Nillion has officially launched its mainnet, ushering in a new era of private, decentralized computation. Chorus One has supported the network since early days, including the Genesis Sprint and Catalyst Convergence phases. With the mainnet launch, we are now proud to join the network as a Genesis Validator, and support $NIL staking from day one!
If you're looking for a trusted validator, backed by a team of 35+ engineers committed to delivering a best-in-class staking experience, select the Chorus One validator and start staking with us today!
The rapid expansion of AI-driven applications and platforms in has revolutionized everything from email composition to the rise of virtual influencers. AI has permeated countless aspects of our daily lives, offering unprecedented convenience and capabilities. However, with this explosive growth comes an increasingly urgent question: How can we enjoy the benefits of AI without compromising our privacy? This concern extends beyond AI to other domains where sensitive data exchange is critical, such as healthcare, identity verification, and trading. While privacy is often viewed as an impediment to these use cases, Nillion posits that it can actually be an enabler. In this article, we'll delve into the current challenges surrounding private data exchange, how Nillion addresses these issues, and explore the potential it unlocks.
Privacy in blockchain technology is not a novel concept. Over the years, several protocols have emerged, offering solutions like private transactions and obfuscation of user identities. However, privacy extends far beyond financial transactions. It could be argued that privacy has the potential to unlock a multitude of non-financial use cases—if only we could compute on private data without compromising its confidentiality. Feeding private data into generative AI platforms or allowing them to train on user-generated content raises significant privacy concerns.
Every day, we unknowingly share fragments of our data through various channels. This data can be categorized into three broad types:
The publicly shared data has fueled the growth of social media and the internet, generating billions of dollars in economic value and creating jobs. Companies have capitalized on this data to improve algorithms and enhance targeted advertising, leading to a concentration of data within a few powerful entities, as evidenced by scandals like Cambridge Analytica. Users, often unaware of the implications, continue to feed these data monopolies, further entrenching their dominance. With the rise of AI wearables, the potential for privacy invasion only increases.
As awareness of the importance of privacy grows, it becomes clear that while people are generally comfortable with their data being used, they want its contents to remain confidential. This desire for privacy presents a significant challenge: how can we allow services to use data without revealing the underlying information? Traditional encryption methods require decryption before computation, which introduces security vulnerabilities and increases the risk of data misuse.
Another critical issue is the concentration of sensitive data. Ideally, high-value data should be decentralized to avoid central points of failure, but sharing data across multiple parties or nodes raises concerns about efficiency and consistent security standards.
This is where Nillion comes in. While blockchains have decentralized transactions, Nillion seeks to decentralize high-value data itself.
Nillion is a secure computation network designed to decentralize trust for high-value data. It addresses privacy challenges by leveraging Privacy-Enhancing Technologies (PETs), particularly Multi-Party Computation (MPC). These PETs enable users to securely store high-value data on Nillion's peer-to-peer network of nodes and allow computations to be executed on the masked data itself. This approach eliminates the need to decrypt data prior to computation, thereby enhancing the security of sensitive information.
The Nillion network enables computations on hidden data, unlocking new possibilities across various sectors. Early adopters in the Nillion community are already building tools for private predictive AI, secure storage and compute solutions for healthcare, password management, and trading data. Developers can create applications and services that utilize PETs like MPC to perform blind computations on private user data without revealing it to the network or other users.
The Nillion Network operates through two interdependent layers:
When decentralized applications (dApps) or other blockchain networks require privacy-enhanced data (e.g., blind computations), they must pay in $NIL, the network's native token. The Coordination Layer's nodes manage the payments between the dApp and the Petnet, while infrastructure providers on the Petnet are rewarded in $NIL for securely storing data and performing computations.
The Coordination Layer functions as a Cosmos chain, with infrastructure providers staking $NIL to secure the network, just like in other Cosmos-based chains. This dual-layer architecture ensures that Nillion can scale effectively while maintaining robust security and privacy standards.
At the heart of Nillion's architecture is the concept of clustering. Each cluster consists of a variable number of nodes tailored to meet specific security, cost, and performance requirements. Unlike traditional blockchains, Nillion's compute network does not rely on a global shared state, allowing it to scale both vertically and horizontally. As demand for storage or compute power increases, clusters can scale up their infrastructure or new clusters of nodes can be added.
Clusters can be specialized to handle different types of requests, such as provisioning large amounts of storage for secrets or utilizing specific hardware to accelerate particular computations. This flexibility enables the Nillion network to adapt to various use cases and workloads.
$NIL is the governance and staking token of the Nillion network, playing a crucial role in securing and managing the network. Its primary functions include:
Nillion's advanced data privacy capabilities open up a wide range of potential use cases, both within and beyond the crypto space:
Chorus One is a genesis validator on the Nillion mainnet, and is officially supporting $NIL staking. To stake your $NIL with us, select the Chorus One validator at the link below, and begin staking with us today!
