How to stake ETH on Safe & FAQ

Staking is not risk-free.

Read our detailed overview of staking risks here.

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'.

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.

The lifecycle of an Ethereum validator involves several stages, which we simplify within the Kiln Widget 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 presented in the deposit flow and in safe transaction confirmation page.

• 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processing Your validator has exited the active set and has now joined the queue for its balance to be unstaked and withdrawn. It is no longer active nor generating rewards.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 is presented in the withdraw flow and in safe transaction confirmation 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

Depending on validator performances and fees the rewards rate vary from one platform to another. When comparing the performance of staking provider make sure your are comparing the same rates, some staking providers only display the gross rewards rate of the network before their commissions.

At Kiln we decided to only showcase real performances from Kiln Validators and we include the commision we take so that the amount display is exactly what you receive.

You can compare all staking providers on tools like rated.

Every month, Kiln publish a staking report on how we compare to the network, Kiln has proven to be generally above the market in term of rewards performances (eg. Kiln generated +2.79% rewards vs avg of the network in september 2024)

The current rate does not assure future performance.

The widget displays the net average reward rate of all Kiln validators from the past 7 days, net of 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.

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.

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

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.

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 widget 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.

No, you need to claim your ETH rewards from the Kiln widget.

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

Please find a detailed user guide bellow under claim 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 less the fees.

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

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

Please find a detailed user guide bellow.

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

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.

From safe wallet and the stake section you can see an estimated exit time for completing the validator exit process, after this you will need to claim ETH from the withdraw section.

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.

This is a multi-step process that is a core function of the Ethereum protocol and cannot be influenced by Kiln 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 a smart contract owned by you that was setup the first time you staked with Kiln, it's also where you are receiving rewards, then you are ready for you to claim your ETH from this contract.