A fully functional Ethereum 2.0 is likely closer than most minds believe! The Total Value Staked in the network has grown from $400M to over $6B since December 1st when Eth2 launched. 3.1% of all ETH is now being staked.
Alongside the growth of staking, we have seen a lot of Eth2 staking providers emerge over time. Today we would like to talk about one of the most secure solutions to stake ETH – Blox Staking.
Blox’s vision is to power the decentralized ETH staking economy by making Eth2 staking accessible to all. The Blox Ecosystem consists of Blox Staking – Non-Custodial Staking Platform, the native token CDT, and the upcoming Decentralized Staking Pools.
Still, considering whether to stake your ETH or not? In this article, we will review Blox’s value proposition in regards to decentralization, security, and other key elements to give you a full picture of their non-custodial staking solution.
What is the Vision & Mission of Blox?
Blox Staking is a suite of services designed exclusively for Ethereum staking. Their full focus is on Eth2 as to not get distracted by operating multiple services on various blockchain.
Blox designs solutions that are open-source and non-custodial.Furthermore, there is no rewards sharing in Blox Staking. “Your Validator. Your Rewards.”
What Services does Blox Offer?
- Blox Staking – Non-Custodial Staking Platform
Blox currently offers a non-custodial validator-as-a-service staking solution. Users can seamlessly spin up validator(s) (32 ETH or more is required) and easily manage them within the Blox Live Desktop App Dashboard.
The solution allows anyone to install, run, and manage a validator locally, with validator keys stored in a personal remote signer on their own cloud account. There is no compromise on keys and security, the user remains the sole owner of private keys and staked ETH.
On top of that, Blox users may soon enjoy additional benefits by earning CDT tokens as part of the upcoming staking pools. More on that a little later on.
- CDT – The Native Token Powering the Blox Economy
CDT is the native token of Blox, it is an ERC-20 token that was first minted in August 2017, with a circulating supply of 674,579,184 and a total supply of 1 billion.
As the Blox Ecosystem grows to encompass decentralized ETH staking pools, so too will CDT with the development of an upgraded smart contract to mint new tokens for pool operator rewards issuance.
- Decentralized Staking Pools
Currently under development, The Blox Pools-protocol will allow stakers to overcome 2 major ETH staking hurdles; the first, removing the minimum 32 ETH threshold required to stake and the second, affording the staker instant liquidity of funds.
Each staking pool on the network is based on Secret Shared Validator (SSV) technology whereby a validator key is split into multiple signatures (multisig). At least ⅔ of the signatures are required in order for the staking pool to sign attestations under one unified validator key signature on the Beacon Chain.
The Decentralized Staking Pools are expected to go live by Q3/Q4 2021 and more technical information on how the pools will operate is expected in the coming weeks.
Who is behind Blox Staking?
Blox has a full-time team consisting of 20 international team members with years of experience in the blockchain industry, specifically in the Ethereum space. The core team is based in Israel and previously built the crypto accounting, tracking, and management solution, Blox.io.
The Founder Alon Muroch is an experienced developer and has a great passion for the needs and proliferation of the decentralized finance economy.
What’s Unique about Blox Staking?
The Blox Staking solution is unique as it is truly non-custodial by letting the user keep both of their private keys. Its seed import function allows users to import mainnet validators from different staking setups, and come and go as they please. This is a clear differentiator to all other solutions.
The open-source nature of Blox fits right in with the spirit of building a better Ethereum ecosystem as a community. Blox is committed to supporting Ethereum rather than trying to lock-in users to lock-in profits.
This attitude has also led Blox to receive the official support of the Ethereum Foundation to develop SSV nodes.
How does Blox Staking Compare to Other Solutions?
Within the growing economy of Eth2 staking, we have seen many staking pool solutions and staking derivatives from niche players to big exchanges alike. Today’s staking pools are mainly designed within a custodial, or semi-custodial system, Blox is taking a different approach and provides as far as we know the only staking solution, which is truly decentralized without spinning up a node from scratch.
Building a full suite of ETH staking services, Blox is aiming to provide a one-stop-shop with attractive staking perks for all kinds of players. Compared to other solutions, the Blox economy of Validators, SSV R&D community projects, upcoming staking pools, and CDT rewards, is not a walled garden – open to everyone who wants to help secure the network.
Is it Secure to Stake my ETH with Blox?
Crypto is full of risks and hacks, so why should someone with no technical expertise trust Blox with their hard-earned ETH?
First of all – using Blox Staking isn’t ‘trusting’ Blox, it’s using a solution developed by them that has been designed to be ‘trustless.’ Blox never acquires its user’s information or keys and their solution is fully open-source and audited by an independent firm, Least Authority.
Blox provides DIY-level security combined with a sleek UI and the comfort of a managed solution. You are in full control. As long as you never share your private keys, Blox takes care of all the rest.
With slashing protection built-in Blox users benefit from close to zero slashing risks. This is made possible by separating key management from signing logic in KeyVault remote signer – with a plugin specifically designed to do the job.
KeyVault stores attestation history to ensure that incoming requests are in fact consistent with what is needed to complete the next block. The signing functionality has a gatekeeper analysis function that checks the history logs to ensure that what is being proposed is in fact correct and updated. This means that if a malicious signing request is transferred to KeyVault for signing, KeyVault will not sign it, and effectively avoid participating in a slashable event.
How Do I Get Started Staking with Blox?
Anyone (with 32 ETH for now) can start staking with Blox by downloading their app and simply following the onboarding flow. Currently, Blox has a promotion running, so you do not pay any fees for using their service. This might not stay for free forever, so it’s a great starting point and incentive to try their solution.
Even if you already run your own validator, there is an easy way to switch to Blox. By importing validator(s) into Blox, you can stop worrying about updates, forks, hosting costs, etc. All of this heavy lifting is taken care of by Blox.
Installing & running a validator with Blox is as easy and straightforward as it gets. The set-up process does not take you longer than 5 minutes in total.
Conclusion
Blox is way more than just a ‘Validator-as-a-Service’ solution – it’s a diverse ecosystem built from within for the larger Ethereum community.
Easy setup, no costs to start with, slashing protection, and the grand vision of a fully decentralized “Pools Blockchain” for any amount of ETH staking.
From our view, this definitely seems like one of the better Eth2 staking solutions. You support a company that is committed to Ethereum, and they are not trying to lock you in. It appears to be one of the best trade-offs between an easy-to-use solution and keeping staking as decentralized as possible, which is hard to find elsewhere.