Unveiling the SSV Staking Testnet & Early Adopter Reward Program

Call for cSSV testers

The SSV staking testnet is here, and the SSV DAO is calling on you to play a crucial role in this auspicious rollout. SSV Network did not get to where it is today alone; it’s built on decentralized infrastructure, but powered by dedicated builders, node operators, and community members.
 

Today, SSV DAO calls on you to be the early adopters of SSV staking and provide valuable feedback. Of course, no good deed goes unrewarded in the SSV ecosystem, so the SSV DAO is launching an incentive program for those who share their experience with the team. 

This blog post will cover:

• The basics of SSV staking: stake, unstake, and ETH rewards claiming processes.

• SSV Staking incentivization program.

• How SSV staking works under the hood. 

What you need before you start

SSV staking is the entry point to infra rewards for those who support crucial protocol functions, allowing them to claim a portion of the ETH-denominated network fee flow. 

Wallet & network

• Connect to the staking web app with an Ethereum wallet (e.g., MetaMask).

• Add the Hoodi testnet RPC

Get testnet tokens

• Hoodi ETH for gas.

• tSSV via SSV faucet to stake and earn test ETH.

Testnet tokens have no monetary value, but this test helps harden the system before mainnet.

Getting Started with SSV Staking

Stake

• Step 1: Navigate to the SSV staking webapp.

• Step 2: Connect wallet (MetaMask, Coinbase Wallet, or WalletConnect).

• Step 3: Navigate to the Stake tab 

  • Add the amount of SSV you want to stake.

  • Click stake.

  • Approve the spending cap request (permission for the staking contract to move your tSSV).

  • Confirm the tx request.

• Step 4: Mint cSSV

  • After staking is successful, click “Add cSSV to wallet”.  

  • cSSV balance will show up in your wallet. The cSSV token is a 1:1 representation of your staked position.

cSSV is the UX interface for ETH-denominated rewards: stake SSV, hold cSSV, accrue ETH.

Claim ETH

Rewards accrue to the wallet holding cSSV and can be claimed without unstaking.

To claim your ETH rewards

• Click claim all

• Confirm the txn

• Your ETH will be credited to the wallet automatically

Unstake

Rewards Program: How to join

To celebrate testnet go-live — and to make sure we ship a clean mainnet UX — we’re running a 10-day, limited-spots Incentivization Campaign focused on high-quality, actionable feedback. Now that you understand how the flow works, let's move on to the rewards program and how to participate. 

Start Dates: 11 to 20 February
Rewards pool: $5,000 USDC

Eligibility

• Mint tSSV,

• Stake tSSV → mint ctSSV,

• Withdraw ctSSV to your wallet,

• Claim testETH rewards to your Hoodi wallet,

• Unstake ctSSV.

Rewards

• Base reward: $50 USDC for eligible participants.

• Bonus: + $50 USDC if you share feedback publicly (X / YouTube).

How to participate

• Fill in the interest form

• When selected, you will be added to an exclusive SSV Discord channel within ~12 hours

• In the Discord chat, there will be a pinned message with all the details: how-to guides, feedback form, testnet eligibility, FAQs, etc.

• Stakers need to perform testnet actions and complete a feedback form to be eligible for rewards.

Understanding SSV Staking under the hood 

Stake

SSV Staking adds a staking contract for SSV holders to interact with. When you stake any amount of SSV, the contract creates a position that is eligible to receive ETH rewards based on total ETH fees generated by the protocol, your SSV position, and the SSV price. Positions are tracked with a combination of balances and reward indices, similar to how clusters and operators track fees. Rewards are accrued automatically (block by block as network and operator fees are deducted from runway balance) to the wallet address holding cSSV and can be claimed at any time without the need to unstake first. 

SSV holders can stake their tokens in the SSV Staking contract and receive cSSV, an ERC-20 token that represents their staked position at a 1:1 ratio.

cSSV represents a claim on the underlying staked SSV, as well as a proportional share of protocol fees accrued to stakers (in native ETH).

As part of staking, stakers are required to delegate their staking voting power. This delegation determines the composition of the Effective Balance Oracle set, which is responsible for maintaining effective balance data on-chain. More on voting will be shared soon. 

In the initial phase, staking delegation is automatically split evenly across the DAO-elected oracle set, providing a smooth starting point while establishing the foundation for stake-driven oracle selection in future phases.

Claim

Protocol fees accrue continuously as validators operate on the SSV Network and generate ongoing network fees - these fees are part of the staking rewards. Stakers earn a pro-rata share of ETH-denominated fees, based on their share of the total staked SSV. Rewards can be claimed at any time without unstaking, and claiming does not affect the staking position. Unclaimed rewards will stay in the claim UI indefinitely until claimed (there is no time limit as of yet). There is, however, a cooldown period for claiming, meaning that you cannot claim again within a 2day time period.

When cSSV is transferred, rewards accrued up to that point remain claimable by the original holder, while the new holder begins accruing rewards only from the moment they receive the cSSV. 

Unstake

Unstaking is a two-step process:

First, the staker submits a withdrawal request, which locks the specified amount of cSSV and stops reward accrual for that portion. It is proposed that the protocol will launch with a 7-day lock period.

Once the lock period ends, the staker can finalize the unstake. The locked cSSV is burned, and the underlying SSV is returned at a 1:1 ratio relative to the original stake.

Unstaking is handled via a queue. When a staker requests to exit, their position moves into a pending state where it no longer accrues rewards. After a DAO-predefined delay (currently 1 day for testnet), the staker can claim their SSV. This delay stabilizes the system by preventing instant in-and-out behavior around known reward events and by giving the protocol time to adjust parameters or react if there are large shifts in total staked SSV. 

Governance and Parameter Control

SSV Staking introduces new levers for governance. The DAO can set or adjust the buffer threshold for EB updates, define parameters around liquidation collateral, and configure how much of the protocol’s ETH fee income is routed into the staking reward pool versus retained for other purposes (i.e., storing it in the treasury).

At the same time, staked SSV continues to represent governance power. Holding and staking SSV allows participants to vote on proposals. This helps ensure that the people who benefit from SSV Staking are also those who help steer its evolution.

Let’s get testing!

Join the testnet, break the UX, help us ship a clean mainnet launch.

Disclaimer: The following represents a vision for the future of SSV Network and is subject to approval by the SSV DAO.