We would like to thank Keone and the entire Monad team for their valuable discussions and insightful feedback.
The Monad blockchain is designed to tackle the scalability and performance limitations of existing systems like Ethereum. It maximizes throughput and efficiency while preserving decentralization and security. Its architecture is composed of different integrated components: the Monad Client, which handles consensus and execution. MonadBFT, a consensus mechanism derived from HotStuff. The Execution Model, which leverages parallelism and speculative execution, and finally MonadDB, a state database purpose-built for Monad. Additional innovations such as RaptorCast and a local mempool design further enhance performance and reliability. Together, these elements position Monad as a next-generation blockchain capable of supporting decentralized EVM applications with low latency and strong guarantees of safety and liveness. Below, we'll provide a technical overview of the Monad architecture, which consists of the Monad Client, MonadBFT, the execution model, and monadDB.
The Monad architecture is built around a modular node design that orchestrates transaction processing, consensus, state management, and networking. Validators run the Monad Client, a software with a part written in Rust (for consensus) and C/C++ (for execution) to optimize performance. Similar to Ethereum, the Monad client is split into two layers:
Traditional HotStuff requires 3 phases to finalize a block, each happening one after the other:
This sequential process delays block finalization. MonadBFT only requires 2 phases, which makes finality faster, but also, it uses a pipelined approach, overlapping phases: when block k is proposed, block k–1 is voted on, and block k–2 is finalized simultaneously. This parallelism reduces latency.
On Monad, at any round, validators propose a new block, vote on the previous, and finalize the one before that.

Comparison: HotStuff vs MonadBFT
The Monad documentation includes a clear infographic illustrating MonadBFT’s pipelined approach, showing how each round overlaps proposal, voting, and finalization to achieve sub-second finality.

Although pipelining increases block frequency and lowers latency, it comes with a big problem that previously hadn’t been addressed by any pipelined consensus algorithms. That problem is tail-forking.
Tail-forking is best explained with an example. Suppose the next few leaders are Alice, Bob, and Charlie. In pipelined consensus, as mentioned before, second-stage communication about Alice's block piggybacks on top of Bob's proposal for a new block.
Historically, this meant that if Bob missed or mistimed his chance to produce a block, Alice's proposal would also not end up going through; it would be "tail-forked" out and the next validator would rewrite the history Alice was trying to propose.
MonadBFT has tail-fork resistance because of a sophisticated fallback plan in the event of a missed round. Briefly: when a round is missed, the network collaborates to communicate enough information about what was previously seen to ensure that Alice's original proposal ultimately gets restored. For more details, see this blog post explaining the problem and the solution.
MonadBFT employs a stake-weighted, deterministic leader schedule within fixed 50,000-block epochs (~5.5 hours) to ensure fairness and predictability:
Unlike older BFT protocols with quadratic (O(n²)) message complexity, MonadBFT scales linearly (O(n)). Validators send a fixed number of messages per round to the current or next leader, reducing bandwidth and CPU costs. This enables 100–200+ validators to operate on modest hardware and with modest network bandwidth limits without network overload.
MonadBFT tolerates up to 1/3 of validator stake being offline while retaining liveness, and up to 2/3 of validator stake being malicious while retaining safety (no invalid state transitions).
To support fast consensus, Monad uses RaptorCast for efficient block propagation. Instead of broadcasting entire blocks, RaptorCast splits blocks into erasure-coded chunks distributed via a two-level broadcast tree:
If a validator lags, it syncs missing blocks from peers, updating its state via MonadDB (see State Management section below). With consensus efficiently establishing transaction order, Monad's execution model builds on this foundation to process those transactions at high speed.
Monad’s execution model overcomes Ethereum’s single-threaded limitation (10–30 TPS) by leveraging modern multi-core CPUs for parallel and speculative transaction processing, as enabled by the decoupled consensus described above.
After consensus, transactions are executed asynchronously during the 0.4 s block window. This decoupling allows consensus to proceed without waiting for execution, maximizing CPU utilization.
With Optimistic Parallel Execution, Monad tries to speed up blockchain transaction processing by running transactions at the same time (in parallel) whenever possible, rather than one by one. Here’s a simple explanation of how it works:
Monad executes all transactions in a block simultaneously, assuming no conflicts, and creates a PendingResult for each, recording the inputs (state read, like pre-transaction account balances) and outputs (new state, like updated balances).
After the parallel execution, Monad checks each PendingResult in order (serially).
This saves time because many transactions don’t conflict, so running them in parallel is faster. Even when transactions conflict (for example: two transfers from the same account), Monad only re-executes the ones that fail the input check, which is usually fast because the data is already in memory.
Here’s a simple example with 4 transactions in a block:
Monad assumes all transactions can run simultaneously and corrects conflicts afterward:
Monad executes all 4 transactions at the same time, assuming the initial blockchain state is consistent for each. It produces a PendingResult for each transaction, recording:
For example:
Monad commits the PendingResult one by one in the order they appear in the block (Tom, Jordan, Alice, Paul). It checks if each transaction’s inputs still match the current blockchain state. If they do, the outputs are applied. If not, the transaction is re-executed.
