Launchnodes Goes Big on Impact Staking and Takes Solo Staking Next Level

Launchnodes is the only Ethereum-focused solo staking provider in the world today. Now, the team behind Launchnodes is betting big on impact staking, believing that solo staking isn’t just about decentralization and staking returns – it’s also a way to fund long-term social impact.

The innovative use cases introduced by the company are exactly what the blockchain industry needs to prove it’s a real-world tool for solving problems, not just a space for crypto enthusiasts to get rich.

Staking beats all records

The current Ethereum staking scene is nothing short of explosive. With over $43 billion worth of ETH staked, the network is not just the largest TVL player on the market, but also one with most number of participants. Whilst solo staking requires 32ETH, protocols like Lido and crypto exchanges open the floodgates to much wider audience, allowing you to stake 0.01 ETH or 35000 ETH.

Launchnodes’ clients on the other hand, require a minimum 32ETH to run their own nodes, but the process is simplified for them by not having to run or pay for a beacon node or an Execution layer node (although they help their business customers run all the nodes not just validators). Hence, you can either solo stake cheaply or stake below 32ETH with other providers. You get to choose your pattern based on your economic and technical preference.

Staking attracts users for multiple reasons. The primary factor is the earnings that each validator node owner or a below 32ETH staker receives over the time of having funds locked. These earnings are transparent and are derived from the automated work that validator nodes perform on the Ethereum blockchain of updating the blockchain and securing the network.

Unlike DeFi protocols that at times deliver unfathomable returns, staking is less lucrative, but stable with the core risk being the price of ETH. That being said, solo staking remains to be the gold standard of staking, delivering most of the returns, without having to share your returns with any provider.

Staking and solo staking specifically, helps to decentralise the network, with each node representing a unit of capital supporting the network.

Taking solo staking up a notch

Ok, so a yield through staking is old news. Can Ethereum staking be more than a financial outcome similar to a savings account?

How can Ethereum staking be utilised further? Launchnodes thinks that Ethereum staking represents a new way to fund social impact which they call impact staking. Essentially a donor only gives away the staking returns for a period of time 12/24 months and at the end gets their original capital back.

Launchnodes initially used staking returns to fund tablets in refugee camps for Save the Children. Then, working as an implementation partner worked with UNICEF/GIGA to use staking returns to fund internet connectivity in schools.

Yes, the principal remains untouched, whilst all the returns that the node generates are used to fuel social impact, crucially internet connectivity is something that spews out data, ie how long the line is up for, bandwidth etc, Launchnodes believes that funding these data-rich contexts is a crucial part of impact staking rather than simply connecting money into building a school. This is what impact staking is all about and it may just be the new model for philanthropic endeavours. As the capital gets returned.

Persistence is key

Having proof of concept confirmed and executed, the team at Launchnodes pushed to get the idea to the masses. According to the team, it wasn’t a straightforward and easy ride. Introducing the notion of staking to leading non-profit organisations involves integrating Ethereum into the real world and foremost, coming up with a governance solution that these organisations can work with.

And now, the broader Ethereum ecosystem is starting to pay attention. Launchnodes secured a grant from Lido staking protocol. Lido has $15 billion worth of ETH under management. Once implemented, any Lido user will be able to channel a share of staking returns to a good cause directly within the protocol. This is good news for those wanting funding in the social impact space, as well as for Lido and the Ethereum ecosystem.

Last but not least, Launchnodes has just rolled out a validator node product in partnership with GiveDirectly. Here, the idea is simple. You get a discount on spinning up a validator node, point your execution layer yield to GiveDirectly donations, and retain the consensus layer returns. This way, anyone who wants to be an integral part of the network by running a validator node through solo staking, can now also donate a share of the staking rewards to social impact.

Since its launch in 2009, GiveDirectly has delivered $700+ million to over 1.5 million people living in poverty, and this partnership sets out to use the benefits of solo staking to maximise donations even further.

The next stage

As per its original goal, Launchnodes is fully devoted to enabling enterprises and individuals to solo stake Ethereum. The major downside to solo staking is that spinning up your own nodes is not a function of a few clicks, says Jaydeep Korde, the company’s CEO. This stops many Ethereum holders from reaping the maximum returns that solo staking offers. Even with the hand-holding service that the company offers, Jaydeep believes that there is still room for improvement. It is something that they are tackling right now, with a soon-to-be-released solo staking UI, aimed at simplifying the process of launching validator nodes to a few clicks whilst still keeping the nodes on your infrastructure – and not a Launchnodes run platform.

Whether Launchnodes succeeds, we are yet to find out. However, if blockchains are going to change the world, use cases like impact staking leave us hopeful to see the future unravell.

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