereum deposit contract on behalf of the supplied validator key, and the StakeWise Oracle DAO collects a pre-signed exit message using a predicted index.
The validator goes through the Ethereum deposit queue and is activated as usual
Once an index is assigned to the validator by Ethereum's consensus layer, Hyperdrive automatically sends a pre-signed exit message to NodeSet for safety.
Exiting
If the validator's performance is below the requirements of NodeSet's Operator Policies, NodeSet will exit the validator using the exit message on hand.
Otherwise, the validator will remain online until:
The operator exits the validator using the
hyperdrive stakewise validator exitcommandThere is not enough liquidity in the vault for liquid stakers wishing to redeem their staked ETH, so the StakeWise Oracle DAO will exit validators as necessary using its copy of the signed exit message
Disaster Recovery
Operators do NOT need to exit StakeWise validators to migrate or recover their nodes! As long as you still have your wallet mnemonic, you can recover your StakeWise validator keys.
In addition to the usual steps you take to recover your wallet on new hardware, you also need to recover your StakeWise keys specifically. In the future, this will be done automatically, but currently you will need to run the following command manually to recover your StakeWise configuration:
hyperdrive stakewise wallet generate-keys --count [123]
In the above command, [123] should be the number of keys you have already already uploaded to NodeSet, which you can view at https://nodeset.io/dashboard/stakewise/validators.
Claiming Rewards
Once your node is registered with the rewards splitter contract, you may claim rewards using this command:
Because adding users to the splitter contracts and the vault is costly and NodeSet currently pays this fee, we will initially do it manually and irregularly, so there may be a delay before you begin accruing rewards. Please be patient while we work to improve and automate this flow over time. In the future, users will instead submit their own registration transactions in the future. As a reminder, you are already responsible for new validator registration -- see here for more info.
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