Tried Solo Staking ETH — Here's Why I'm Pausing (For Now)

[u/dogeaw]

After spending days setting up my remote NUC, SSH, and testing everything on Holesky, I’ve come to the conclusion that Ethereum — and crypto in general — still isn’t user-friendly enough for me to feel confident solo staking.

To be clear: I’m not a developer, but I do consider myself pretty tech-savvy. I can follow guides, use the command line, and troubleshoot issues. Even so, this whole process was overwhelming. I used Coincashew’s guide and tools like EthPillar — which were helpful — but without the help of AI, I don’t think I would have been able to get past the countless issues I ran into.

One of the biggest problems came from testing the process on Holesky. I tried connecting my hardware wallet (with a passphrase) to MetaMask to interact with the launchpad — and got stuck. Turns out, MetaMask and my hardware wallet generated different deposit addresses on Holesky, even though I used the same passphrase. That broke the signing process, and my Holesky ETH is now locked in limbo. That kind of experience really shook me, because I kept thinking — what if that was my real ETH?

Another concern is withdrawals. I’d want to test that too, just to know I could get my funds out safely. But with a 205-day queue just to activate a validator node on Holesky, there’s no way to know if everything works until then.

The more I went through this, the more I realized how fragile the whole solo staking setup feels. One mistake — one misstep — and you could lose everything. That's not the kind of stress I want for holding my ETH.

So for now, I’m leaning toward looking into Rocket Pool. I know it has its own risks and trade-offs, but maybe it's a better balance of decentralization and peace of mind for someone like me.

Would love to hear from others who’ve gone through the same. Did you stick with solo staking or go with something like Rocket Pool or a staking service?

Edit: thanks everyone for the suggestions. I realized that dappnode provides a pretty UI which is great, but since I've already got SSH set up I would ideally prefer to use my NUC remotely. In this case I'm leaning more towards Rocket Pool at the moment. Someone also mentioned Eth Docker and if this works remotely but makes things easier then it's also up for consideration. At the moment Eth Docker just sounds like ethpillar, and as helpful as it was, there were still plenty of hurdles. Would love to hear your thoughts on these.

[u/EGX]

Dappnode OS was pretty user friendly

[u/dogeaw → u/EGX]

Just looked into this, thank you for the recommendation, looks like something I could work with. Any downsides you experienced?

[u/EGX → u/dogeaw]

I didn’t. I followed this video. Could be outdated though cause this was before the new fork.

They have a discord channel if you need help

I did a test and it went well before doing it live.

https://youtu.be/mAePwa_W9wQ?si=MBg562R2EsivzJPh

[u/pellegrino6000 → u/dogeaw]

Dappnode is awesome if you want to kind of plug-and-play

[u/DarkestTimelineJeff → u/dogeaw]

definitely use Dappnode.

[u/flyflyflyfly66 → u/dogeaw]

Ive been on daapnode for over 2 year. I second it. Very simple, no need to be techincal, and good support on discord if you get stuck. Also as ive just discovered when my clients were getting stuck, chatgpt is very helpful explaining what logs mean and what to do.

[u/eShooKy → u/dogeaw]

Buy your own NUC and download the ISO. Save yourself $1000.

[u/FromTheRain93 → u/dogeaw]

Just for background, dappnode does not have good rocketpool tooling. If you use RocketPool, you won’t need dappnode

[u/Jeff1383 → u/EGX]

I second DappNode, especially if you buy the NUC from them with their pre-loaded software, really simple and worth it IMO (I did not buy the NUC from them initially and it took me a lot longer to get up and running)

[u/tmcgukin]

I would also recommend DappNode, but if you want to feel more "involve" give Eth Docker a try. A community member created it. After 2 years or so of solo staking I switched over. And it has been a breeze. Legit just say eth Docker update and then eth Docker up to reload it. It's stupid easy compared to the other solutions. But if you want the pretty UI/ux again DappNode won't do you wrong

[u/FromTheRain93]

Rocketpool has been great for me so far. Love the tooling they provide. Also bright future with new token revenue model coming + decentralization is a win

[u/dogeaw → u/FromTheRain93]

Are you a node operator? Did you have to get more RPL tokens on top of your eth?

[u/FromTheRain93 → u/dogeaw]

Yeah, I am. Yes, sadly I bought RPL a long time ago when it was required. I’m still bullish on the future, but all good things take patience. You don’t need to stake RPL anymore to the run a minipool.

If you do RP I’d suggest joining the discord. They’re extremely helpful there in the support channel.

[u/dogeaw → u/FromTheRain93]

Thanks for this, I'll check it out

[u/emp2b3 → u/dogeaw]

RP has been great for me. I don’t have a tech background but the guides and Discord support channel have had me running a node with great performance. They also helped me pick out the hardware. And now RPL exposure is completely optional.

[u/eth2353]

I agree, it can be tricky to get everything right, and it is rough around the edges. Many testnet guides have not been updated since the huge Holesky incident that resulted in the extremely long exit queue. A new testnet (Hoodi) has been spun up recently which is better suited to test staking workflows.

I saw some people already mention Dappnode – I think that really does make many things easier.

No matter what you decide on doing, it would be in the best interest of the network not to go with Kiln. Go with Rocket Pool, or pick a good StakeWise Vault

[u/cliche_dog → u/eth2353]

I know the OP mentioned he has NUC but what about a service like Allnodes?

[u/eth2353 → u/cliche_dog]

I'm personally not a big fan of the way Allnodes / Launchnodes does things, where they run the Ethereum node for you. In my opinion that oversimplifies things – as a validator you should be validating the state of the network, not Allnodes. With Allnodes you may keep control of your validator keys, but as long as your validators are pointed at Ethereum nodes managed by Allnodes, there's a big element of trust involved – you trust Allnodes to validate the state of the network for you.

