STAKERS & OPERATORS
Liquid Stakers (sometimes called "Stakers")
Liquid Stakers deposit ETH to acquire blkETH, which yields ETH Staking Rewards (if any) automatically.
There is no minimum amount of Ethereum needed to become a Liquid Staker member. A transferable receipt token called blkETH, which represents the staked ETH plus any staking incentives it generates, will be promptly issued to staking participants who deposit ETH into the Blackhole Smart Contract.
The reason Blackhole's staking is "liquid" is that, instead of being locked, Stakers receive liquid blkETH, which can be traded or transferred right away.
Every day, the balances of wallets holding blkETH will be updated to reflect its Staking Rewards (or penalties, if applicable). A method known as rebasing is used to do this.
blkETH is capable of:
be able to be withdrawn from the Blackhole Staking Smart Contract at any moment and exchanged for Ethereum.
be applied to lending, bridging, and other uses inside the DeFi ecosystem.
It is compatible with the majority of DeFi apps because it is a standard ERC20. The static balance receipt token, wblkETH, can envelop blkETH if necessary.
Operators
In order to safeguard Ethereum and produce more blkETH Operator Rewards, operators operating Blackhole nodes can lock some blkETH as collateral.
In addition to blkETH's own Staking Rewards, an Operator who correctly carries out their validation obligations will receive blkETH as Operator Rewards.
An Operator who misbehaves or neglects their validation responsibilities may be penalized on their locked blkETH in order to encourage good behavior.
Operators are only eligible to obtain Key Shares if they have given the Blackhole Smart Contracts sufficient blkETH collateral. This collateral may be given to Stakers as payment in the event that an Operator causes any losses:
Staking Rewards are given to liquid stakers and are secured by operator collateral.
Operator Rewards are added to the base Staking Rewards for their blkETH collateral.
The more blkETH an Operator locks, the more Key Shares they may receive, increasing their ability to generate rewards.
Non-custodial validation
In contrast to alternative options, Operators are wholly non-custodial. They never get to see the validators' money or private key.
By serving as a bridge, the Blackhole Smart Contract deposits ETH into the Ethereum Consensus Layer, where it is utilized to assemble validators.
16 Blackhole Key Shares, which are allotted to several Operators who have provided sufficient collateral, power each 32Ξ Ethereum validator.
In order for a validator to carry out any action involving the signing of its validation tasks, at least two-thirds of its Key Shares must agree on what has to be signed.
Blackhole vs Ethereum staking
Blackhole functions as an expansion of Ethereum staking, offering more features without sacrificing decentralization:
Stakeholders on Ethereum must run a node in order to operate the validator, which is created by locking 32Ξ.
Liquid Stakers can use Blackhole to deposit any amount of ETH, receive liquid blkETH, and earn rewards for staking. Running a node is not necessary!
To increase their level of involvement, operators can run a node and lock blkETH to earn more Operator Rewards.
Operators can operate nodes from only 1Ξ, with more flexibility, and without the need for sophisticated skills thanks to Blackhole.
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