Let’s walk through the commitment process:
New state: Pool A’s balances are updated, Tom’s balances are updated.
New state: NFT contract state is updated, Jordan owns the new NFT.
New state: Alice and Eve’s MON balances are updated.
New state: Pool A’s balances are updated again, Paul’s balances are updated.
After committing all transactions, the blockchain reflects:
Monad enhances speed via speculative execution, where nodes process transactions in a proposed block before full consensus:
In summary, Optimistic Parallel Execution is about how transactions get processed (running many in parallel to speed up the process) while Speculative Execution handles when processing begins, starting right after a block is proposed but before full network confirmation. This parallel and speculative processing relies heavily on efficient state management, which is handled by MonadDB.
MonadDB improves blockchain performance by natively implementing a Merkle Patricia Trie (MPT) for state storage, unlike Ethereum and other blockchains that layer the MPT on slower, generic databases like LevelDB. This custom design reduces disk access, speeds up reads and writes, and supports concurrent data requests, enabling Monad’s parallel transaction processing. For new nodes, MonadDB uses statesync to download recent state snapshots, avoiding the need to replay all transactions. These features make Monad fast, decentralized, and compatible with existing systems.
Key Features
Role in Execution
MonadDB integrates with Monad’s execution model:
Node Synchronization and Trust Trade-Off
MonadDB enables rapid node synchronization by downloading the current state trie, similar to how git fetch updates a repository without replaying full commit history. The state is verified against the on-chain Merkle root, ensuring integrity. However there is an important trust trade-off:
Monad transparently addresses this trade-off:
Monad optimizes transaction submission and propagation to minimize latency and congestion, complementing MonadBFT and RaptorCast.
Localized Mempools
Unlike global mempools, Monad uses local mempools for efficiency:
This targeted forwarding reduces network congestion, ensuring fast and reliable transaction inclusion.
Overall, Monad's architecture demonstrates how a blockchain can achieve high performance without sacrificing safety. By using MonadBFT, parallel execution, and an optimized database, Monad speeds up block finalization and transaction processing while keeping results deterministic and consistent. Features like RaptorCast networking and local mempools further cut down latency and network overhead. There are trade-offs, especially around fast syncing and trust assumptions, but Monad is clear about them and offers flexible options for node operators. Taken together, these choices make Monad a strong foundation for building decentralized EVM applications, delivering the low latency and strong guarantees promised in its design.
For many years, corporate treasury strategies were very predictable: cash, bonds, and money market instruments. But the world shifted in 2020 when MicroStrategy made waves by placing Bitcoin squarely on its balance sheet as an offensive strategy. Now, with Bitcoin now firmly established in many corporate reserves, a new paradigm is emerging: companies are embracing proof-of-stake assets, starting with Ethereum, to earn yield while staking. This marks a critical shift in how companies think about treasury management in the digital age.
MicroStrategy led the charge in August 2020 with an initial $250 million BTC purchase, framing Bitcoin as a strategic hedge against inflation and depreciation. By late 2024, MicroStrategy had amassed over 423,650 BTC, now valued at $42 billion, making it the largest corporate BTC holder. Corporate Bitcoin accumulation has spread rapidly: 61 public firms now hold more than 3.2% of total BTC supply with companies such as Tesla, GameStop, Riot Platforms, and Twenty One Capital all including Bitcoin in their treasuries. By mid 2025, private and public entities reportedly held more than 847,000 BTC.
As BTC led the digital treasury charge, Ethereum emerged as a compelling next step, offering staked yield plus utility via smart contracts.
These moves reflect a broader cell-level strategy: shifting from purely speculative assets to productive assets that deliver yield while supporting growing digital ecosystems.
Institutional custodial and infrastructure support has become the bedrock of credible crypto treasury strategies. Major players like Coinbase Custody, Anchorage Digital, Fireblocks, and BitGo now offer enterprise-grade custody and staking services tailored to institutional clients. For example, BitGo provides multisignature cold storage and staking support across numerous networks, managing approximately one‑fifth of on‑chain Bitcoin transactions by value. Anchorage Digital, a federally chartered crypto bank, and Fireblocks, recently approved by New York regulators, are now integrated into services like 21Shares’ spot BTC and ETH ETFs alongside Coinbase, further reinforcing industry-grade security and operational compliance. On top of custody, Validator-as-a-Service (VaaS) providers, including Chorus One, Figment, and Kiln, deliver staking infrastructure with service-level guarantees, compliance tooling, and risk mitigation capabilities to allow corporations to operate node infrastructure or delegate responsibly without needing internal DevOps teams, preserving security while capturing staking yields.
Regulatory clarity is also catching up. The IRS issued Revenue Ruling 2023‑14 on July 31, 2023, confirming that staking rewards are taxed as ordinary income once received by cash-method taxpayers under Section 61(a). Complementing this, the SEC has signaled openness to compliant staking frameworks as custodians partner with spot ETF issuers, reinforcing governance and audit controls. Looking ahead, the proposed Digital Asset Market Clarity Act of 2025 (CLARITY Act) would further strengthen this landscape by formally demarcating regulatory jurisdictions: assigning digital commodities such as ETH and SOL to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) while affirming the SEC’s oversight of securities. It would also clarify that mature, protocol-native tokens and DeFi protocols are not investment contracts and further supports institutional use of on‑chain strategies, but also promises to unlock structured layers like restaking, vaults, and LST integrations while preserving board-level governance, audit trails, and operational transparency.