At Chorus One, we aim to provide users with a best-in-class experience across a wide variety of networks. To maintain this standard, we periodically assess our supported networks for current and future viability. In light of market conditions and lower network activity, we have made the decision to stop supporting the networks below at the end of this month. These include:
These changes are part of an ongoing effort to streamline our focus and dedicate resources to networks with stronger long-term growth potential.
We are proud to have supported these networks and their users. However, there are a few trends we have observed that have led to our decision:
If you’re currently staking tokens on any of these networks, we kindly ask that you migrate them to a different validator by March 31, 2025. After this date, staking rewards from our public nodes will no longer be guaranteed. Please ensure your tokens are unstaked or re-delegated before then.
To view all current supported networks, node addresses, and APY, click here.
This decision allows us to allocate more resources and attention to the networks that show the most promise in terms of activity, user growth, and long-term sustainability. As we continue to grow and evolve, we remain committed to offering the best staking services and supporting the most innovative and active networks in the industry.
If you have any questions or need assistance with unstaking your tokens, our support team is here to help. Feel free to reach out to us via support@chorus.one.
Chorus One is one of the largest institutional staking providers globally, operating infrastructure for over 60 Proof-of-Stake (PoS) networks, including Ethereum, Cosmos, Solana, Avalanche, Near, and others. Since 2018, we have been at the forefront of the PoS industry, offering easy-to-use, enterprise-grade staking solutions, conducting industry-leading research, and investing in innovative protocols through Chorus One Ventures. As an ISO 27001 certified provider, Chorus One also offers slashing and double-signing insurance to its institutional clients. For more information, visit chorus.one or follow us on LinkedIn, X (formerly Twitter), and Telegram.
Welcome back to Behind the Blocks, where we dive into the journeys of the talented individuals shaping the future of Chorus One. In this series, we highlight their stories, explore their roles in decentralized technology, and share why Chorus One is the perfect place to make an impact in Web3.
Today, we’re thrilled to feature Maria, a Software Engineer at Chorus One. From running a kindergarten in Romania to discovering her passion for Web3 development, Maria's journey is a testament to adaptability, resilience, and the transformative power of curiosity.
Q: Can you tell us a bit about your role as a Software Engineer at Chorus One and what drew you to join the team?
Maria: My journey into Web3 started during a transitional phase in my life. After co-founding a kindergarten and working at a startup focused on pre-school education, COVID forced me to pivot. I started learning how to code in 2020 and about a year and a half later, I discovered DappCamp, a Web3 bootcamp.
I didn’t know at the time that the scholarship I received for the course was sponsored by Chorus One, but it changed everything. Jen, a team member from Chorus One, approached me about interviewing for an engineering position, and I couldn’t turn the opportunity down.
The interviews were incredible—our CEO's focus on transparency and kindness stood out. I didn’t have much experience in Web3, but the environment at Chorus One is so welcoming and growth-focused. It’s been fascinating to work in a place where my voice is heard, there’s no unnecessary bureaucracy, and ownership over your work is encouraged.
Q: What does a typical day look like for you in this role, and what kind of projects do you usually work on?
Maria: My days are split between coding and code reviews —about 70% of the time—and meetings or interviews. I love that we keep meetings to a minimum, just twice-weekly team huddles where we connect, align objectives, and discuss architecture.
I’ve worked on ETH-based projects like a rewards reporting tool and monitoring solutions for our staking clients. One of the most exciting projects was the Opus pool, where I got to focus on monitoring tools and client-facing features. It’s a dynamic environment, and no two days are the same.
Q: What has been one of the most challenging projects you’ve worked on at Chorus One, and what did you learn from it?
Maria: The first project I worked on—the rewards reporting tool—was incredibly challenging. It involved reading, interpreting, and processing block data into a format that was useful for users. I had to learn about Ethereum protocol and the kind of information contained in a block.
That project taught me how to dig deep into blockchain mechanics, and it gave me a solid foundation for understanding how the networks operate.
Q: How does Chorus One support your professional growth, whether through learning opportunities, tooling, or other resources?
Maria: The learning budget here is a game-changer. I’ve taken courses, gotten coaching, and attended conferences—all encouraged and supported by the company.
Another key aspect is the variety of projects we work on. Each one introduces me to new technologies and protocols, keeping my work exciting and challenging. The team’s focus on certain networks also helps me stay sharp without being overwhelmed by the sheer scope of Web3.
Q: For engineers interested in Web3, what advice would you give about joining a company like Chorus One?
Maria: My advice is to build something concrete using Web3-specific tools. For frontend developers, experiment with libraries like RainbowKit, WalletConnect, Wagmi, or Viem to integrate wallets and build dApps, to understand the user flow.
I would use Infura to get nodes to read from, hardhat or foundry for developing and testing smart contracts, get used to using Etherscan to read contracts, view transactions etc.
