The College DAO Validator Program: Introducing Blockchain Infrastructure to Higher Education

College DAO
13 min readMar 19, 2024

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Validators form the backbone of the blockchain ecosystem. Validator nodes are servers that run specialized software to contribute to the infrastructure of Proof of Stake (PoS) blockchains.

The primary responsibilities of validator nodes are to verify new transactions, create new blocks, and maintain the integrity and security of the blockchain’s historical record.

Because these nodes are distributed around the world and is run by a diverse group of independent operators worldwide, they play a vital role in ensuring that the blockchain remains tamper-proof (by any single party).

Every node stores the history of the blockchain, and runs the same intricate consensus algorithm which helps validator nodes around the world collectively agree on the state of the distributed ledger.

Why Operate a Validator Node?

Operating a validator node is an incentivized process that rewards participants for running the software that contributes to the network’s security and consensus mechanisms.

Node operators have the ability to stake their own tokens or accept token delegations from others into their validators. By locking up these tokens as stake, validators demonstrate their commitment to the network and are eligible to participate in the consensus process (Proof of Stake).

When a validator successfully validates transactions and creates new blocks, they are rewarded with transaction fees collected from the transactions included in those blocks. These fees are then distributed between the node operator and the parties that delegated their tokens to the validator, with the precise distribution determined by the node operator.

Flow of fees for different types of staking [Source]

The prospect of earning these transaction fee rewards serves as a powerful economic incentive for individuals and entities to operate validator nodes. It provide a means to generate yield from staked tokens, and it also encourages participants to act as responsible network custodians, as any attempt to undermine the network’s integrity could result in the slashing (partial or complete loss) of their staked tokens.

This is why users carefully choose to stake with different validators depending on how much they trust the operator to do their job, as well as the yield the validator can provide after the node operator’s fee.

Why Decentralization is Important

Decentralization is a core design principle of blockchain networks — this primarily helps to ensure resilience, censorship resistance, and the absence of single points of failure. These networks rely on a distributed, decentralized set of validator nodes that do not collude as they add new blocks or store the history of the blockchain.

The objective is to eliminate the need for a central authority or trusted third party, as the network collectively enforces (through the software) the consensus rules through a decentralized validation process.

Ideally, blockchains strive for a high degree of decentralization, with stakes distributed across a large number of independent validators. However, in practice, there is a tendency for staking pools and large holders to consolidate a significant portion of the staked tokens. This concentration of stake raises concerns about the potential for a single entity to gain undue influence over the network.

Proof-of-Stake threshold definitions [Source]

Most blockchain networks have known thresholds defining the risks of centralization. For instance, in the case of Ethereum, if a single party amasses over 33% of the total staked Ether (ETH), they would theoretically have the ability to block a 67% supermajority of validators, effectively stalling the network.

As of late, this concern has been exacerbated by the prospect of Spot Ether Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs), which could potentially lead to further centralization of ETH holdings in the hands of a few large institutional investors.

Maintaining a healthy level of decentralization is crucial for preserving the core value propositions and the principles of blockchain technology, such as trustless economics, immutability, and censorship resistance.

On the bright side, there is a continuous effort by the industry to encourage a more diverse and distributed set of validators, ranging from educational initiatives to incentive programs aimed at promoting greater decentralization in validator networks.

Major players in the validator sector of the blockchain industry are actively working to address this issue through innovative solutions. Projects like Lido, Obol Network, SSV Network, Stader Labs, and Diva Staking are at the forefront of developing Decentralized Validator Technology (DVT). More on DVTs in a bit!

EthStaker and the Ethereum staking community [Source]

Moreover, the vibrant Ethereum staking community, including over 50,000 stakers in the EthStaker community and the larger solo staker community, is contributing significantly to the decentralization efforts. Individual stakers, operating their own validator nodes, help to distribute the network’s stake across a diverse set of participants, thereby reducing the potential for centralization.

Initiatives like our validator program, which aims to engage universities, blockchain foundations, and student blockchain clubs in running validator nodes on campus, is also in an effort to bolster the decentralization efforts. Fostering a broader ecosystem of validators and promoting the adoption of staking among educational institutions can help to diversify validator sets.

Introducing the College DAO Validator Program

In a significant step towards formally integrating core blockchain technologies into the higher education ecosystem, the College DAO validator program aims to establish blockchain validators in partnership with universities, student clubs, blockchain foundations, and protocols. This initiative is the first of its kind, marking a pivotal moment for both the higher education sector and the larger blockchain industry.

Starting With Why

Validators, as previously discussed, are essential components that form the backbone of decentralized blockchain networks. We have a strong emphasis on keeping positive impact as our north star as we roll out this program — here are some key objectives we seek to achieve through the successful rollout of this program:

Impact 1: Education and training

Firstly, this serves as a practical and hands-on educational opportunity for students and university departments to gain firsthand experience with the underlying infrastructure powering blockchain networks.

