Dedicated Validators

Stake multiples of 32 ETH on your dedicated validators through Ledger Live.

Kiln Dedicated staking mainnet smart contract address in Ledger Live is:

0x1e68238cE926DEC62b3FBC99AB06eB1D85CE0270

Do not interact with other addresses.

Kiln dedicated staking on Ledger Live

Dedicated staking allows you to deposit multiples of 32 ETH to set up a validator. Kiln takes care of operating the validator on your behalf, managing the necessary hardware and software (nodes) for running it.

Validators enter an activation queue and will not receive rewards until activated. The queue time is based on the number of other validators awaiting activation. Queue time is displayed on-screen before staking.

Once activated, your validator will continue to operate until you decide to withdraw your stake and rewards. You have the flexibility to initiate this withdrawal process whenever you prefer.

Staking fee

Kiln retains 8% from the total rewards your validator receives.

Staking rewards

You receive all of the rewards generated by the validator, with Kiln deducting a fee.

Your rewards rate will be based on the rewards your own validator earns from participating in the Ethereum network.

The rewards generated by validators are determined solely by the protocol, with no involvement from Kiln.

Staking Risks

Please review the risks and the following documentation to ensure your understanding of staking and the product's operation.

Staking doesn't guarantee rewards and involves risks, including a loss of funds.

If you do not have 32 ETH or wish to stake in a more flexible way, you can choose the Kiln staking pool.

FAQs

General

What are the risks of staking?

Staking is not risk-free.

Read our detailed overview of staking risks here.

How to stake using Ledger Live?

Watch this video of how to stake.

Alternatively, follow the below steps in Ledger Live.

1. Connect a wallet with 32 ETH or more.

2. Open 'Discover' and find the Kiln dApp

3. Select 'Dedicated > Stake'

4. Before staking, read and fully understand the 'terms and conditions' and product documentation to ensure you are familiar with it works

5. Use the slider to select the amount you wish to stake and press 'stake'

6. Follow all the on-screen prompts to review and confirm the transaction on your Ledger device

What happens when I stake 32 ETH?

When staking with Kiln, you deposit your 32 ETH (or multiples) into a smart contract:

1. When you stake, you activate your own validators that secure the Ethereum network and receive rewards on your behalf.

2. Validators enter an activation queue and will not receive rewards until activated. The queue time is based on the number of other validators awaiting activation.

3. Your rewards rate will be based on the rewards your own validator earns from participating in the Ethereum network.

4. You can view your validator(s) and the status at any time at 'Dedicated > Validators'.

How to check your validator?

You can view your validator(s) and the status at any time at 'Dedicated > Validators'.

Who holds the validator keys?

Kiln generates and stores the validator keys used to operate all validators in both the Staking Pool and Solo staking. These keys are safely stored according to practices that have received SOC2 certification.

The withdrawal keys, which control the address and is eligible to receive the original stake and any accrued rewards upon a withdrawal, are controlled on your Ledger device.

What are the different validator statuses?

The lifecycle of an Ethereum validator involves several stages, which we simplify within the Kiln dApp for clarity:

• Activating You have initiated the creation of a validator by depositing 32 ETH. The validator is in the process of being activated and will not generate rewards until it is activated by the protocol. The activation queue length is accessible within the "Dedicated > Stake" page, where you initiated the staking transaction.

• Active Your validator is active, participating on the network and generating rewards.

• Exit requested You have requested a validator exit. The exit request will be processed and will join the protocol's exit queue within 72 hours. During this time it is still active and generating rewards.

• Exiting Your validator is in the protocol's exit queue, waiting to be processed to exit the active set. During this time it is still active and generating rewards.

• Withdrawal processing Your validator has exited the active set and has now joined the queue for its balance to be unstaked and withdrawn. It is no longer active nor generating rewards. The validator exit queue length was displayed when you initiated the validator exit transaction, and is always accessible within the "Dedicated > Stake" page.