A good resource: https://cryptozombies.io/. I also like Nader Dabit’s content.
If you’re into backend, create a monitoring tool that extracts and visualizes blockchain data—it’s a great way to show your skills. Develop a blockchain scraper, extract useful data from blocks, export the data as metrics to Prometheus, build a Grafana dashboard etc.
For DevOps, try hosting your own node and focus on one protocol to understand it deeply. Develop monitoring tools for it.
Having hands-on experience with Web3 tools is incredibly impressive in interviews.
Chorus One is one of the largest institutional staking providers globally, operating infrastructure for over 60 Proof-of-Stake (PoS) networks, including Ethereum, Cosmos, Solana, Avalanche, Near, and others. Since 2018, we have been at the forefront of the PoS industry, offering easy-to-use, enterprise-grade staking solutions, conducting industry-leading research, and investing in innovative protocols through Chorus One Ventures. As an ISO 27001 certified provider, Chorus One also offers slashing and double-signing insurance to its institutional clients. For more information, visit chorus.one or follow us on LinkedIn, X (formerly Twitter), and Telegram.
Berachain is officially live on mainnet. This marks the beginning of a transformative period for DeFi, where security and liquidity scale together under Berachain’s novel Proof-of-Liquidity (PoL) consensus.
The goal of Berachain’s proof-of-liquidity (PoL) consensus mechanism is to allow security and liquidity to scale together. In traditional proof-of-stake (PoS) blockchains, a substantial amount of capital is locked to ensure network security. This staked capital, while ensuring network security, remains idle, and does not contribute to the liquidity of the ecosystem. The fundamental idea behind proof-of-liquidity is to remove this trade-off between security and liquidity, by directly incentivizing DeFi activity with sustainable staking revenues.
Berachain’s economic design revolves around three distinct tokens:
Validators propose blocks based on their $BERA stake and distribute emissions of $BGT, which can be allocated to Reward Vaults. The amount of emissions they can distribute depends on their $BGT stake, if we want to mention this: (1) How often they propose depends on their $BERA stake. (2) How much $BGT they distribute upon proposal depends on their $BGT stake.Users providing DeFi liquidity can stake their receipt tokens in these reward vaults to be eligible for $BGT rewards.
BEX: The Berachain Exchange
BEX is a native decentralized exchange featuring House Pools and Metapools to enhance liquidity efficiency. Liquidity providers not only earn trading fees but also accumulate $BGT, which can be staked with validators to influence governance and optimize emissions.
Bends: Native Lending Markets
Bends allows users to borrow $HONEY against collateral such as ETH, BTC, and USDC. By interacting with Bends, users deepen liquidity while simultaneously earning $BGT emissions, creating a dual-incentive model for sustainable lending.
Berps: Perpetual Futures TradingBerps is Berachain’s native perpetual futures exchange, offering high-performance derivatives trading with deep liquidity and efficient capital deployment.
With Berachain’s unique emission mechanics, delegators need a sophisticated strategy to maximize returns. This is where BeraBoost comes in—an automated allocation algorithm developed by Chorus One Research that dynamically optimizes $BGT distribution to maximize rewards.
Validators on Berachain play a crucial role in emission allocation. Delegators who stake with a validator benefit from the validator’s strategy for directing emissions to Reward Vaults. BeraBoost takes this a step further by:
This mirrors how traditional DeFi yield farming strategies work but integrates them directly at the consensus level. As Camila Ramos highlighted in this thread, Berachain’s PoL effectively allows users to outsource their farming strategies to validators, providing an avenue for both sophisticated and unsophisticated users to optimize their returns without active management.
Learn more about BeraBoost here.
Berachain’s Proof-of-Liquidity introduces a fundamental shift in blockchain economics. By aligning security with capital efficiency, Berachain not only enhances validator incentives but also fosters deeper liquidity for the entire ecosystem. The introduction of BeraBoost further refines this model, allowing delegators to passively maximize returns while reinforcing the network’s decentralized security.With mainnet now live, Berachain is poised to redefine on-chain liquidity dynamics, governance participation, and validator incentives—all while maintaining seamless Ethereum compatibility. Builders, liquidity providers, and institutional players now have a powerful new platform to engage with.
To get started with staking or liquidity provisioning, reach out to us at staking@chorus.one and check out our staking guide here. The era of Proof-of-Liquidity is here.
Chorus One is one of the largest institutional staking providers globally, operating infrastructure for over 60 Proof-of-Stake (PoS) networks, including Ethereum, Cosmos, Solana, Avalanche, Near, and others. Since 2018, we have been at the forefront of the PoS industry, offering easy-to-use, enterprise-grade staking solutions, conducting industry-leading research, and investing in innovative protocols through Chorus One Ventures. As an ISO 27001 certified provider, Chorus One also offers slashing and double-signing insurance to its institutional clients. For more information, visit chorus.one or follow us on LinkedIn, X (formerly Twitter), and Telegram.
