LinkPool

Staking and validator infrastructure you can verify

Running Chainlink oracle nodes since mainnet launch in May 2019, and validators on Ethereum, NEAR, Polygon, Canton and more. Zero slashing events in six years of mainnet operations, rated AAA and certified a Verified Staking Provider by Staking Rewards.

LinkPool has operated Web3 infrastructure since 2017, against a 99.99% uptime SLA target, on hardware it owns across three availability zones in Manchester. It is also a core contributor to stake.link, the liquid staking protocol for Chainlink.

For validators, the risk is the cost

A validator earns steadily and loses catastrophically. The infrastructure decision is really about slashing, uptime, and who controls the plug.

Slashing is the real cost

A slashed validator loses stake directly. We have run mainnet validators for six years with zero slashing events. Performance tier gives guaranteed QoS so attestation timing does not degrade when a neighbour spikes.

Platform risk is a line item

In November 2022 a major host removed more than 1,000 Solana validators in a single policy change. Rented infrastructure sits under a host acceptable-use policy that can change. We run on owned hardware under a Web3-native contract.

You inherit your cloud SLA

A validator on public cloud cannot promise more uptime than its host promises you. Owned infrastructure sets its own ceiling: our 99.99% target comes from failover across three availability zones in Manchester, not a pass-through cloud contract.

Networks we validate

Seven networks with public third-party records showing LinkPool's validator or operator role. This is a verifiable set, not an exhaustive inventory.

Chainlink: live since mainnet launch in 2019

LinkPool has run Chainlink oracle nodes continuously since the network went live on Ethereum mainnet in May 2019, more than seven years of uninterrupted oracle operations. That network has since enabled more than $34 trillion in transaction value and secures over $56 billion in assets, per Chainlink Foundation metrics for September 2026. The same team and the same operating discipline now run the validator, DVT and oracle workloads on this page. LinkPool is also a core contributor to stake.link, the sole third-party delegated staking solution for Chainlink Economics 2.0.

Staking Rewards rates LinkPool AAA on its AAA to D scale and certifies it a Verified Staking Provider. That rating covers business, operations, reliability and security, and the full report is public.

Built for validators that stay up

Kubernetes on owned hardware

Managed clusters on hardware LinkPool owns. Containers run straight on the machine, so no hypervisor sits between the client and the CPU.

Guaranteed QoS on Performance

Performance reserves capacity, so requests equal limits: no throttling during attestation or proposal windows.

Three availability zones

Validators fail over across three availability zones in Manchester, which is where the 99.99% target comes from.

Monitored around the clock

24/7 monitoring on every validator, alerting on missed attestations and proposals, and client upgrades handled before they become incidents.

What teams ask us

What is a validator?

A validator is a node that participates in a proof-of-stake network's consensus, proposing and attesting to blocks, with stake bonded as collateral. Correct behaviour earns rewards. Downtime forfeits them, and provable misbehaviour is slashed, meaning part of the bonded stake is destroyed. Running one well is an availability and key-management problem rather than a trading one.

Which networks does LinkPool validate on?

Public records link LinkPool to validator or operator roles on Ethereum, NEAR Protocol, IOTA, Polygon, Lava, Espresso and the Canton Network. This is a verifiable public set, not a claim that LinkPool operates on only seven networks. LinkPool has also run oracle infrastructure for the Chainlink Network since its mainnet launch in 2019.

What is your slashing record?

Zero slashing events in six years of mainnet validator operations. Avoiding slashing is a function of client configuration, monitoring, and infrastructure that does not degrade under load, which is why the platform reserves resources rather than overcommitting them for timing-sensitive work.

Do you support distributed validator technology (DVT)?

Yes. DVT splits a validator across several operators so no single one is a point of failure. We run distributed validator client software on the same platform as our standard validator and oracle workloads.

Do you support Chainlink staking?

Yes. LinkPool has run Chainlink oracle nodes since the network's mainnet launch in May 2019 and is a core contributor to stake.link, the sole third-party delegated staking solution for Chainlink Economics 2.0.

Where can we delegate stake to LinkPool?

Delegation availability and terms vary by network. Staking Rewards publishes current terms for NEAR Protocol, IOTA, Polygon and Lava, while the Espresso monitor publishes delegation data. For Ethereum DVT, Canton, or a validator run for your own stake, talk to us about the applicable route.

Should we self-host or use managed infrastructure?

Self-hosting adds real operational overhead: on-call rotas, client upgrades, incident response and key management, on top of the hardware. Managed infrastructure removes that without charging for a whole server you will not fully use. The break-even is usually about engineering time rather than hardware.

Validator and staking guides

Talk to us about validators

Tell us the network, how much stake, and whether you need a dedicated validator or a delegation. We reply with specifics, not a deck.