Ethereum (ETH)

Figment’s average SRR throughout Q1 2024 was 3.9%. When Figment Validators were selected to propose blocks, they outperformed the median EL rewards by ~3%. 

There are two different types of ETH rewards. 

Consensus layer (CL) rewards consist of new issuance from attestations, block proposals, and sync committee participation. Including evidence of slashable events in a block is also a source of CL rewards. Even though on a per block basis the rewards for proposing are much higher, over the long term, the vast majority of CL rewards come from attestations.

Execution layer (EL) rewards are received by validators only when they are proposing blocks, which is a random and infrequent event. EL rewards include MEV rewards and tips (i.e., priority fees).

Unstaking on Ethereum requires permanently exiting your validator from the active set. The total amount of time it takes to unstake on Ethereum varies and is a function of the number of currently active validators and how many are requesting to exit. After requesting to exit, a validator first enters the exit queue (of which 8 validators are currently dequeued per epoch) and is still subject to rewards and penalties while in this queue. 

Once the validator has left the exit queue, the validator no longer earns rewards and waits an additional 256 epochs (27.3 hours) until it becomes eligible for the withdrawal sweep. Ethereum processes 16 withdrawals per block in order of validator index. Currently, this process can take several days. Take a look at our unstaking time estimator to learn more about the process in depth here.

Figment provides rewards reporting via your Figment account. Generate daily rewards reports as CSV files on a flexible date. View total rewards earned over 30 days, 6 months and a year on the dashboard. For developers, query ETH rewards by validator or by withdrawal address. To find out more about Figment’s Rewards API, check out our developer docs here.

Post Shanghai & Capella upgrades, partial withdrawals allow stakers to access a portion of their CL rewards, i.e., any amount above 32 ETH, while continuing to stake. Execution layer rewards are deposited almost immediately as they are received by validators while Consensus layer rewards are made liquid periodically (currently every ~4 days per validator) by Ethereum. View the detailed composition of your rewards within your Figment account.

When staking ETH with Figment, it is currently not possible to choose multiple wallet addresses to receive your rewards. All rewards are sent automatically to your validator’s withdrawal address. Your withdrawal address cannot be changed.

Figment mitigates ETH staking risks such as slashing by applying our “safety over liveness” approach, which prioritizes security. We execute a four layer strategy to slashing risk mitigation in our Ethereum infrastructure. These four considerations are: 

• Automated, deterministic key distribution across validator clients upon generation to ensure only one validator key is deployed to one validator client.
• Local anti-slashing database per validator client (VC) that records every block and attestation signed by validators. The VC uses this information to avoid attesting or proposing two different attestations or blocks for the same slot.
• The Remote Signer acts as a universal slashing database across all validator clients to detect multiple signatures for the same block height to prevent a double-signing event.
• Private keys stored separately from signing infrastructure in zero-trust secured vault.

To learn more, read What does Safety Over Liveness Really Mean?

A maximum of 250 validators (or 8000 ETH) can be staked in a single transaction with Figment by using our audited and battle-tested batch smart contract.

Transactions for depositing to validators incur gas and transaction fees, so it is recommended to keep some extra ETH liquid in the wallet from which you wish to stake from when depositing.

You keep all of the consensus layer rewards earned by your validator when staking through the Figment app and only pay a service fee when your validator is selected to propose a block and earns execution layer rewards. This fee is collected on-chain automatically through a smart contract. Currently, the service fee is 30% of execution layer rewards, but is subject to change – see this article for a diagram of this fee in relation to total ETH rewards earned.

Figment supports both the Lighthouse and Teku Ethereum clients. Multiple client implementations can make the network stronger by reducing its dependency on a single codebase. We support multiple clients to avoid client concentration and reduce the impact of a client-specific problem leading to potential penalties. 

Figment supports multiple MEV relays including Flashbots and BloXroute Regulated. Multi-relay support helps maximize the rewards derived from MEV-Boost.

Currently, we are distributing our validators in Canada and Ireland. We plan to add more regions in the near future. Figment’s multi-region support allows ETH stakers to distribute their validators across different geographic regions. 

There are several benefits for stakers to take advantage of this feature. These include reducing the impacts of unlikely events, such as unexpected outages. It also allows for the strategic positioning of validators to leverage regional regulatory frameworks. Additionally, it offers robust disaster recovery and business continuity for our clients, especially if servers in one region shut down abruptly and/or permanently.