SafeStake Monthly Newsletter – May 2025
Shaping the future of staking
Mainnet Upgrades, Governance Milestones, and New Revenue Paths Ahead
As ETH staking climbs to new highs, SafeStake is stepping boldly into its next chapter. May marked a defining chapter for SafeStake. With key upgrades to mainnet, major governance proposals, and the launch of innovative validator incentives, we continue pushing Ethereum’s decentralised validator infrastructure forward. Here's what happened—and what’s ahead.
🔧 Mainnet Milestone: Pectra v4.1.0 Live
Our biggest technical development this month was the release of SafeStake Mainnet v4.1.0 – Pectra.
All operators were required to upgrade before May 7, 2025, 10:00 UTC. This version ensures compatibility with Ethereum’s evolving protocol and lays the groundwork for greater performance and resilience across all validator operations.
📄 Full Upgrade Instructions
🛠️ GitHub Release Notes
Your continued dedication keeps the network strong. Thank you for updating promptly and maintaining validator uptime. This helps keep the system secure and seamless.
🗳️ Major Governance Vote: ETH as the Protocol Fee Token
SafeStake reached a pivotal decision point with a new proposal now open for voting:
Adopt ETH as the fee token for the SafeStake protocol.
Why This Matters:
✅ Simplifies onboarding by reducing operational friction for new validators.
✅ Aligns with broader Ethereum economics, where ETH is the native incentive layer.
✅ Strengthens DVT utility by using protocol-generated ETH to buy back DVT.
✅ Preserves DVT as a core governance and incentive token.
📖 Read the full proposal breakdown
🗳️ Vote now on Snapshot
This shift is designed to align SafeStake more closely with the broader Ethereum economy, reducing dependency on the DVT token while preserving its long-term role in governance.
Your vote shapes the economic foundation of SafeStake moving forward.
📉 Lessons from $DVT: Adaptation through Evolution
The decision to use ETH as the fee token is more than operational—it’s strategic.
Over the last few months, $DVT faced:
Reduced liquidity, in part due to delisting from price aggregators.
Drop in trading volume impacting visibility and access.
Validator onboarding slowdown, limiting mainnet expansion.
Rather than resist market signals, we’ve responded: focusing liquidity strategy on ETH, reinforcing validator growth through aligned incentives, and preserving DVT as a governance and incentive alignment tool—not a transactional one.
This evolution reflects one core strength: our ability to adapt to what the market—and the mission—demand.
🌐 SafeStake x Lido: A Path Toward Strengthened Decentralisation
As liquid staking grows (2.8% of ETH staked now belongs to restaking protocols, led by ether.fi at 84.55% market share), collaboration becomes essential—not optional.
That’s why we’re actively exploring deeper alignment with Lido, the largest liquid staking protocol with 8.96M ETH staked (≈ $23.5B).
🤝 A proposed joint webinar would explore:
“The Importance of Collaborating with Lido: How Infrastructure Like SafeStake Strengthens Ethereum Decentralisation.”
Let us know if you'd attend—or share other topics you’d find valuable.
🧠 Community Feedback Spotlight: Challenges & Solutions
Several recurring themes emerged in recent discussions. We heard your concerns loud and clear and Where are the three key challenges raised — and how we’re responding:
Community Concern
Proposed Action
Low Liquidity
Begin ETH fee collection and bolster protocol reserves.
$DVT Visibility
Seed liquidity pools with ETH; explore MEXC relisting.
Validator Shortage
Launch incentive campaigns; forge integrations with Lido, Rocket Pool, etc.
We hear you. We’re acting.
🎯 New Validator Incentive Program
To address validator scarcity and support mainnet scaling, SafeStake will relaunch a Validator Incentive Program.
✅ Designed to reduce barriers and reward early contributors
✅ Tied directly to validator performance and uptime
✅ Compatible with upcoming ETH-as-fee-token migration
Let’s build together—one validator at a time.
📊 Ethereum Staking Snapshot – May 2025
Here’s the broader picture from the Ethereum staking ecosystem:
🔐 ETH Staked: 34.56M (+0.81%)
📈 Staking Ratio: 28.14% (closing in on 30%)
📊 APR: 3.02% (excl. MEV)
🧱 Active Validators: 1.08M (9.07% YoY growth)
🥇 Top LSD: Lido (8.96M ETH, $23.5B TVL)
📉 ETH Price: $2,616 (↓1.15%)
⛽ Gas Range: 2.6–20.1 gwei | Avg: 8 gwei
📌 Source: Staking Rewards, DeFiLlama, Beaconcha.in, Dune Analytics
With staking levels near 30%, liquidity is tightening—highlighting the importance of restaking solutions to increase validator yields.
📅 What’s Next?
We’re entering a pivotal 90-day window. The goal: Protocol sustainability through validator growth and ETH-denominated revenue.Our draft plan includes:
🧮 Validator fee rewards for the consecutive 6 months starting from 1st June, 2025.
💸 Revenue projections by stream
🧲 Growth KPIs for validator acquisition & protocol expansion
📢 Community collaboration to implement & refine the roadmap
Let’s make SafeStake self-sustaining—and unstoppable.
👋 Final Word
May has been a transformative month. Between technical upgrades, governance shifts, and strategic pivots, we’re laying the foundation for the next era of SafeStake — one rooted in resilience, alignment with Ethereum’s core values, and increased validator incentives.
Your participation is what drives this forward.
🎙️ If you missed us at Staking Summit Day 1, catch the highlights here
Thanks again for your trust and contributions — and as always, stay tuned.
Until next month,
— The SafeStake Team
SafeStake is a decentralized and pioneering technology company focused on revolutionizing Ethereum staking. With its cutting-edge Distributed Validator Technology (DVT), SafeStake provides an ultra-secure, fault-tolerant environment for Ethereum validators to maximize staking rewards and minimize penalties. SafeStake is committed to driving the growth, innovation, and decentralization of the Ethereum network while ensuring the security and prosperity of its participants.