Diva Staking Participating Entities
Here’s everything you need to know about the Participating Entities in Diva Staking. Understanding the roles and interactions is important in order to comprehend the full system.
The Entities are split into two major categories:
- High-level entities: Stakers, Operators, Nodes, Validator pools, Diva Smart Contracts
- Low-level entities: Protocol support roles (Prover, Oracle, Submitter), DKG nodes (Participant, Coordinator) and DVT nodes (Signer, Aggregator).
High-level Entities
Liquid Stakers
Liquid Stakers can deposit ETH to receive divETH, a token that automatically accrues any ETH Staking Rewards generated over time.
There is no minimum ETH requirement to become a Liquid Staker, making it accessible to anyone. Once ETH is deposited into the Diva Smart Contract, stakers instantly receive divETH — a flexible receipt token representing their staked ETH along with any staking rewards it earns.
What sets Diva’s staking apart is its liquidity. With divETH, stakers gain immediate flexibility, as the token is instantly transferable and tradable, unlike traditional staking models where assets are typically locked up. Furthermore, Liquid Stakers enjoy staking rewards that are safeguarded by the collateral provided by Operators (see below).
Holders of divETH will see their balances adjust daily, reflecting any staking rewards or penalties. This dynamic adjustment is made possible through a rebasing mechanism, ensuring that the value of divETH aligns with the actual rewards earned.
For those who require additional functionality, divETH can be wrapped into wdivETH, an ERC20 token. This wrapped version is fully compatible with a wide range of DeFi applications, allowing for greater composability within the ecosystem.
Additionally, divETH’s liquidity opens up opportunities for further financial strategies, such as leveraging or collateralizing your staked assets, expanding the utility of your ETH beyond just staking rewards.
Non-custodial Operators
Operators on Diva must lock ETH, divETH or wdivETH as collateral and operate at least a Node to secure the Ethereum network and earn additional Operator Rewards. By correctly performing their validation duties, Operators receive divETH rewards, including both the standard staking rewards and additional Operator-specific rewards. However, if they fail in their duties or misbehave, they risk penalties that could reduce their locked divETH.
To participate, Operators must provide sufficient ETH, divETH or wdivETH collateral, which allows them to obtain a share of the validator private key called “Key Shares”. These shares are essential for operating validators within the Ethereum Consensus Layer. Each validator is controlled by 5 Key Shares, distributed among multiple Operators. For each validator to complete its duties, at least 3 of its Key Shares must agree and sign the duties, ensuring consensus before any actions are taken.
Diva’s validation process is entirely non-custodial, meaning Operators never have access to the funds or private keys of the validators. The system relies on a 3/5 consensus mechanism, supported by Diva’s Distributed Validator Technology (DVT) and Boneh–Lynn–Shacham (BLS) threshold signatures, making the network more secure and decentralized. The more divETH an Operator locks, the greater their potential for rewards and influence within the network.
Diva Nodes
Diva Nodes are the binary clients run by Operators using their own hardware to participate in Ethereum staking through the Diva Staking protocol. Each node coordinates with other nodes in the network to perform validation tasks in a decentralized manner.
Diva Nodes have sub-roles (detailed in the “Low-Level Entities” section) depending on the specific processes they participate in.
An Operator can register as many nodes as desired under a single identity to distribute the validation workload according to the capabilities and needs of their hardware.
Validator pools
In Diva Staking, a pool represents a distributed validator operated by multiple nodes.
- Pools act as the fundamental units of staking, where the responsibilities of a single Ethereum validator are divided among several Diva Nodes.
- This distributed approach enhances security and fault tolerance, as the operation of the validator is not reliant on a single node or Operator.
- Pools enable the protocol to scale efficiently while maintaining the decentralized ethos of Ethereum staking.
Diva Smart Contracts
The Diva Smart Contract suite is a set of Ethereum-based contracts that orchestrate the Diva Staking protocol. These contracts coordinate the network’s state, manage the flow of ETH between participants, and ensure the protocol operates securely and transparently. Some of the key components of the contracts are:
- Accounting: Maintains the balances of Validators and tracks deposits or withdrawals. It ensures the health of the protocol and manages the onboarding or exiting of Validators on Ethereum.
- Performance: Tracks the performance of Validators within the network. Operators are rewarded based on the metrics tracked by this module, which ensures fair compensation and encourages high standards of operation.