• Ready to withdraw Your validator is fully exited, the funds have been unstaked and the 32 ETH balance is now ready to withdraw. You can select one or more validators with this status and execute a 'withdraw rewards' transaction.

• Exited Your validator is fully exited, unstaked and all funds have been withdrawn. There is no further action to take

Can I access and operate my position if Kiln UI is not available ?

Yes, you can find a step by step guide in Smart Contract interactions

Validator Rewards

What reward rate should I expect?

The current rate does not assure future performance.

The dApp displays the average reward rate of all Kiln validators from the past 7 days, excluding fees. This rate is updated daily and is published by Rated.

It represents the annualized percentage of rewards generated by all validators in relation to the total staked amount, excluding fees.

Individual validators do not generate consistent or linear rewards. Please read this for more detailed information on validator rewards.

What types of staking rewards will I receive?

Rewards are not guaranteed.

We invite you to read this informative article that provides insights into the expected staking rewards on the Ethereum network. It covers the various types of rewards and their characteristics in detail.

Ethereum staking offers two types of rewards: consensus layer and execution layer rewards.

Execution layer rewards tend to be less frequent but more substantial in value. Consensus layer rewards are received more frequently but are relatively smaller in value.

These rewards become available for withdrawing once they have been automatically "skimmed" by the protocol, which can take up to 9 days.

Are Kiln validators MEV-enabled?

Yes, we use all of the relays that are listed here so there is a cross section of max profit, ethical and regulated.

How long before my validator is active and starts receiving rewards?

Your validator will not receive ANY rewards until it becomes active.

The queue length will vary and is primarily determined by the number of other validators trying to enter the network.

Why am I receiving more / less than the rest of the network or the estimated rate on the Kiln dashboard?

We invite you to read our comprehensive blog post that provides a deeper understanding of how staking rewards work and explores the different types of rewards in detail.

The average reward rate visible on the dashboard represents the average backward-looking rate of all Kiln validators over the past 7 days.

Staking rewards for dedicated validators aren't received consistently on a fixed schedule. Rewards may vary monthly, and it takes time for your validator to gain more opportunities, leading to fluctuating rewards. Over a year, the reward rate tends to stabilize, approaching the network average.

Understanding the dynamics of staking rewards and their fluctuating nature will help you manage your expectations and make more informed decisions as a staker.

Are my rewards automatically sent to my wallet?

No, you need to withdraw your rewards from the Kiln dapp.

See here for guidance on claiming your rewards.

Are my validator rewards pooled and shared with all users?

No. Each validator earns and receives its own rewards from the protocol. Rewards are not shared or pooled.

Is my withdrawal address the wallet I staked from?

No. The withdrawal address of your validator is a smart contract managed by the staking smart contract.

Only the wallet from where you deposited can withdraw the rewards.

Security and Business Continuity

What are the security risks, and how do you mitigate them? Where can I find audit reports?

When you stake with this service, Kiln will operate validator(s) on your behalf. If these validators are incorrectly operated, it is possible that up to 100% of the staked ETH can be slashed, meaning they are destroyed by the protocol.

This is very rare and has never happened to any Kiln validators. Our infrastructure is purpose-built to mitigate this risk. You should however be aware that the risk is never 0.

Please read this article to learn more about Kiln monitoring and slashing and downtime mitigation.

There are two main smart contracts that introduce additional risk:

• The deposit contract which takes the incoming ETH and forwards it into the Beacon chain deposit contract

• The staking contract which retrieves your rewards. When you make a claim for the rewards, the smart contract and sends them back to you minus a commission that is sent to Kiln/Enzyme. The only wallet that can claim your rewards is the wallet that you originally staked from.

Both contracts were developed by Kiln and have been audited by Halborn, Spearbit and Ledger Donjon twice. Please visit https://security.kiln.fi to request the full audit report.

Who holds the validator keys?

Kiln generates and stores the validator keys used to operate your validator. These keys are safely stored according to practices that have received SOC2 certification.

