Rocket Pool Scorecard
A scorecard of how the Rocket Pool community scores itself on factors including risk, decentralization, security, and more.
About the Scorecard
Rocket Pool strives to create the most optimized community-governed liquidity staking protocol.
The principles of decentralization, permissionlessness, and censorship resistance guide protocol-wide decisions. It is these tenets that have forged decentralized finance, and it is these goals that we want to instill in Rocket Pool.
This is why we created the Rocket Pool Scoreboard. Read our scores below and feel free to share your thoughts here. Also, feel free to review other scores from organizations like the Ethereum Foundation.
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Where Rocket Pool is Succeeding
| Scorecard Attribute | Category | Community Members at Risk | Self-Assessment | Comments | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Operators run their own nodes (no white labeling) | Validator set | None | GOOD | There are currently over 3,488 unique operators. More info | |
| Good Performance | Validator set | None | GOOD | Node operators continue to grow and maintain uptime. | |
| Operators earning enough to maintain a profitable business | Validator set | None | GOOD | Estimate earnings here | |
| Withdrawal request automatically fulfilled | Validator set | None | GOOD | Withdrawals are automatic and permissionless + reward info here. | |
| Withdrawal credentials are non-custodial and trustless | Validator set | None | GOOD | Withdrawal info here | |
| Node operators are disincentivized from acting maliciously | Validator set | None | GOOD | Penalty system in place here. Malicious node attacks currently very rare | |
| Rocket Pool DAO can’t suddenly change the validator set | Validator set | None | GOOD | Decentralization of Rocket Pool prevents RPL holders from changing validators. | |
| Rocket Pool governance has significant safeguards | Governance | None | GOOD | Governance has proven to be a robust safeguard for the decentralization of Rocket Pool up to this point. | |
| Delegation is enabled in onchain Rocket Pool governance | Governance | None | GOOD | Link here | |
| Operators can permissionlessly enter the set and prove themselves | Validator set | None | GOOD | Anyone can become a Rocket Pool validator permissionlessly and create a Minipool. | |
Where Rocket Pool is Okay but Could Improve
| Scorecard Attribute | Category | Community Members at Risk | Self-Assessment | Comments | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No operator has more than 1% of total stake | Validator set | RPL Holders | OKAY | Top node operator has 1.6% of total stake. See here | |
| Best practices in security and key management | Security | Stakers | OKAY | DVT conversations have occurred but this technology is yet to be fully implemented. | |
| Client Diversity | Validator set | RPL Holders | OKAY | DAO could benefit from a wider base of NOs outside of the United States, especially in Asia. | |
| There’s a robust set of Rocket Pool governance delegates | Governance | RPL Holders | OKAY | Delegates linked here | |
Where Rocket Pool Needs Improvement
| Scorecard Attribute | Category | Community Members at Risk | Self-Assessment | Comments | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rocket Pool is easy to fork | Validator set | RPL holders | NEEDS IMPROVEMENT | Very little documentation around how to fork Rocket Pool | |
| Distributed geographically and jurisdictionally | Validator set | RPL holders, stakers | NEEDS IMPROVEMENT | 859,040 ETH staked across 136 regions. Largest region in North America with 1,311 NOs. | |
Where Rocket Pool Needs Your Community Input
| Scorecard Attribute | Category | Community Members at Risk | Self-Assessment | Comments | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| There is a way for stakers to resist malicious governance capture | Governance | None | INPUT NEEDED | | |
| Smart contract security | Security | None | INPUT NEEDED | | |
| Distributed variation of on-premise infra and cloud providers | Validator set | None | INPUT NEEDED | |
