Ethereum is a decentralized, open-source blockchain with smart contract functionality. It is the second largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization and uses Proof-of-Stake (PoS) as its consensus mechanism. Validators on the network are responsible for proposing and attesting to new blocks, and in doing so they help keep the network secure. In exchange, the Ethereum protocol distributes network rewards to participating validators.

Each validator on Ethereum requires 32 ETH to activate. If you want to run multiple validators, the total amount is 32 ETH multiplied by the number of validators. No ETH is required simply to run a node, but activation and reward eligibility begin only after the 32 ETH threshold is met per validator.

Following the Pectra upgrade (May 2025), a single validator can now hold up to 2,048 ETH through top-ups and consolidation, which means fewer validators are needed to manage larger positions.

The withdrawal address is the Ethereum address designated to receive unstaked ETH and consensus layer rewards. This address is specified once at the time of staking, and the association between a particular validator and its withdrawal address is permanently recorded by the protocol. Access to the private key (seed phrase) for this address is required to manage withdrawals.

P2P.org is a non-custodial infrastructure provider and has no access to the client's withdrawal private key. Under no circumstances will P2P.org ever request access to a withdrawal key.

A validator key is a cryptographic key used to perform validation duties on behalf of a specific validator (signing attestations, proposing blocks, and so on). P2P.org generates and manages validator keys using threshold signature technology. Each key is instantly split into three shards via multi-party computation, and a 2-of-3 quorum across geographically separated key managers is required to produce a valid signature. No single person, including P2P.org engineers, ever sees or holds a complete validator key.

Ethereum's staking design requires a separate transaction for every 32 ETH deposited. By using audited smart contracts (audited by MixBytes), the staking process is significantly simplified: transaction costs are reduced, the risk of human error is minimized, and it becomes possible to activate a large number of validators in a single transaction. The smart contract also handles the automated splitting of execution layer rewards between the staker and P2P.org according to pre-agreed terms.

Yes. ETH can be staked with a Ledger device (via native connection through Ledger Wallet (Live) or by connecting it at https://eth.p2p.org with WalletConnect) or a Trezor device (via MetaMask). Validators created through the Ledger Wallet Earn dApp are subject to a simplified feature set compared to the full staking dApp at https://eth.p2p.org but can be managed there by connecting the Ledger hardware wallet through MetaMask or WalletConnect.

Ethereum staking rewards come from two separate sources.

For 0x01 validators, CLR accumulate on the validator balance and are automatically swept by the network to the staker's wallet approximately once every 8.5 to 9 days. For 0x02 (Pectra) validators, CLR remain on the validator balance and compound automatically until the balance reaches 2,048 ETH. To access compounded CLR, the staker initiates a partial withdrawal through the staking dApp.

Rewards are determined by the Ethereum protocol and network conditions, are variable, and are not guaranteed. P2P.org does not control or set reward rates.

No. Staked ETH is locked in the Ethereum protocol's staking contract and cannot be transferred or used until a withdrawal is initiated. Both partial withdrawals (for 0x02 validators) and full withdrawals (validator exit) are supported through the P2P.org staking dApp at https://eth.p2p.org.

Since the Shanghai/Capella upgrade (April 2023), both full and partial withdrawals are live on Ethereum.

Full withdrawal: exit the validator entirely. The staked ETH plus any accumulated rewards are returned to the withdrawal address after the exit queue and a network verification period.

Partial withdrawal (0x02 validators): withdraw any amount above the minimum effective balance without exiting the validator. This is initiated through the P2P.org staking dApp.

Additionally, following the Pectra upgrade, the owner of the withdrawal address can initiate a validator exit directly through the protocol, without depending on the validator operator.

The service fee is collected from execution layer rewards only. By default, an immutable smart contract is used to automatically split ELR between the staker and P2P.org according to previously agreed terms. The contract tracks both CL and EL reward accumulation to ensure the agreed percentage is applied accurately across the total reward.

Slashing is a protocol-level penalty for validators that violate consensus rules. It is extremely rare and is designed to target behavior that is very difficult to trigger accidentally.

Three specific actions are considered slashable: proposing two conflicting blocks in the same slot, casting two conflicting attestation votes in the same slot, and making a surround vote that contradicts a previous attestation. These violations most commonly result from running duplicate instances of the same validator.

When slashing occurs, the following penalties apply:

Multiple layers of protection are in place.

Slashing protection database: each validator maintains a signing history that is checked before every attestation or block proposal to prevent conflicting signatures.

Threshold key management: validator keys are split into three shards using multi-party computation. A 2-of-3 quorum across independent, geographically separated key managers is required for any signing operation. This makes it structurally impossible for any single person to launch a duplicate validator.

Client diversity: the infrastructure runs multiple consensus layer clients (Lighthouse, Prysm, and Teku) simultaneously, reducing exposure to bugs in any single client implementation.

Every staker with P2P.org gets access to a personal staking dashboard at https://app.p2p.org where rewards, validator performance, attestation rates, proposed blocks, and other key metrics can be monitored. Monthly PDF reports are also available for institutional clients.

The direct staking infrastructure is located in Europe and distributed across 5 separate Tier-3 data center locations for resilience against localized outages.

The infrastructure is designed with no single point of failure.