Ethereum Validator Performance Report Q2 2026

TL;DR: Protect the capital, protect the network. On Ethereum, they're the same job.

When a single client runs a large share of validators, one bug can penalize those validators together and weaken the chain at the same time. There's no tradeoff between safety and performance here - they rise and fall together, so we build for both.

That principle also defines what we won't do. We don't pursue strategies that concentrate risk, compromise network integrity, or chase short-term gains at the expense of long-term sustainability. Instead, we optimize for repeatability: performance that holds up across quarters, clients, and market conditions.

Our Q2 results bear that out. We ran 99.97% uptime against a network average of 99.76%, with zero slashing or double-signing events, spread across 2 consensus clients, 3 execution clients, and 7 relays. For institutions and ETF issuers, that track record matters as much as access -  which is why we report it against the network, every quarter.

TL;DR: In Q2 2026, our institutional validator set delivered 2.87% APY against a network average of 2.80%, or +7 bps.

Staking rewards on Ethereum come from two sources: consensus layer issuance, which pays validators for attesting and proposing, and execution layer rewards, which are the priority fees and MEV captured in the blocks our validators propose. Consensus layer issuance is protocol-determined and similar for every well-run validator. Execution layer rewards are variable, and they are where relay strategy and validator configuration change the outcome.

We report APY as a simple average across our institutional validator set, the Coinbase-operated validators serving our institutional clients, compared against the network average over the same window.

TL;DR: In Q2 2026, Coinbase validators outperformed the network average in all dimensions.

Participation rate indicates how well validators perform their consensus duties. It is measured by the percentage of assigned attestations that a validator successfully signs, submits, and gets included in a block. Participation rate is a reliable indicator of validator uptime; the two are interchangeable in our definitions.

Attestations are one of three consensus duties we track. The other two:

In Q2, Coinbase validators outperformed the network average on all three duties: +21 bps on attestations, +21 bps on block proposals, and +37 bps on sync committees. Sync committee participation trailed the network in Q1 and moved ahead of it this quarter.

TL;DR: We run validators in 4 countries across 2 cloud providers, each region spanning multiple availability zones.

To help maintain a truly distributed and decentralized Ethereum blockchain, we distribute our validators across several regions, each with multiple availability zones. This also helps compartmentalize potential outages and accommodates customers who require validators to be operated in specific regions for regulatory purposes. Our validators operate in:

Additionally, we distribute our validators between 2 cloud providers: AWS and GCP, which provides diversity, helps further compartmentalize outages, and mitigates the risk of a technical issue impacting our ability to run workloads on a given cloud provider. This distribution strategy also helps mitigate risk in the event of a cloud provider curtailing the hosting of blockchain validators.

If a prolonged issue with a cloud provider or given region were to occur, our validator orchestration system enables us to safely move our validators between data centers. This system has yet to be required in response to an outage. However, it has a proven track record when used for routine validator migrations, either at the request of customers or for scheduled maintenance.

TL;DR: We run 2 consensus clients and 3 execution clients, so no single client defect reaches our entire fleet.

Every Ethereum validator runs two pieces of software: a consensus layer (CL) client, which handles attestations, block proposals, and sync committee duties, and an execution layer (EL) client, which builds and validates the transactions inside each block. A defect in either one affects every validator running it at the same time. Running a mix of clients at both layers is how we bound that risk, and it matters at two levels.

For our customers, diversity limits the impact radius and reach of any single defect. For the network, client concentration is a consensus problem rather than an availability one. When one client runs a large enough share of all validators, a single defect can stall finality,

Client selection is one of the few decisions a large operator makes that changes that risk for everyone, and we treat it accordingly. Our ETH validators support:

Relay diversity (via MEV-Boost / Commit-Boost) reduces reliance on a single relay's uptime or policies, improving redundancy and reducing centralization risk in block building. Using multiple reputable relays (configured appropriately) can increase the likelihood that proposers receive and select the best available bid, which can improve execution layer rewards (priority fees & MEV) that are otherwise variable.

Our validators are connected to 7 unique MEV relays:

We offer OFAC screening as an option, further increasing the diversity of relays for the subset of our customers that need filtering.

Ethereum's next major network upgrade, Glamsterdam, is expected in the second half of 2026 and represents one of the most significant structural changes to the protocol since the Merge. It restructures how blocks are proposed and propagated and lays the groundwork for parallel transaction processing, which together support higher throughput and more predictable validation under heavier network loads. Several of its proposals are particularly noteworthy:

The first three proposals above are scheduled for inclusion, while the exit churn change remains under consideration, and the final scope and timing of the upgrade are still being determined. As with prior upgrades, we are actively tracking Glamsterdam across test networks and preparing our validator infrastructure so that the transition is seamless for our customers, consistent with our commitment to operating on a disciplined and resilient foundation built for the long term.

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