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🔧 Setting the Fee Recipient for CSM Validators

When running validators via Lido Community Staking Module (CSM), it is mandatory to set the fee recipient to the Lido Execution Layer Rewards Vault:

warning

For Hoodi Testnet users:

Use 0x9b108015fe433F173696Af3Aa0CF7CDb3E104258 instead of 0x388C818CA8B9251b393131C08a736A67ccB19297 in the guides below.

Failure to do so may result in MEV stealing penalties, including:

  • A penalty equal to the stolen execution layer rewards plus a fixed fine
  • Your bond being locked until the full penalty amount is returned

This guide shows you how to correctly set the fee recipient on various platforms. It does not cover how to set up or run a validator node from scratch.

success

You can verify the fee recipient address on the Lido Deployed Contracts page.

Dappnode​

Dappnode sets the fee recipient through the Staking Brain in the Web3Signer package, either during key import or by editing existing validator keys.

Set fee recipient when importing new validator keys​

  1. In the side panel, go to “Stakers”, then select the Web3Signer package and click “Upload Keystores”.
  2. Enable “Use same tag for every file”, and in the “Staking Protocol” dropdown, select “Lido”. This automatically sets the fee recipient to: 
    0x388C818CA8B9251b393131C08a736A67ccB19297
  3. Click “Submit Keystores” to complete the import.

Dappnode Import Fee Recipient

Change fee recipient on existing validator keys​

  1. In the side panel, go to “Stakers”, then select Web3Signer → Upload Keystores.
  2. Review the Fee Recipient field for each validator key. If it’s wrong or blank, click the edit icon.
  3. Set it to 
    0x388C818CA8B9251b393131C08a736A67ccB19297
  4. Click “Submit Keystores”.

Dappnode Edit Fee Recipient

warning

Known Nimbus issue:
When using Nimbus on Dappnode, the Web3Signer fee-recipient may not stick. Instead, Nimbus’ own setting is used. See the bug report.
We recommend not running Nimbus on Dappnode for CSM until it’s fixed.

Eth Docker​

1) Validator-key level​

With ETH Docker running, in your terminal:

./ethd keys list
./ethd keys set-recipient 0xPUBKEY 0x388C818CA8B9251b393131C08a736A67ccB19297

Replace 0xPUBKEY with the key you want to update.

2) Client-level​

In your ~/eth-docker folder:

cd ~/eth-docker
nano .env

Make sure you have:

FEE_RECIPIENT=0x388C818CA8B9251b393131C08a736A67ccB19297

Save & exit, then:

./ethd update
./ethd up

Sedge​

cd <your-sedge-folder>/sedge-data
nano .env

Ensure:

FEE_RECIPIENT=0x388C818CA8B9251b393131C08a736A67ccB19297

Save & exit, then:

./sedge down
./sedge run

Stereum​

  1. Open your node page in the Stereum Launcher.
  2. Click the settings icon for your Validator Client.

Stereum Fee Settings

  1. Find Default Fee Recipient and verify/update to:
    0x388C818CA8B9251b393131C08a736A67ccB19297
  2. Confirm & restart your node.

SSV Network​

  1. Go to the SSV dApp and log in.
  2. Click Fee Address in the top right.

SSV Fee Address

  1. Enter 0x388C818CA8B9251b393131C08a736A67ccB19297 and click Update.
caution

Fee Recipient is set per wallet, not per cluster.
If you run other protocols in parallel, use a different wallet for each.

Obol​

When you create a DVT cluster via Obol’s Launchpad and select Lido CSM, the fee recipient is automatically set:

Obol Fee Recipient

If you use the CLI, set it manually in your cluster definition before creation.

caution

Double-check before finalizing — it cannot be changed afterward.
If wrong, you must exit & recreate with the correct address.

Systemd​

In your service file (e.g. /etc/systemd/system/validator.service), update the ExecStart line:

# Lighthouse example
ExecStart=/usr/local/bin/lighthouse vc \
  --suggested-fee-recipient=0x388C818CA8B9251b393131C08a736A67ccB19297 \
  [other flags...]
# Prysm example
ExecStart=/usr/local/bin/validator \
  --suggested-fee-recipient=0x388C818CA8B9251b393131C08a736A67ccB19297 \
  [other flags...]
# Teku example
ExecStart=/usr/local/bin/teku/bin/teku validator-client \
  --validators-proposer-default-fee-recipient=0x388C818CA8B9251b393131C08a736A67ccB19297 \
  [other flags...]
# Nimbus example
ExecStart=/usr/local/bin/nimbus_validator_client \
  --suggested-fee-recipient=0x388C818CA8B9251b393131C08a736A67ccB19297 \
  [other flags...]
# Lodestar example
ExecStart=/usr/bin/lodestar validator \
  --suggestedFeeRecipient=0x388C818CA8B9251b393131C08a736A67ccB19297 \
  [other flags...]

Finally:

sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl restart <your-validator-service>