Ethereum
Gasper (Casper FFG + LMD-GHOST)
- Unbond
- Exit queue + ~27h + sweep
- Min stake
- 32 ETH
- MEV-Boost relays
- Obol/SSV DVT
- Slashing-protection DB
Validator Nodes
Stake, validate, and earn with slashing protection at the signer
Run validator nodes and staking nodes under a 99.95% uptime SLA. Slashing protection runs at the signer: an EIP-3076 database, doppelgänger detection, and a lease-gated failover lock.
- Slashing-protection DB
- EIP-3076
- Per validator, exportable
- DVT support
- Obol · SSV
- On Ethereum validators
- Relay set
- MEV-Boost
- Relays you select, or vanilla blocks
- Performance reports
- Monthly
- Plus quarterly reviews for institutions
Your keys never leave you. Instanodes never holds them.
Strictly non-custodial across every key in the validator stack: signing, withdrawal, fee-recipient, and any associated wallet keys. Our beacon node sends signing requests to your remote signer (Web3Signer, Dirk) or your HSM, and the policy you set there decides what gets signed.
Your side
You hold every key
Validator (BLS) signing key
Lives in your HSM or remote signer
Withdrawal key
Authorises principal + reward withdrawal
Fee-recipient address
Receives MEV + tips on every block proposal
Governance key
Voting authority on protocol upgrades
Your custodian, your hardware wallet, or your multi-sig decides who can approve a withdrawal or an exit.
Instanodes side
We operate the stack, with no key access
Beacon + validator client
Sends signing requests to your signer; receives signatures back
MEV-Boost relay set
Picked by you; switchable any time
Slashing-protection DB
Per-validator, replicated, exportable. Operates without holding keys
Monitoring + on-call
24/7 observability, incident response, upgrades
We run beacon + validator clients and forward signing requests to your signer. Move providers any time without an exit or redeposit, and take your EIP-3076 slashing-protection history with you.
Non-custodial guarantee
Instanodes does not take custody of your validator keys, withdrawal keys, or wallet keys in any way.
- We never generate your keys.
- We never receive, store, or escrow key material.
- We never have read access via support, recovery, or backup channels.
- Signing happens at your signer, under your policy, on your hardware.
- You can revoke our beacon node's signing-request access at any moment.
- Stated in writing in your service agreement, before you sign.
Slashing protection, from the signer to the failover lock
Slashing is the one operational risk in staking that destroys principal. Each control below closes a specific path to it: a double-sign, a duplicate key coming online after a restart, or two signers active at once.
Customer-held signing boundary
Signing keys live inside your HSM or remote signer. Our beacon node sends signing requests, and your signer checks each one against its own policy before it signs.
Web3SignerDirkCustomer HSM
Slashing-protection DB
Every attestation and proposal is recorded in a persistent, replicated database before the signature is released. A double-sign attempt is rejected at the signer.
EIP-3076 formatPostgres replicas
Remote-signer model
Beacon node and signer run as separate processes on separate machines. Compromising the consensus client cannot compromise the keys.
Web3SignerDirkSeparate hosts
Doppelgänger detection
Before any validator activates after restart, it watches the network for evidence its own key is already active. If a duplicate is detected, the validator refuses to sign.
Epoch listen window before signing
Failover safety lock
Hot/cold failover runs on a single lease. The backup signer cannot activate until the primary's lease has expired, so two signers are never active at once.
etcd leaseLease expiry before takeover
Distributed validator (DVT)
On supported chains, signing duties are split across a cluster of operators behind a threshold, such as 3-of-4. Losing one node does not stop signing, and one compromised node cannot sign alone.
Obol CharonSSV Network
Track record since 2022
0
slashing events
Across the validators Instanodes has operated since 2022. We carry contractual operational liability for slashing caused by our infrastructure, covering double-signs, surround votes, and downtime penalties beyond the SLA.
Validator operations on 9+ PoS networks
Each chain has its own consensus quirks, unbonding schedule, and slashing economics, so we tune the signing stack and the reward strategy chain by chain.
Solana
TowerBFT + PoH
- Unbond
- 1 epoch (~2 days)
- Min stake
- No minimum (delegate)
- Vote-credit optimisation
- MEV via Jito
- Bare-metal hosts
Cosmos Hub
CometBFT
- Unbond
- 21 days
- Min stake
- No minimum (delegate)
- IBC compatibility
- Liquid staking ready
- ICS validation
Polkadot
BABE + GRANDPA
- Unbond
- 24 – 48 hours
- Min stake
- Nominate, or 10K DOT self-stake
- Nomination pools
- Relay-chain validation
- Session-key rotation
Avalanche
Snowman / Avalanche
- Unbond
- Fixed term, 14 days – 1 year
- Min stake
- 2,000 AVAX
- P-Chain validation
- Avalanche L1 validation
- Delegation enabled
Celo
Ethereum L2 · elected validator set
- Unbond
- 3 days
- Min stake
- 10K CELO locked per validator
- Validator groups
- Validator elections
- Community RPC operation
Polygon PoS
Heimdall + Bor
- Unbond
- 80 checkpoints (~2 – 4 days)
- Min stake
- No minimum (delegate)
- Heimdall checkpoint
- Bor block production
- Delegator dashboard
Tezos
Tenderbake
- Unbond
- None if delegated
- Min stake
- 6,000 tez to bake
- Adaptive Issuance staking
- DAL attestation
- Delegation
Autheo
Proof of Autheo (Cosmos SDK + CometBFT)
- Unbond
- —
- Min stake
- 10K+ THEO
- Sovereign NFT license required
- One-click deployment
- Slashing protection
Staking yield varies with network participation, validator commission, and MEV, and carries no guarantee. We quote expected returns net of our fee at onboarding. Stake and unbonding figures are protocol parameters and change when a network upgrades.
