DAO Curated Node Registry - Verified Operators

Overview

‘Verified Operators’ are a DAO curated list of operators which are generally perceived as safer to stake with. Verified operators are in most cases reputable companies with proven experience in running POS staking and blockchain infrastructure services. The proposal is aimed to define the vetting process and criteria upon which verified operators will be voted in by the DAO.

The DAO is assuming the responsibility of screening and nominating new verified operators. The criteria and standards expected from VOs should be accessible and transparent to both the community and Operators applying to be included in the verified group.

Motivation

ssv.netwrok is an open protocol in which stakers(validators) are able to freely choose between the network’s nodes(operators). As the network grows, so does the difficulty of choosing between the different service providers in the network.

In addition,Operating a validator requires constant monitoring, maintenance and uptime in order to avoid penalties and slashing. As such, validators require stability and consistency from the operators managing their distributed validator.

To address the above, the DAO will maintain a curated list of ‘Verified Operators’. From a staker perspective, the verification adds another dimension to the operator selection process. It allows the staker to limit their choice to a narrowed list of verified operators instead of choosing between all of the operators in the network.

From the operator’s perspective, being verified can amount to creating network effect (more stakers choosing your node). In addition, the operator’s commitment to uphold the standards framed by the DAO should ensure their commitment to reliable performance and service quality.

Mechanics

1. Operators should submit a proposal in the DAO’s forum (see a suggested format below)
2. The community should have at least 7 days for comments and modifications
3. The proposal should then be submitted to a 7 day vote period on Snapshot 14
4. Once verified, an operator will be marked as such in the network’s explorer 6 (example 11). And, the community will be officially notified about the newly added operator.

Criteria

• Experience running Blockchain node infrastructure
• Self hosted execution (eth1) and consensus (eth2 ) nodes
• At least 1 month running an ssv node on testnet
• Operator score at time of proposal is above x
• Running at least 10 validator in testnet
• Consistent operator score above X(TBD) for at least 1 week
• Engage and support your validators (and community) at ssv.tesnet Discord

Operator Commitments

• Aspire to maximal uptime and optimized performance
• Timely update of the latest ssv node version
• Alert and notify when issues occur
• Issue a post mortem in case of prolonged downtime (>5 hours)
• Promote client diversity, try to support minority clients
• Transparency, maintain and update your Explorer Operator Page. Notify of any status changes which might affect stakers (i.e client changes, cloud instance changes etc.)

Loss of status

1. DAO vote to remove your status, and,or;
2. Operator score below 90% for 2 consecutive weeks (automatic loss of status)

Appendix - Verified Operator status request template