By actively participating in the operation and maintenance of validators, universities and student teams can deepen their understanding of consensus mechanisms, distributed systems, and the intricacies of blockchain technology. This is extremely beneficial for students who will be entering the workforce with a significant knowledge advantage

This is a first step that bridges the gap between theory and practice, helping in the skill development of a highly sought-after talent pool that is well-acquainted with blockchain infrastructure and network security.

Impact 2: Collaboration between key organizations

Secondly, the program fosters collaboration and knowledge-sharing between academia and the blockchain industry, keeping universities at the forefront of technological advancements. This initiative takes a comprehensive and protocol/chain-agnostic approach, ensuring that a diverse range of blockchain networks are represented.

This broad exposure will enable students and university departments to explore various consensus algorithms, scalability solutions, and diverse technology stacks. At the same time, the industry can leverage research and innovation capabilities, as well as the robust compute infrastructure at academic institutions.

Furthermore, the program empowers university teams, including faculty and staff, to deepen their understanding of blockchain technologies and explore their applications in education, research, and innovation.

Impact 3: Increased decentralization of validators

Validators are a cornerstone of the blockchain world, and are key to upholding fundamental principles of blockchain technology such as decentralization, resilience, censorship resistance, and the absence of single points of failure.

By leveraging campus infrastructure at multiple trusted higher education institutions, we intend to effectively distribute the network’s validator nodes across a diverse set of independent operators. This approach mitigates the risk of a single entity or group exerting undue influence or control over the validation process, which could potentially undermine the integrity and trustless nature of the blockchain.

Moreover, by empowering community validators, such as students, alumni, blockchain clubs, and universities, we foster a more inclusive and participatory ecosystem. This grassroots involvement strengthens decentralization of node operations, and also cultivates a sense of ownership in the success of the network as stakeholders become active participants.

Impact 4: Legitimacy

The blockchain industry has often existed on the fringes, operating independently from traditional institutions and infrastructure. This separation has led to skepticism and resistance from established entities, hindering the widespread adoption and legitimacy of blockchain technology.

This presents a pivotal opportunity to bridge this divide. Collaboration with reputable universities can help to showcase the neutrality and potential of blockchain technology. It demonstrates that this transformative innovation can coexist and complement traditional institutions, lending credibility and establishing blockchain as a valuable field of study and research.

This also serves as a platform for universities to explore and validate the positive use cases of blockchain technology. Through rigorous research and practical application, academic institutions can contribute to the development and refinement of blockchain solutions, addressing real-world challenges across various domains. This aids in dispelling misconceptions and fostering a deeper understanding of the technical, social and economic implications of transformative blockchain technologies.

Impact 5: Funding what matters

Blockchain clubs and student organizations play a crucial role in fostering innovation, knowledge-sharing, and community-building in the higher education ecosystem. However, they often face significant funding challenges, relying on donations or member dues to sustain their activities.

This program enables these groups to generate revenue through validator fees, providing a stable source of funding. This financial support can fuel innovation, events, workshops, and educational initiatives, fostering a vibrant blockchain ecosystem across universities.

Furthermore, the potential for universities to generate revenue through validator operations could incentivize greater investment in blockchain research, curriculum development, and infrastructure. This influx of resources can fuel innovation, attract top talent, and position educational institutions as leaders in this rapidly evolving field.

The Rollout

To begin with, the program will focus on rolling out validators for the Ethereum network, serving as an initial engagement with universities. This first phase will allow students and faculty to gain hands-on experience with the Ethereum blockchain, one of the most prominent and widely adopted platforms in the industry.

Stakeholders and the ecosystem involved in the College DAO Validator Program

We are also interested in exploring validator networks for other major blockchains, such as Solana, Avalanche, Sui Network, Cosmos, and Injective, among others. As the program progresses and participants become more familiar with running validators in collaboration with universities, the scope will expand to encompass a diverse set of networks. This would expose participants to various architectural approaches and design philosophies underpinning different blockchain platforms.

Decentralized Validator Technologies (DVTs)

Distributed Validator Technology (DVT) is an innovative approach designed to address the potential centralization of validator control.

While the Ethereum ecosystem has traditionally prided itself on operating with a high degree of decentralization, the concentration of staked Ether among a few large staking providers has raised concerns about the fair distribution of power, centralized control, and the risk of network attacks.

The core principle behind DVT is that no single party has complete control over the staked funds or the validation process. By leveraging cutting-edge techniques such as secure multi-party computation (MPC), threshold signatures, and distributed key generation, DVT solutions split and share the cryptographic keys for validator control among multiple independent parties that collectively operate the validator.

An overview of Distributed Validator Technology (DVT) [Source]

This means that DVT distributes and decentralizes the operation of validators across multiple independent parties, so that validator’s operations like creating new blocks or validating transactions require a consensus among the key holders. This distributed control ensures that no single entity can unilaterally manipulate the validator.

Another benefits of DVT is the added resiliency it provides to the network. If one of the key-holding nodes goes offline or becomes unavailable, the remaining nodes can collectively fill in and keep the validator operational, ensuring continuity of service and minimizing downtime.

Here’s a great article on DVT by CoinDesk and a push towards greater decentralization with regards to validator stake on Ethereum.

