Practical Tips | Ethereum 2.0 Validator Lazy Pack: Helping You Play Ethereum 2.0

On the morning of November 24, the minimum staking requirement for Eth2 to start the creation (16,384 validators are required to participate in the staking and deposit 524,288 ETH) has been met. The current specific staking information can be viewed on Launchpad: https://launchpad.ethereum.org. According to the announcement of Ethereum Blog, Eth2 will be created at 20:00 on December 1, 2020. For information about the creation of the Eth2 beacon chain, you can read Ben Edgington's article "A detailed explanation of the creation of the beacon chain".

When the Eth2 deposit contract was released, ECN had compiled information related to Eth2 Staking into an article: Ethereum 2.0 Validator Guide. The content includes:

➤ Validator Tutorial Series (including video tutorial resources)

➤ Pledge General Knowledge Series

➤ Browser List

➤ Eth2 Client

➤ Eth2 Launchpad Chinese version

➤ Validator FAQ

➤ Other learning resources

Staking Service Provider

➤ beaconcha.in summarizes some Staking service providers, including the project's fee standards and custody forms.

For details, please see:

https://beaconcha.in/stakingServices‌

➤ www.stakingrewards.com summarizes various staking solutions, categorized into: exchanges, lending platforms, staking pools, validator services (divided into UI and API solutions), pre-configured validator nodes, and self-run nodes.

Summary table Chinese version

Ethstaker FAQ

Note: This FAQ was posted by u/LamboshiNakaghini on reddit/ethstaker before the roadmap was changed, so some ambiguous questions have been deleted. For more information about the roadmap changes, see the article "Ethereum Foundation's Fifth Reddit AMA".

Q: Why do we need multiple clients? What are the differences between the clients?

A: Multiple clients can improve the resilience of the network. Assuming that the validators are evenly distributed among several Eth2 clients, if one of them has a bug and stops working, the network can still continue to operate. The main difference between these clients is that they are written in different programming languages. If there are four clients running, it is similar to checking four times whether each block is really valid.

Q: Can I store my keys in a hardware wallet?

A: How exactly support for hardware wallets will develop is still a question mark, but Ledger has updated its specification to support Eth2 keys. In the future, hardware wallet support for Eth2 is almost certain.

Q: What is the annualized yield (APY) of staking?

A: The total annualized rate you receive varies based on the total amount of ETH staked on the network. You can visit this website:

https://beaconcha.in/calculator‌ to calculate how the total amount of ETH staked will affect your yield. The current forecast annualized rate is 7-10%, but it is just a forecast.

(Translator's note: Launchpad's official website also has a dynamic forecast of the annualized rate https://launchpad.ethereum.org/)

Q: How do I generate and save my key?

A: The best way to generate keys is through the Ethereum Foundation Launchpad. You can protect your withdrawal keys by keeping a mnemonic offline, either on paper or on an engraved steel tablet similar to Eth1 keys. You can protect your validator keys by making sure your computer is securely set up.

Q: What happens if I go offline? Will I be fined?

A: Slashing and inactivity leaks are two different penalties. If you actively vote incorrectly, you will be slashed. If you are offline, you will be punished with inactivity leaks. The inactivity leaks are very light, roughly equal to the rewards you get when you are online.

Q: Do I always need to run an Eth1 node to run an Eth2 validator node?

A: Before the eth1->eth2 merger, you need to run an Eth1 node. After the merger, the Eth1 node will be abandoned, and the Eth2 node will be the Ethereum node.

Q: Should I wait until the beacon chain goes live and all bugs are resolved before participating in staking?

A: Choosing when to start staking or whether to participate in staking depends entirely on your risk tolerance. Choosing to participate in staking after the beacon chain is launched will undoubtedly reduce your risk, but early participation in staking will gain more profits because the annualized rate will decrease as the number of stakes increases.

Q: What hardware do I need?

