Key Highlights
- Ethereum Foundation’s staking uses open-source staking infrastructure maintained by Bitwise Asset Management through its on-chain division.
- The tools involved, Dirk and Vouch, were created by the Attestant team before the firm was acquired by Bitwise in 2024.
The Ethereum Foundation is now staking a portion of its treasury holdings, marking a shift toward generating network rewards from its reserves.
According to the official announcement, the Ethereum Foundation started the process with an initial deposit of 2,016 ETH. In the long term, it plans to stake around 70,000 ETH, valued at more than $140 million at current prices. The staking process is facilitated through open-source staking infrastructure provided by Bitwise Asset Management’s on-chain division.
Bitwise software powers the setup
The staking system uses software from Bitwise Onchain Solutions, a unit within Bitwise focused on blockchain infrastructure. The tools involved in the process are Dirk and Vouch, which were originally created by the Attestant team before the firm was acquired by Bitwise in 2024.
These tools are designed to support institutional-scale staking while maintaining operational safeguards across validator setups.
Security and client diversity
The software stack used in the program addresses several operational risks associated with staking large holdings.
Dirk works as a distributed signing system, letting validator keys be managed across different locations so that a single technical failure does not interrupt validation activity. Meanwhile, Vouch lets validators operate using multiple client combinations. The approach is intended to reduce risks associated with software concentration within the network.
Gradual deployment of treasury assets
The foundation indicated that the full 70,000 ETH allocation will not be deployed all at once. Instead, staking will expand gradually as the system is implemented.
The use of open-source tools reflects the Ethereum Foundation’s wider approach of relying on publicly available infrastructure when managing network-related operations. On the other hand, Bitwise stated that it would continue to maintain the Dirk and Vouch software as open-source tools for the broader Ethereum ecosystem.
Commenting on the initiative, Bitwise Chief Technology Officer Hong Kim stated, “We have always believed that the future of finance is onchain, and that infrastructure must be built with technical rigor and a commitment to open-source principles.”
He added, “To have the Ethereum Foundation—the primary steward of the Ethereum network— select Bitwise’s technology for their own treasury is a watershed moment for our firm and a testament to the quality of our onchain solutions.”
The Ethereum Foundation’s use of these tools highlights increasing institutional demand for staking solutions that generate yield and contribute to the decentralization of the underlying blockchain.
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