Additionally, this also significantly lower the barrier to entry for participating in validator operations. Running a standalone Ethereum validator requires staking a minimum of 32 Ether, which can be a substantial investment for many individuals or organizations.

By distributing the staking requirement across multiple participants, the individual stake needed from each party is substantially reduced. For instance, if a DVT cluster consists of 10 members, the average staking requirement per participant would be approximately 3.2 Ether, making it more accessible for organizations like universities to get involved.

The Plan

The College DAO validator program aims to establish a global network of university-operated validators, fostering a robust and diverse blockchain ecosystem. The program will be implemented by running validator sets comprising ~10 universities, as we collaborate with institutions around the world.

University validator clusters are being set up around the world

As each region gains more traction, additional validator clusters will be spun up to accommodate the growing demand. For example, if our scale of operations expands globally, we may have clusters such as APAC_1, APAC_2, EMEA_1, NA_1, NA_2, LATAM_1, and so on.

The program will be rolled out in three main phases, each phase designed to ramp up and prepare students, faculty, and staff with the necessary resources to effectively run and maintain validator nodes. This phased approach ensures a smooth transition and equips participants with the knowledge and skills required to contribute to the validator network successfully.

Phase I-III of the validator program [Draft]

Phase I: Education and Hands-on Training

Node operation is not a trivial task, but it is also not overly complex. However, it does have a learning curve, and students, faculty, and staff need to be trained to operate and maintain validator nodes effectively.

The education phase will cover essential topics, including an introduction to validator architecture and the staking ecosystem. Additionally, important concepts such as solo staking, DVT, securing validator/wallet keys, and minority clients will be explored.

Session 1: ETH validator workshop on solo-staking on the Holesky testnet [Tweet]

We have kicked off the first training session with five university blockchain clubs in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region — APU Blockchain & Cryptocurrency Club, NTU Blockchain, SMU Blockchain, NUS Fintech Society, and SUTD Blockchain.

Samuel, the founder of Stakesaurus guided students from across the region to spin up validators on the Holesky testnet, following this walkthrough.

During the two-hour session, the following topics were covered:

  • A brief introduction to validators and solo staking
  • Selecting hardware on Google Cloud Platform and spinning up compute instances
  • Hardening security for the server and setting up firewalls
  • Generating validator keys
  • Installing and running the Execution and Consensus layer software
  • Starting the validator service (and waiting for nodes to sync up to the latest block)
  • Receiving Holesky testnet ETH to stake into the validator
  • Students successfully spun up validators 💪

Recordings for future training sessions will be uploaded and shared with students and teams who joined, allowing them to rewatch the content at their own pace.

Phase II: Testnet Operations

In this phase, the overall system will undergo a semi-official test drive as we run live validators on the testnet. During this phase, we will closely monitor the performance of the validator nodes operated by the participating universities.

Key metrics such as uptime, network synchronization, and consensus participation will be evaluated to ensure the functionality and reliability of the network before moving to the mainnet.

Additionally, we will be conducting rigorous security assessments to identify and address any potential vulnerabilities or weaknesses in the network. This proactive approach aims to fortify the system’s security, safeguarding it against potential threats.

Universities that demonstrate consistent uptime and meet the predetermined threshold during the testnet phase will be issued credentials to run validators on the mainnet.

The testnet launch phase is a crucial stepping stone, allowing participants to gain practical experience in operating validators in a controlled environment while enabling us to fine-tune the system and address any issues that may arise.

Phase III: Mainnet Operations

After successfully completing the testnet phase, we will be able to confidently proceed to the mainnet phase with a robust and battle-tested system. This phase marks the transition from a controlled test environment to live blockchain networks with validators actively contributing to processing real transactions and securing blockchains.

To reduce the chances of downtime, we will be deploying monitoring tools and automated notification/alert bots to provide real-time insights into the performance and health of the validator nodes. This enables university teams to stay informed and proactively address any anomalies or potential issues, minimizing the impact of any disruptions on the network.

Throughout the mainnet phase, our team will work closely with the participating universities, providing ongoing support, guidance, and troubleshooting assistance. Regular check-ins and knowledge-sharing sessions will be conducted to foster a collaborative environment and ensure that best practices are shared among all participants.

A Community Effort

This is a massive undertaking and there’s a lot of work to be done. This initiative gives students in blockchain a unique opportunity to be extensively immersed into blockchain technology from setting up wallets to running validators and participating across blockchains.

We need all the help we can get and everyone can play a role! If you’re at a university, blockchain club, or blockchain protocol/foundation reach out to us to join the movement. Feel free to share this with people and organizations you feel could benefit from this as well!

In the meantime, stay tuned for more updates and other opportunities on our Twitter and Substack

DISCLAIMER: This is not financial advice. Staking, delegation, and cryptocurrencies involve a high degree of risk, and there is always the possibility of loss, including the failure of all staked digital assets. Additionally, delegators are at risk of slashing in case of security or liveness faults on some protocols. We advise you to do your due diligence before choosing a validator.

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College DAO
College DAO

Written by College DAO

CollegeDAO is the network college building education infrastructure to integrate web3 at 100+ universities worldwide.

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