Techne
Information about the Techne Credential Program can be found at https://squadstaking.com/techne.
Welcome to the Obol Network Techne Credential 👋
At Obol Network, we believe in empowering our community by providing them with the tools, knowledge, and recognition they deserve. The credential is designed to provide an on-chain attestation that identifies, acknowledges, and elevates individuals who demonstrate proven experience, knowledge, and commitment within the Distributed Validators domain.
Drawing inspiration from the rich heritage of Ancient Greece, the name "Techne" reflects ideas of art, skill, or craft, representing technical mastery. Today, Techne embodies our vision to empower and uplift individuals who not only showcase technical expertise but also actively contribute to strengthening the staking ecosystem.
Why Earn the Credential?
Each Obol Techne Credential is a verifiable, non-transferable NFT credential from Obol that proves your knowledge and experience operating Obol DVs. This on-chain attestation can then be used to showcase your experience, whether it’s to the Obol Core Team, other Obol community members, or the broader staking ecosystem. The credentials are defined in different tiers to ensure a progression path towards deeper expertise while offering an accessible entry point.
Techne Credential Benefits
The goal of the Obol Techne Credential is to give community validators more opportunities to become node operators. Today, many liquid staking protocols and other staking services are looking to build community-focused, permissionless, and more decentralized node operator sets. However, to be considered in those programs, validators must have proven experience and demonstrated ability to run high-performing nodes. The key benefit of the Obol Techne Credential is to give every validator to prove their knowledge and experience with Obol DVs.
- Recognition: Receive a verifiable non-transferable NFT to prove and showcase your knowledge and experience running distributed validators.
- Opportunities: Credentialed individuals have proven experience running distributed validators, providing a path to access delegated stake in programs such as EtherFi’s Operation Solo Staker, Lido’s SimpleDVT Module and many more.
Program Overview
Eligibility
The Obol Techne Credential is open to all community members interested in gaining knowledge and experience in running distributed validators.
Credentialing Journey
The credentialing journey currently takes place in waves. Each wave lasts around 8 weeks and consists of a preparation period called the Learning Phase, followed by a hands-on experience period, called Experience, during which Obol monitors performance. Before the start of a wave, you already have the opportunity to create your squad. Credentials are awarded at the end of the wave based on a snapshot taken that verifies average performance during the Experience phase.
Also, it's important to understand the concept of Credential Tiers. Currently, there are three: the Base Credential, the Bronze Credential and the Silver Credential. Base and Bronze are earned on testnet, with Silver earned on mainnet.
Learning Phase & Knowledge Assessment
During each wave of our program, you will have the opportunity to join live training sessions on our Discord. We will teach the basics of Ethereum Proof of Stake and Obol Distributed Validators (DVs), and will demonstrate how to run your first DV. There will also be a training session where you can ask questions and receive answers directly from experienced community members. Head to Discord to see the full agenda of the current wave or next wave.
Also, don’t forget to thoroughly read the comprehensive documentation!
Practical Experience
To obtain your Obol Techne Credential, you will need to demonstrate your abilities to set up, run, and maintain a DV cluster for multiple weeks. For Base and Bronze, this is around 4 weeks. For Silver, this is around 8 weeks. This is the essence of the Techne credential, to allow you to showcase your experience in an honest and verifiable manner on-chain.
Performance Requirements
You not only need to setup, run and maintain your DV, but also achieve high performance. Distributed Validators have been shown to outperform traditional validators, while providing much more benefits and advantages.
The performance requirements are different depending on the different tiers.
- For the Base Credential, you will need to run a DV cluster for 4 weeks with a performance near or above the network average (open the link in incognito mode if the link does not work). We will take into account the overall performance of the cluster, not the individual performances of the operators.
- For the Bronze Credential , you will need to create and manage 50 validators for 4 weeks with a performance equal to or above the average of the Liquid Staking Providers (index composed of Lido, RocketPool, Coinbase Cloud, StakeWise and EtherFi). We will also take into account the individual performance of the operators (the exact requirements will be announced soon).
- For the Silver Credential, you will need to create and manage 1 or more validators for 8 months on mainnet, with performance at near or above the network average. We will take into account the overall performance of the cluster as well as the individual performance of the operators.
:::For Base + Bronze (testnet), if you require delegate hETH, we ask you to set the address 0x17E6F6270A101dc7687Cc9899889819EeAF8253f as the withdrawal recipient. We will not activate validators that have not done this. At the end of the wave, you will only be eligible for the Credentials after we receive the Holesky ETH back. :::
Performance Monitoring
To track and verify the performance of your DV, you and your squad mates are required to properly setup a monitoring credential. You can learn more about setting up your monitoring credential here.
We are proud to share with you our Techne Public Dashboard (open it in incognito mode if the link does not work) which will allow you to track your performance and compare it to the requirements throughout your adventure. If the link does not work, open it in private browsing.
Please note that if you do not properly setup monitoring, you will not be eligible for any Credential.
Claim your Credentials
After a wave has ended and if you have created, ran, and successfully exited your cluster, you will have the right to your new Techne Credential.
We will make an announcement on our Discord and Twitter when the credentials are available to claim.
Base and Bronze will require you to manually claim, while Silver will be automatically airdropped.
Get Started*
Start your journey without further delay. Please find here the various documents and information you will need to get started in the program:
👉 Get Started Now
Additional Resources
Disclaimer
Obol Network does not assume responsibility for any financial losses that may be incurred by individuals who choose to run on the Mainnet. Participants are advised to exercise due diligence and assess all risks associated with running on the Mainnet. Obol Network shall not be held liable for any damages, financial or otherwise, that may arise from participating in Mainnet operations.
FAQ
It looks like there is no wave active right now, how can I earn a Techne Credential?
There are curerntly no active waves for earning Base or Bronze, but we plan to offer another wave in January of 2025. Currently, you still do have the ability to earn Silver. Please head to the Obol Discord to learn more about earning a Silver Techne Credential.
It has been 24 hours since I filled out the form to receive my Holesky ETH, but I haven't received anything yet. Is this normal?
This is probably due to an unusually high number of requests. Please wait for up to 48 hours and reach out to us on Discord. Also, please note that we do not distribute any Holseky ETH on weekends.
Can I qualify for the program if I run all the nodes on a single machine?
This is not aligned with the principle of distributed validators (DVs). You must form your cluster (squad) with other humans using other machines.
Can I take part in the program if I’m running on Mainnet?
Yes, those running a DV on mainnet have the opportunity to earn the Silver Techne Credential.
I don’t have the Base Credential but I have enough Holesky ETH to run 50 validators, can I aim for the Bronze Techne?
Yes, you can. Please send a message on Discord in the #techne-applicants channel explaining your desire to run for Bronze using your own Holesky ETH.