ETH 2.0 Mainnet Staking Guide - Lighthouse

Guide for becoming a validator on Ethereum 2.0 using Lighthouse and Ubuntu 20.04.

Staking requires a deposit of 32 ETH. You should practice the entire staking process on testnet before committing to running a validator on mainnet. (Prater Testnet Guide)

If you're new to Ubuntu and would like to start with the basics, see Ubuntu for Beginners

What is Eth 2.0?

When Ethereum was created in 2013, much of the road-map wasn't feasible given the current state of technology. Ethereum 1.0 was launched in 2015 to introduce the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM), while Proof-of-Stake (POS) and sharding would be incorporated in the redesigned Ethereum 2.0.

The ETH 2.0 Beacon Chain launched on Dec 1st, 2020 with a total of 21,063 validators, and Eth1 is expected to merge with Eth2 in early 2022.

ETH1 and ETH2 Interacting

This diagram gives an overview of the Eth1 POW and Eth2 POS chains running in parallel.

Recommended PC ( i7 / 32GB RAM / 2TB SSD )

This guide is tailored for a dedicated Ethereum PC/server. A new machine with ( i7 / 32GB RAM / 2TB SSD ) will cost ~$800 and should last through Eth 2.0 - Phase 2.

It is possible to run on ~8gb RAM, but your node may struggle to keep up under stressful network conditions.

Related Technologies

The following technologies are used in this guide:

1. Ubuntu 20.04 LTS - Linux Operating System
2. Python 3.7 - Programming Language
3. Metamask - Ethereum Browser Extension
4. Go Ethereum - Eth1 Client Software
5. Lighthouse - Eth2 Client Software
6. Beaconcha.in - Eth2 Block Explorer
7. Somer Esat's: Ethereum 2.0 Staking Guides

Linux CLI

You will be running everything from the terminal window (aka Command Line Interface).

You can use the following shortcuts for Linux CLI:

• Ctrl + Alt + T || Open new terminal window

• Ctrl + Shift + V || Paste contents into terminal window

• Ctrl + C || Quit terminal process

We'll begin the installation by enabling the Universal Firewall (UFW).