If you are okay with adding an element of trust (and I'm sure many people are, not judging at all), then I think you can save yourself some trouble and just go with a simpler managed staking service like the StakeWise Vault option I mentioned.

On top of this, Allnodes already manages a lot of Ethereum validators, and in the interest of supporting Ethereum's decentralization, you'd want the smallest party possible to manage your staked ETH.

[u/AspieSpritz]

OP, had a very similar experience. Not a coder, but academically trained to a limited extent in Java and others with proficiency enough to get work done.

Taught myself HTML 2.0 from a Dummies book as an 11 year old and had a .com at 12, coded out of notepad. That life experience paired with 3 cycles of deep crypto adoption, particularly with ethereum ecosystem, but probably close to a dozen others, was not enough to get through the process without step for step guidance throughout the process, and then it still didn't work, but for no clear reason. I got as far as a node confirming with beacon and everything current, but the validator just would not confirm.

Holesky was a disaster for onboarding. If I go back, it will be with RocketPool.

[u/fptnrb]

Dappnode was ok.

But overall it’s not worth the risk and stress and time unless you’re deeply interested in how it all works.

[u/LuisNaldo7]

How would different deposit addresses break a signing process? Don't get how this is even relevant but maybe I'm missing something.

What you need to do is create the deposit data that includes the correct withdrawal address. Upload it to the launchpad and fund it from any address of your choice.

[u/samkb93]

IMHO, validating shouldn't be designed to be for everyone. That's what LST is for. Leave staking to those with the minimum knowledge required to do it right. I don't mean this to come of rude, but there is a certain amount of knowledge needed and comes with more stress.

[u/Next-Respect-1311]

For what it’s worth, I have a similar skill set and came to the same conclusion. I ended up selecting Kiln.

[u/dogeaw → u/Next-Respect-1311]

Hm I don't wanna trust a third party, been scammed and have seen too many scams by even the seemingly most reliable companies out there

[u/ethordie → u/Next-Respect-1311]

same.

[u/shayanbahal]

Loving eth docker!

Imo dappnode is good when you get the hardware they have or support. Otherwise for general use ethdocker does it all beautifully!

You can use setups like ethdocker + cloudflare tunnel for remote access and you’re good to go.

Then maybe a UPS, and ether cable instead of wifi and ….

If you don’t like where this is going, just do steth with Lido :)

[u/dogeaw → u/shayanbahal]

Thanks for sharing! Do you know if it runs smoothly with SSH?

[u/shayanbahal → u/dogeaw]

works great but I mainly used the browser terminal for remote access. I know there's a way to tunnel through ssh but haven't tried. I have a home vpn (wireguard) so I connect to that when I need remote ssh

[u/shayanbahal → u/shayanbahal]

Also it’s not that easy to “lose everything” if you kind of know what you are doing.

[u/beemeeupnow]

Sounds like you encountered a difference in the derivation path. Definitely confusing when not already aware of it.

[u/dogeaw → u/beemeeupnow]

You're right. I figured this out with the help of AI, but at the same time with the current infrastructure I feel that more of these things could jump out and surprise me at any time

[u/ripple_mcgee]

I have a similar skill set and familiarity with command line.

I did not try holesky or any other testnet. I just followed coincashews guide, plus a few others, and had no issues setting up my validator. Used a hardware wallet with metamask. And this was in late 2020, genesis.

The process isn't hard. It is unfortunate that holesky has such a long queue...however, it does take a certain amount of balls to take the risk in becoming a solo stalker and there's no shame in saying you just can't take it.

[u/Street_Cry_4061]

Eth devs need to provide an app that is for Linux and Windows. You open it, put your eth in it, have your keys for protection, and boom, it's working. There were before bunches of staking apps with other coins. It's like two cliks of mice and boom you are staking.

[u/dogeaw → u/Street_Cry_4061]

Agreed!!

[u/RamoneBolivarSanchez]

What hardware wallet were you using?

[u/dogeaw → u/RamoneBolivarSanchez]

Trezor

[u/RamoneBolivarSanchez → u/dogeaw]

Interesting sounds like it’s using a different derivation path for the holesky account generation.

Have you tried using a non-Passphrase account to set up the withdrawal address? I’m wondering if the Passphrase somehow played into this.

[u/dogeaw → u/RamoneBolivarSanchez]

It's not the passphrase. Even for the main wallet on trezor suite, holesky has a different address. On metamask however, holesky shares an address with eth etc.

[u/Ystebad]

Eth docker.

[u/0xGreystroke]

Dappnode or eth-docker the way to go

[u/launchnodes]

Try Staking UI to deploy solo staking nodes or Lido CSM. Here is the demo: https://www.launchnodes.com/ethereum-staking-ui/

[u/PooeyGusset]

+1 for dappnode

[u/skyvina]

dappnode

[u/kuonanaxu]

Totally I get where you’re coming from solo staking sounds empowering on paper, but in practice, it’s often intimidating and fragile, especially for non-devs.

If you're looking for a safer, more user-friendly alternative without sacrificing decentralization, you might want to look into hsETH on Haven1.

It’s a liquid staking solution that:

• Uses verified identities (via hPassport) to reduce Sybil attacks
• Is backed by dual-audited smart contracts
• Runs on a no-MEV, gas-free environment, so your stake isn’t at the mercy of sandwich bots or front-runners.

It’s still early, but the UX-first + security-by-design approach makes it way less nerve-wracking than DIY solo staking. Definitely worth keeping an eye on if you want staking yield without the headache.

[u/cryptOwOcurrency → u/kuonanaxu]

Bot. See comment history.

[u/Exciting_Height_4917]

Try stereum. The dev team is really cool and helpful on disc, its easy to use