Solo staking

A solo staker deposits 32 ETH into the staking contract, generates their own validator keys and runs the software: an execution client, a consensus client and a validator client, usually on a dedicated home computer with a fast SSD and a steady internet connection. The validator then proposes and attests to blocks and receives rewards directly, with no fee to an intermediary.

Solo stakers are valued in the Ethereum community because they spread stake across many independent operators, making censorship and coordinated failures harder. Projects such as distributed validator technology, small-bond pools and plug-and-play node hardware exist largely to make running your own validator easier, and since Pectra a single validator can hold more than 32 ETH and compound its rewards.

The responsibility is real. Downtime costs small penalties; running the same keys on two machines can trigger slashing and forced exit. Operators must keep software updated through every hard fork, back up their keys safely and accept that their ETH stays locked until they exit through the queue.