Kraken was the first major crypto exchange to fully adopt Decentralized Validator Technology (DVT) across the Ethereum staking infrastructure using the open source SSV network protocol.
This move shows a major shift towards Ethereum’s more decentralized validator architecture.
“After a successful transition, essentially all of Kraken’s ETH staking infrastructure will run on a distributed, ballot cluster, rather than a single-machine valiter,” a Kraken spokesman told BlockWorks.
DVT decentralizes the activation operations by splitting responsibility into multiple independent nodes that cooperate in performing the proof and blocking proposals. According to Kraken, each validator is currently operated by a “normally a cluster of four independent nodes” and has intentional diversity in both software and geography.
“We design for maximum diversity. Nodes spread across different regions and run a combination of Ethereum client implementations to avoid single-client bugs that affect the entire cluster,” the spokesman added.
Key management was also overhauled as part of the transition. “As part of the migration to DVT, validator keys were split up and distributed to cluster operators, ensuring that a single operator doesn’t hold the entire key,” says Kraken. For newly created validators, the keys are generated in a distributed manner that “no full private keys are assembled.”
To reduce the risk of thrashing, Kraken operators use a synchronized, distributed thrashing protection database. “If a node goes offline, you can synchronize the history of the obligations signed from the cluster before signing a new one,” the spokesman explained.
SSV Labs, which develops the underlying DVT protocol, highlighted the modularity and configurability of its approach. “The nature of DVT is the diversity of design, and it’s like a ‘user’ choice. All participants can optimize for diversity, whatever it is,” an SSV spokesman told BlockWorks.