- divETH: A Liquid Staking Token (LST) issued to Stakers at a 1:1 ratio for every ETH deposited. divETH allows Stakers to retain liquidity while participating in staking. This token can be used in DeFi applications, enabling additional earning opportunities while still contributing to the security of the Ethereum network.
- MEV Support: Integrates MEV-Boost rewards into the protocol. By capturing maximum extractable value (MEV) rewards, the protocol increases its efficiency and profitability. These rewards are then distributed proportionally between Stakers and Operators, ensuring equitable sharing of benefits.
- Validator Management: Oversees the lifecycle of Validators, including onboarding, operation, and exit. Decisions regarding Validator status are made based on input from the Accounting and Performance modules. By automating these processes, the protocol ensures seamless operation and rapid response to any network changes or issues.
The combination of Diva Nodes and the Smart Contract system creates a robust, decentralized infrastructure that enhances the Ethereum staking ecosystem. It empowers participants by providing flexibility, transparency, and fairness while maximizing staking rewards and maintaining the protocol’s integrity.
Low-level Entities
Prover
A Prover is a permissionless role responsible for generating proofs of events that occur on the Beacon Chain. These events include:
- DKG Register: Verifies the correct processing of creating an Ethereum validator with at least 1 ETH on the Beacon Chain.
- Validator Exit: Verifies the proper processing of an Ethereum validator’s exit from the Beacon Chain.
- Block Proposal: Ensures the correct signing of a Beacon Chain block by a Diva network validator with an appropriate fee recipient.
Oracle
An Oracle is a decentralized role that sends permissioned transactions to the smart contract with critical information that cannot otherwise be efficiently obtained directly by the smart contract. These transactions include:
- Diva Validators Total Balance: Reports the total balance of active Diva validators, those in the creation process, or those pending exit on the Beacon Chain.
- Operator Rewards: Provides the root of a Merkle tree containing the calculated rewards for each operator based on their performance. This performance includes block creation and accurate participation in attestation duties. Additionally, the Oracle generates and provides the Merkle proof so that operators can claim their rewards from the smart contract.
Submitter
A Submitter is a permissionless role within the Diva network that listens to the P2P Pub/Sub channel of each DKG and sends various transactions to the smart contract. These transactions include:
- DKG Proposal: Sends the results of participants’ contributions to the smart contract.
- DKG Register: Sends a transaction with 1 ETH and the BLS signature of the validator created by the DKG to register the validator on Ethereum.
- DKG Activate: Requests a Merkle proof of the previously submitted DKG register from the Prover and verifies it. If the proof is correct, the Submitter sends a transaction (without the BLS signature, as it’s unnecessary) with the remaining 31 ETH to the previously registered validator, completing the 32 ETH requirement.
Participant
A Participant is a node in the Diva network that seeks to join new validators. This node:
- Listens to validator seeds emitted by the smart contract and communicates with the Coordinator to request participation in each DKG with a specific number of lottery tickets, depending on its available collateral.
- If one of its lottery tickets is chosen, the node begins by sending its contribution to the DKG and verifying the contributions of other participants.
- Once the process is complete, it signs the result with its SECP256k1 private key, enabling the smart contract to verify its participation in the process.
Coordinator
A Coordinator is a node that listens to validator seeds emitted by the smart contract and processes participation requests for DKGs to create new validators. The Coordinator:
- Selects DKG participants based on a pre-established criterion to minimize the total weight of all participants in the set.
- Communicates with selected participants to join the DKG process when one of their lottery tickets is chosen for its low weight (aiming for an optimal set).
- Acts as a collector of participants’ contributions and ensures the final result is calculated.
- Once completed, the Coordinator sends the result to a P2P Pub/Sub channel, allowing any Submitter to relay the message to the smart contract.
Signer
A Signer is a node holding a fragment of a BLS key for a validator as a result of a DKG process. Signers validate duties proposed by an Aggregator if they are deemed correct. Signers belonging to the same group, as they share fragments of the same BLS key, are collectively referred to as a pool.
Aggregator
An Aggregator is a special type of Signer elected through a consensus protocol for each pool. This node is responsible for proposing, collecting, and aggregating the signatures for the duties requested by its Ethereum node for the validator representing the pool.
