GlossaryAdvanced
Solo Staking
Running your own validator node directly, with full control and full responsibility, as opposed to delegating to someone else's validator or using a custodial product.
Solo staking means running your own validator node directly — meeting a network's minimum stake requirement, maintaining your own hardware and uptime, and keeping full custody and full operational control of the process — rather than delegating to someone else's validator or using a custodial staking product.
It's the most control-retaining, but also most technically demanding, of the three practical staking routes Kaavon's "How to Stake Crypto" guide covers, carrying full personal responsibility for avoiding slashing through reliable uptime and correct configuration.
Examples
- A solo staker is solely responsible for their own validator's uptime, since there's no delegated operator or custodial platform to share that responsibility.
- Solo staking requires meeting a network's full minimum stake requirement directly, unlike delegation, which generally has no minimum beyond what a validator accepts.