ETH Validator Report March 2025.pdf

Ethereum Validators Performance

March 2025 Report

Blockdaemon is the #1 staking provider for institutions, offering secure, risk-mitigated rewards across 50+ blockchain networks. We are entrusted with $10B staked assets and deliver 99.9% uptime. This monthly report contains trends about the current Ethereum ecosystem and metrics on Blockdaemon’s Ethereum validator performance comparing it to the network averages.

Market data provided by:

Blockdaemon APIs and Rated.network

Blockdaemon empowers Fortune 500 enterprises, banks, custodians, and trusts with secure blockchain infrastructure, including nodes, staking, wallet, and DeFi products.
We are ISO 27001 Certified — The Gold Standard of Information Security Management Systems in managing and securing sensitive data through structured security controls.
Blockdaemon’s standard of compliance includes OFAC compliance.

Market Overview

Ethereum’s value peaked early in March at USD 2,548.81, then declined steadily to close the month at USD 1,815.64.
Trading volume hit a high of just over USD 35 billion on March 10 before falling to less than half that by month’s end.
These broader market dynamics influenced MEV opportunities and performance throughout the month.

March Protocol Reward Rate (PRR)


Blockdaemon PRR Average	3.35%
Network PRR Average	3.26%

PRR (Protocol Reward Rate): An estimate of the protocol reward rate based on past ETH staking data. It does not guarantee future results. Blockdaemon uses rated.network API to track the PRR of all ETH validators Blockdaemon currently operates. This allows for apples-to-apples comparisons, based on a third-party standard.

Blockdaemon has outperformed the network average 5 of the last 6 months.

March performance overall in the network decreased in the later half of March, likely due to decreased trading volume and activity on the network in the same time frame.

Pectra Hardfork Update: Latest as of March 2025

With the Pectra Hardfork now scheduled for May 7 following a successful Hoodi testnet upgrade, we see opportunities to further refine our MEV capture strategies and onboard PRR opportunities.

Our focus remains on leveraging operational strengths, analysing MEV timing game cohorts at a more granular view (including cloud-based and bare metal instances and types, and opportunities to minimize latency and optimize performance), and closely monitoring market dynamics as the Ethereum ecosystem continues to evolve.

Staking with Blockdaemon

0 Slashing events last 12 months
100% machine uptime
99.9% protocol uptime

ACTIVE VALIDATORS

10,700

NET PENETRATION

APR%

3.31%

RAVER

98.2%

EFFECTIVENESS BREAKDOWN

PARTICIPATION RATE: 100%
INCLUSION DELAY: 1.013
CORRECTNESS: 99.5%

Public Rated.network view, only includes publicly-tagged Blockdaemon validators (not representative of whole fleet operated)

Compliance First

Overview of OFAC Compliance:

OFAC compliance means putting in place safeguards to prevent transactions from reaching or involving sanctioned individuals or entities. We use third-party relays that block transactions from or to OFAC-sanctioned addresses.

Relays and Their Role:

A relay is a component that acts as a trusted layer between block builders and validators, ensuring fair payload routing, block validity, and data availability.

Relays play a critical part in managing Maximal Extractable Value (MEV).

Relays aggregate bids from multiple block builders, submitting the highest to validators, allowing for MEV extraction by ensuring validators get the most profitable blocks.

Validators connect with relays, which aggregate and relay winning bids on blocks, while mitigating the risks associated with MEV manipulation.