Ankr, a multi-chain infrastructure provider for Web 3, DeFi, and the digital economy, has announced a strategic partnership with ssv.network, a leading distributed validator technology infrastructure protocol.
The partnership will see Ankr integrate ssv.network's advancements in distributed validator technology to improve risk management and validator performance. It will also promote decentralization across nodes in a completely trustless manner. Combining this technology with Ankr liquid staking will lead to increased monetary safety for all that hold liquid-staked derivatives from Ankr.
Over the next few months, Ankr will continue to expand its operator and validator base in tandem with ssv.network for a timely and effective integration into the protocol's distributed network of node operators. Additional steps will be taken to stress test, ensure stability, and also test out some of the staking and delegation incentives considered for the network.
The teams behind both protocols will continue to collaborate to enhance the current staking and node-running experience for the growing liquid staking economy.
This milestone comes at a time when the market is showing increasing interest in liquid staking solutions. Staking is currently a $9 billion business for the crypto economy and it is projected to reach $20 billion following the Ethereum merge. If this trend remains stable and proof of stake becomes the dominant protocol, it could reach $40 billion by 2025.
Ankr is ahead of the curve by pioneering liquid staking as a form to free up capital in crypto markets and ssv.network has the technology to provide a superior experience for stakers and node operators. Merging ssv.network’s Distributed Validator Technology model with Ankr’s liquid staking infrastructure will create the next generation of liquid staking protocols. Together, Ankr and ssv.network can shape the future of liquid staking by bringing about more decentralization, security, and accessibility for stakers and node operators on a global scale.
SSV technology is entirely new in the blockchain ecosystem. SSV stands for Secret Shared Validator, although you may also see this technology labeled as Distributed Validator Technology (DVT). This technology enables any validator node to split its keys between four separate operators to ensure a fail-safe system for node operation. DVT promotes client diversity, decentralization, and fault tolerance while mitigating slashing and downtime risks.
The distributed operation of an Ethereum validator enabled by SSV will be complemented by Ankr’s own liquid staking infrastructure. This includes the delegation of funds to trusted nodes, the introduction of liquid staking tokens to free up user capital, and cross-chain integrations to bridge liquid staking tokens to different blockchains for maximum earning opportunities.
Pairing Ankr’s agile infrastructure with distributed validator technology aims to provide the most accessible pathway for node operators of all sizes while reducing financial, technical, and risk hurdles.
The planned implementation of ssv.network will help to increase Ankr’s growing community of third-party node operators, improving monetary safety for all that hold liquid staked derivatives from Ankr.
