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Key Management

To become a validator on Ethereum PoS, an individual or entity needs to meet certain requirements, such as:

  1. Holding a minimum of 32 ETH, which will be staked as collateral.
  2. Running or participating in a validator client software (e.g., Prysm, Lighthouse, Teku).
  3. Generating a validator key pair, which consists of a private key and a public key.

The validator's private key is crucial because it allows the validator to sign messages, propose new blocks, and attest to the validity of other blocks. Importing the validator's private key into the client software is an essential step for participating in Ethereum 2.0's PoS consensus mechanism.

When importing the private key, it's important to ensure the security of the key, as losing it or having it compromised would result in potential loss of staked funds and control over the validator. Validators should follow best practices for securely managing and storing their private keys.

sedge keys​

The sedge keys command is used to generate the validators keys, it will use a mnemonic that already exists or generate a new random one. The same happens with the passphrase, if it is not provided, it will be generated randomly.

It can be used at any time, since that command does not require any generated file.

Once generated the keys, they can be imported using the sedge import-key command.

sedge import-key​

Import keys refers to the process of adding a validator's private key to a client software. The private key is imported into the client software's keystore, which is a directory that stores the private keys of all validators that are currently active on the network.

Import validator client keys, use the --from flag to specify the keys location, and make sure that follows the EIP-2335: BLS12-381 Keystore standard. This command assumes that the validator client container exists, stopped or not.

This command stops the validator client during the importing process due to the validator database being locked while it's running but leaves the validator client in the same state in which it was found. That means if the validator is running/stopped before the import, then the validator will be running/stopped after the command is executed, regardless of whether the export fails or not. To force a different behavior use --start-validator and --stop-validator flags.

Slashing protection​

Slashing protection is a mechanism in the Ethereum blockchain that is designed to prevent validators in the network from being punished for unintentional mistakes that could potentially harm the network.

In the context of the Ethereum 2.0 network, validators are responsible for verifying transactions and creating new blocks. Validators are required to put up a certain amount of cryptocurrency (in this case, ether) as a deposit in order to participate in the network.

If a validator behaves maliciously or makes a mistake that harms the network, their deposit may be slashed, meaning that a portion of their deposit is taken away as a penalty. This is intended to incentive validators to act in the best interest of the network and to discourage malicious behavior.

However, in some cases, validators may be unfairly penalized if they experience technical issues, such as a network outage or a hardware failure. Slashing protection mechanisms are designed to minimize the risk of these kinds of unintentional mistakes resulting in a validator's deposit being slashed.

There are several mechanisms for slashing protection in Ethereum 2.0, including the use of redundancy and backup systems, as well as penalties that are only applied in cases where there is clear evidence of malicious behavior. These mechanisms are intended to encourage validators to participate in the network and to ensure that the network remains secure and reliable.

Slashing import​

The sedge slashing-import [flags] [validator] command is used to import slashing protection data from a JSON file into the validator client.

The JSON file must be in the format specified by the EIP-3076: Slashing Protection Interchange Format standard.

This command assumes that the validator client container exists, stopped or not and that its database is already initialized. The validator database is initialized if the validator is running or has already run but is stopped, and also after importing the validator keys.

This command stops the validator client during the importing process due to the validator database being locked while it's running but leaves the validator client in the same state in which it was found. That means if the validator is running/stopped before the import, then the validator will be running/stopped after the command is executed, regardless of whether the export fails or not. To force a different behavior use --start-validator and --stop-validator flags.

The [validator] is a required argument used to specify which validator client, from all supported by Sedge (lighthouse, lodestar, prysm or teku), is used to import the Slashing Protection data. This is necessary because each client has its own way to achieve the importation.

Examples:

sedge slashing-import --from slashing-data.json prysm
sedge slashing-import --from slashing-data.json --stop-validator lodestar
sedge slashing-import --from slashing-data.json --start-validator lighthouse

Slashing export​

The sedge slashing-export [flags] [validator] command is used to export slashing protection data from the validator client into a JSON file, following the EIP-3076: Slashing Protection Interchange Format standard.

This command assumes that the validator client container exists, stopped or not and that its database is already initialized. Take in mind that the validator client generates slashing protection data after some time running, so for some clients export slashing protection data just after start the client could produce some errors.

This command stops the validator client during the exporting process due to the validator database being locked while it's running but leaves the validator client in the same state in which it was found. That means if the validator is running/stopped before the export, then the validator will be running/stopped after the command is executed, regardless of whether the export fails or not. To force a different behavior use --start-validator and --stop-validator flags.

The [validator] is a required argument used to specify which validator client, from all supported by Sedge (lighthouse, lodestar, prysm or teku), is used to exporting the Slashing Protection data. This is necessary because each client has its own way to achieve the exportation.

Examples:

sedge slashing-export --out slashing-data.json prysm
sedge slashing-export --out slashing-data.json --stop-validator lodestar
sedge slashing-export --out slashing-data.json --start-validator lighthouse