Blockdaemon's February 2025 Ethereum Validator Performance

‍

Blockdaemon, an industry leading institutional staking operator, recorded strong Ethereum validator performance for the month of February, with a Protocol Reward Rate (PRR) of 3.45%. This was 5 basis points above Ethereum’s network average.

‍

Blockdaemon’s Ethereum’s February Analysis 

‍

In the first half of February, our validators achieved 3.42% PRR. However, mid-February saw a shift toward bearish conditions: ETH trading volumes dropped to around $11 billion amid uncertainty fueled by trade wars, economic insecurity, Bitcoin’s plunge from $102k to below $80k, memecoin volatility, and the Bybit hack. 

‍

Despite these headwinds, Blockdaemon’s validators secured strong rewards through the latter half of the month, capturing a substantial share of daily fees, rewards, and MEV, successfully mitigating volatility for our customers. 

‍

Where Do Blockdaemon’s ETH Protocol Rewards Come From? 

‍

When you stake ETH with Blockdaemon, your validators receive rewards from both the consensus layer (CL) and execution layer (EL). Most rewards come from CL for activities like attesting, proposing blocks, and participating in the sync committee. When a validator is selected to propose a block (a CL event), it triggers both CL rewards (for the proposal) and EL rewards (from fees and MEV). Because block proposals are infrequent and randomly assigned, the majority of rewards still come from CL activities, with EL rewards depending on network demand.

‍

Conclusion

Despite the Pectra hardfork delay, new launches like Berachain’s mainnet highlight the positive, underlying sentiment around Ethereum. Blockdaemon remains committed to delivering top-tier institutional infrastructure - both in bullish phases and during market turbulence - helping our clients secure staking rewards reliably.

‍