A: This question is too broad and will be explained in detail at this link:

https://reddit.com/r/ethstaker/comments/j3mlup/a_slightly_updated_look_at_hardware_for_staking/‌

In short, you need a relatively high-performance CPU, 16GB of RAM, an SSD, and a stable network and power supply.

Q: What are the Eth2 clients and how do I use them?

A: The current Eth2 clients include Prysm, Lighthouse, Teku, Nimbus, and Lodestar, and Trinity will be added later. Each client has a complete documentation that explains in detail how to install and run it.

Q: Which client should I run?

A: You should choose a client that you are confident in running and compare the performance of different clients. In addition, due to the design of the Eth2 network, you should choose a client that is used by a small number of users.

Q: How do I track my staked ETH and my rewards?

A: There are some good browsers like beaconcha.in and beaconscan.com to track the performance of your validator nodes. You can also install Prometheus and Grafana locally to create a dashboard to track the performance of your validator nodes, or view it on the output device of the validator client.

Q: Can I deposit more than 32 ETH into a validator node?

A: Yes, you can, but the maximum balance of a validator node is 32 ETH, so it will be useless even if you deposit more.

Q: What is a validator node?

A: Each client consists of two pieces of software. The first is the node software, which handles network consensus, connects to the outside world, and sends and receives blocks. The second is the validator client, which connects to your node and is responsible for proving and proposing blocks. Each validator client can have many validators with 32 ETH staked. If you want to stake 64 ETH, you don't need to run 2 nodes or 2 validator clients.

Q: What are the risks of staking?

A: There are many risks associated with staking, but most of them can be avoided by learning how to run a validator node effectively and being careful.

➤ Slashing - Getting slashed is scary, but it is easily avoided. Do not intentionally launch a slashable attack, and do not run a validator key on two validator clients at the same time.

➤ Inactivity Penalty - Inactivity penalty is related to offline time. You need to make sure your staking setup is secure step by step. The implementation steps are detailed in the hardware guide above.

➤ System problems - This is the most difficult risk to avoid. This risk is like a serious vulnerability in the client or a defect in the ETH2 specification. The testnet work we have been doing and the entire ETH 2 development process are all efforts to eliminate this risk.

Q: How do slots, epochs, and blocks work?

A: A new slot is created every 12 seconds. In each slot, a validator is randomly selected to make a block proposal. If the validator is online, he or she can make a proposal and generate a new block. 32 slots make up an epoch, and an epoch has 32 blocks. If everything goes well, each slot will produce a block, and there will be 32 blocks in an epoch. If at least 66% of the validators vote in an epoch, the previous epoch will be finalized. Two consecutive epochs being finalized will finalize the previous epoch and all transactions in it.

Q: If I set up my node incorrectly, am I at risk of being slashed?

A: Yes, there is some risk. The most common behavior that users get slashed for is running two different validator clients at the same time with a single validator key. You need to make sure your setup does not allow this to happen.

Q: What will be the tps in Phase 0?

A: 0. To make it easier to recover from a serious vulnerability, Phase 0 is not transactional.

Q: Do I need to run an ETH 1 full node to stake on ETH 2? Can a light client do that? What happens if your ETH 1 node goes offline?

A: Yes, you need an ETH 1 node, a light client is also fine, but syncing a light client can sometimes be problematic. If you don't have an ETH 1 node, you can continue to prove, but you can't propose blocks.

Q: Is there a node toolbox that can be purchased that works out of the box?

A: Yes, Dappnode and Avado offer some different options.

Q: What are the risks and benefits of staking and running a node in a staking pool?

A: The benefit of staking in a staking pool is that you don’t have to fulfill any obligations. The risk is still the same old saying, “If you can’t control your keys, you can’t control your coins.”

Q: Are there any additional incentives for staking in Phase 0 and running a node in Phase 1 compared to Phase 2?

A: Not at the protocol level. In reality, due to the expected long lock-up period, it is very likely that the total amount of staked in Phase 0 and Phase 1 will be very small, which will allow for more incentives in the future.