Your withdrawal keys, which control the address and is eligible to receive the original stake and any accrued rewards upon a withdrawal, are controlled on your wallet.

What happens if Kiln goes out of business?

In the unlikely event that Kiln becomes insolvent, we have a business continuity and disaster recovery plan which we were certified for as part of our successful SOC 2 Type 1 (in 2022) and SOC 2 type 2 (in 2023) audits.

We also have an Ethereum-specific policy involving exiting all validators or transferring validation keys in case Kiln can no longer operate the service.

Withdrawing Rewards

How do I withdraw rewards?

To claim your rewards in the Kiln app, follow these steps:

1. Open the Kiln dApp and navigate to the 'Dedicated > Validators' section.

2. Select the validator(s) from which you want to claim the rewards.

3. Click on the 'withdraw rewards' button.

4. Connect your Ledger device and follow the on-screen instructions to approve the transactions.

   1. In the case you received both EL and CL rewards, you will need to sign one transaction to withdraw CL rewards and another one for EL rewards, in Q4 we plan to make this flow smother so that you can withdraw everything in one transaction.

5. Once the transaction is confirmed, you will be able to see your claimed rewards in your wallet.

What are 'Total Rewards'?

This refers to the total sum of rewards generated by your validator from both the consensus layer and the execution layer since the beginning of your staking journey.

What are 'Withdrawable Rewards'?

These are the rewards that are currently available for you to withdraw.

Execution layer rewards are are available to withdraw as soon as they are received, while consensus layer rewards are transferred to the smart contract by the protocol following the regular validator sweep cycle (~every 8-10 days).

Why are 'Total' and 'Withdrawable' rewards different?

'Total' includes all rewards the validator has ever received, including those you have previously claimed. 'Withdrawable' are only those availabel to withdraw right now.

Unstaking

How do I unstake and exit my validator?

Here’s a video showing how to exit your validator from Ledger Live.

Alternatively, you can follow these steps:

1. In Ledger Live, connect the wallet you initiated your original stakes from.

2. Open 'Discover' and find the Kiln dApp

3. Open 'Dedicated > Validators'

4. Select one or multiple validators that you wish to exit

5. Select ‘Request exit’,

6. Follow all the on-screen prompts to review and confirm the transaction on your Ledger device

7. Once the transaction has been confirmed your validator will enter the protocol exit queue. This may take up to 48hrs before joining the exit queue.

Can I exit a validator that is still in the activation queue?

No. You can only exit a validator once it has been processed and becomes active. Validators in the entry queue cannot be exited.

How long does it take to exit a validator and fully withdraw my 32 ETH ?

Upon requesting a validator exit, you'll see an estimated timeframe for the complete exit, indicating when your 32 ETH will be available for withdrawal.

This is the estimated best and worst case total time for completing the validator exit process.

You can see an estimate of the full process here by scrolling down to 'exit' and ‘withdrawal' queue length. The total time of both queues is the most accurate estimate.

What happens after I request a validator exit?

This is a multi-step process that is a core function of the Ethereum protocol and cannot be influenced by Kiln, Ledger or any other node operator.

Upon initiating a validator exit, you'll be presented with the estimated total exit time, which encompasses the entire process detailed below:

1. Request validator exit

2. Request is processed by Kiln

3. Validator enters the 'exit' queue. It continues validating and earning rewards until processed

4. Validator is exited and removed from the active set. It stops participating in the network and no longer receives rewards.

5. Validator enters the 'withdrawal' queue to become withdrawable.

6. Validator waits for its balance to be skimmed by the protocols automatic 'validator sweep' process.

7. 32 ETH is available to withdraw from "Dedicated > Validators".

After step 4 above, find your validator here and access the 'withdrawals' tab for a more accurate estimate for when your ETH will be available to be claim. example this example shows the withdrawal of 32.003087 ETH will occur in about 2 days 10 hrs

Once processed, the balance is sent to the Kiln/Ledger smart contract ready for you to withdraw.