Adding networks regularly. Ask about Aptos, Sui, Sei, Near, Injective, dYdX, or other Cosmos SDK chains. We confirm a production timeline for a new chain after engineering review.
Who stakes through Instanodes
Institutions
Institutional staking
Compliance-friendly validator node operations with custodian integrations, monthly performance reports, and quarterly business reviews.
Treasuries
DAO and treasury staking
Multi-sig-gated staking operations with on-chain governance hooks. Earn yield on idle treasury without giving up custody.
Protocols
Protocol-owned validators
Run validators for your own protocol's PoS chain. Slashing protection, distributed key generation, and DVT support where available.
Onboarding a validator without handing over keys
Choose a network
Ethereum, Cosmos, Polkadot, Avalanche, Polygon, Celo, and other PoS networks. Mainnet or testnet.
Generate keys on your side
You generate every key (validator signing, withdrawal, fee-recipient) on your own HSM, hardware wallet, or remote signer, then import the public key into the dashboard.
Configure monitoring
Slashing detection, missed-attestation alerts, double-sign protection. Dashboards for rewards, performance, and inclusion distance.
Start staking
Bond your stake; we run the validator. 24/7 incident response, client upgrades scheduled around your duties, and regular performance reviews.
Keys, slashing, and fees
Need something specific? Talk to an engineer.
Ethereum, Cosmos Hub and IBC-connected chains, the Polkadot relay chain, the Avalanche P-Chain, Polygon PoS, Celo, Autheo, Solana (RPC Endpoints and limited validator), Tezos, and several others. We add new chains based on customer demand. Ask if your network isn't listed.
You do. All of them. Validator signing keys, withdrawal keys, fee-recipient addresses, and any wallet keys remain entirely under your custody at all times. Instanodes operates the validator node infrastructure via a remote-signer pattern (Web3Signer, Dirk) or DVT split (Obol, SSV), so signing requests are sent to your signer for authorisation. Instanodes never generates, holds, stores, exports, or has access to your private key material at any layer. You rotate, exit, or withdraw at any time without our involvement.
We carry operational liability for slashing caused by our infrastructure (double-signs, surround votes, downtime penalties beyond the SLA). Slashing protection is built into our signing infrastructure. We maintain a slashing-protection database per validator and use redundant attestation paths, and we have recorded zero slashing events across the validators we have operated since 2022.
It depends on the chain. Ethereum validators run on a monthly flat fee plus an optional MEV-Boost share; Cosmos and most other chains run on commission as a percentage of staking rewards, varying by chain and stake size. Full pricing shows in the dashboard before you pay, and institutional clients negotiate flat or hybrid terms. No hidden infrastructure surcharges.
Yes, on chains that support it. We operate validators with Obol Charon and SSV Network for Ethereum, which distributes signing across multiple operators to eliminate single points of failure.
Yes. We migrate validators on Ethereum, Cosmos chains, and most PoS networks without an exit or redeposit. You export your slashing-protection history (EIP-3076 on Ethereum), stop the old setup, and point your existing remote signer (or a new signer you control) at our beacon nodes. The only gap is a short, planned signing pause, so a key never signs from two places.
Real-time dashboards with attestation effectiveness, inclusion distance, sync-committee performance, missed proposals, and reward APR. Monthly performance reports, quarterly business reviews, and on-demand custom reports for institutional clients.
Sign in to your Instanodes dashboard, pick the chain, choose validator count and region, and pay online. Your validator provisions in minutes. You generate keys on your side and import the public key into the dashboard.
Cosmos, Polkadot, Avalanche, and most PoS validator nodes provision in minutes; entering the active set then follows each chain's own rules. Ethereum validators activate once your deposit transaction confirms and the activation queue clears.
Yes, for Ethereum. We run MEV-Boost with the relay set you select (Flashbots, bloXroute, Ultra Sound, Agnostic, and others), or build vanilla blocks if you prefer. We don't extract MEV ourselves. Relay choice is yours.
Stake with operators who carry the risk.
Deploy from the console, or talk to our validator team about your chain mix, custody constraints, and compliance reporting needs. You get a fee model and our operational liability terms for slashing in writing.