The Distributed Vote

Behind the proposals

SSV’s infrastructure depends on independent operators sharing the work. Governance needs people willing to share a different responsibility: reading proposals, questioning assumptions and deciding where the network goes next.

The DIP-51 and the Distributed Vote gathers around that work. Holders bring voting power, while delegates bring the time, experience and attention to use it. Through DAOx, auto-delegation gives that relationship a shared structure.

The pool allocates voting power across different cohorts:

Community delegates are selected through a score reflecting contributions, holdings and voting participation, with voting weighted most heavily. HighSignal brings contributors from the wider Ethereum ecosystem into the Ethereum Community allocation. DIP-51 sets out the framework.

Your cSSV stays in your wallet, and regular ETH staking rewards continue. What changes is where your voting power goes: into the company of people helping govern the network you back.

Five checkpoints. A growing collective.

The campaign opens on November 12, 2026, at 2 PM UTC, with a shared destination of 300,000 eligible cSSV and five checkpoints along the way:

Say you bring 10,000 cSSV to the DAO pool. It counts toward progress immediately. To earn rewards, it must complete 30 continuous delegation days by the end of the checkpoint’s 35-day verification window; days before the snapshot count.

When the community clears the first checkpoint, a snapshot records the included amounts. Your fully included 10,000 cSSV can earn 100 SSV once the 30-day reward requirement is met, and the pool turns toward the next milestone.

That reward follows a published calculation: 1% on the first 10,000 qualifying cSSV included, plus 0.5% on the next 5,000.

A fully included 12,000 cSSV position earns 110 SSV; larger eligible positions reach a maximum of 125 SSV per checkpoint. These payments sit alongside regular ETH staking rewards.

Adding another 2,000 cSSV contributes to progress immediately and starts its own 30-day reward clock, while the original amount keeps its history. Only amounts captured in a checkpoint’s snapshot can earn that round’s rewards.

Eligible holder wallets can participate with 50 - 25,000 cSSV directly delegated to the DAO pool. Wallets delegating above 25,000 are excluded entirely. Plain SSV and delegation routed through another wallet do not count toward the campaign.

As each checkpoint fills, amounts are included in the order they are directly delegated, up to that checkpoint’s cap. If only part of a position fits, that portion earns the reward; the remainder can participate in later checkpoints. So, getting involved earlier leaves more milestones ahead.

Each checkpoint clears once, with reward distribution scheduled for 35 days after the snapshot. Once a captured amount meets the 30-day requirement, a later exit leaves its reward intact while reducing progress toward the next milestone.

The Distributed Vote grows through holders choosing to put their voting power behind the people doing the work. If you already hold cSSV, bring your vote through DAOx.

SSV holders can delegate their voting power without staking. To participate in The Distributed Vote campaign and qualify for delegation rewards, however, you need cSSV first.

Visit stake.ssv.network, connect your wallet and enter the amount of SSV you want to stake. Approve SSV spending if prompted, then confirm the staking transaction to receive cSSV at a 1:1 ratio.

Next, head to DAOx and delegate your cSSV voting power directly to the DAO auto-delegation pool.