Producing real returns while signaling innovation, staking ETH and SOL offers public companies an attractive alternative to low-yield corporate cash or stablecoin reserves. Profitable yields of 3–7% APY are now accessible through institutional staking platforms, easily outperforming many fixed-income rates. Holding programmable assets also facilitates strategic optionality, enabling treasurers to engage with DeFi use cases, tokenize balances, or even pilot vendor fee settlements with smart contracts.
Beyond financial results, corporate treasury adoption of productive crypto signals clear differentiation to investors. A leading example is SharpLink Gaming, which converted a significant portion of its capital into Ethereum and staked over 95% of it. The firm credits this strategic shift, and the appointment of Ethereum co-founder Joseph Lubin to its board, for signaling innovation and advancing its market positioning.
Looking Ahead
The evolution of corporate crypto treasuries is unfolding in clearly defined phases, each building upon the last in sophistication and capital efficiency. The first phase, Bitcoin pioneering, emphasized symbolic value and digital gold positioning. This was followed by the productive digital assets phase, where firms began to allocate into Ethereum (ETH) and Solana (SOL), not just for exposure but also for the ability to earn staking rewards, thereby generating yield from idle capital. And now, we are entering the multi-layer yield phase, in which forward-looking treasuries are layering on liquid staking, restaking protocols, and decentralized finance (DeFi) integrations to unlock additional yield and liquidity while retaining principal exposure. As regulatory frameworks solidify and infrastructure scales, expect more corporate treasurers to move from storing value to building yield-generating digital treasury architectures.
Ethereum staking continues to mature, and institutions with significant ETH holdings are increasingly looking for secure and yield-competitive strategies. At Chorus One, we are building solutions that combine simplicity, flexibility, and performance – allowing our clients to participate in Ethereum’s DeFi ecosystem without added complexity.
Our latest staking product leverages Lido stVaults to deliver two complementary strategies:
This dual approach positions Chorus One to better meet the diverse needs of institutional clients – whether they value simplicity, capital efficiency, or higher returns.
Several factors make stVaults and stETH a natural fit for our institutional staking product:
Security remains foundational to our approach. We are actively testing vanilla and looped staking strategies on testnets to validate reliability, scalability, and client safety.
If custom smart contract development is required, we will follow strict transparency standards by publishing fully public audits. Institutions can also review our broader security framework in our Chorus One Handbook and security documentation.
By integrating stVaults into our staking product suite, Chorus One is unlocking several benefits for institutions:
The launch of stVault-based staking products marks a significant step forward in Chorus One’s institutional offering. By combining the liquidity of stETH with the flexibility of stVaults, we are empowering institutions to access yield opportunities that are both secure and scalable, without unnecessary dependencies.
At Chorus One, we believe the future of ETH staking lies in making institutional participation seamless, capital-efficient, and reward-optimized. stVaults are a key part of that vision.
At Chorus One, we’ve always believed that staking should be both secure and seamless. Over the past few years, we’ve partnered with leading institutions like Ledger, Utila, and Cactus to bring institutional-grade staking solutions to users worldwide. These partnerships have largely relied on SDK-based integrations, which, while effective, still require a fair amount of development and testing on the client side.
Now, we’re taking simplicity to the next level with the Chorus One Earn Widget.
The Chorus One Earn Widget is a ready-to-integrate staking portal designed to be embedded directly into a partner’s website or app. Built on an iFrame, it allows platforms to offer staking products to their users almost instantly: no heavy lifting, no lengthy development cycles.
With a prebuilt user interface, wallet connection support, and built-in transaction flows, partners can launch staking services quickly, while users can start staking assets and earning rewards without leaving the familiar environment of their preferred app or platform.

For many of our partners, speed matters, and we have seen this accelerate in recent weeks, with some institutions needing to quickly onboard a new provider for staking in days. Take any leading FinTech app, for example, which is preparing to add staking–while SDK integrations provide full customization, FinTech apps and similar partners want a plug-and-play solution that minimizes the technical overhead of launching a new product.
The Chorus One Widget solves this by offering:
In short, the widget makes staking as easy as adding a YouTube video to your site.
The widget is designed for:
By removing development and testing hurdles, the widget opens the door for a wider range of institutions to integrate staking into their products.
The Chorus One Earn Widget comes with a set of functional and non-functional features designed to ensure security, scalability, and usability:
For partners, the widget reduces integration time dramatically while offering a customizable, secure, and scalable solution. It fits neatly into existing workflows and comes with implementation guides and support from the Chorus One team.
For end users, the widget ensures a familiar, intuitive interface to stake assets and track rewards, without navigating away from the apps and platforms they already trust.
The launch of the Chorus One Earn Widget represents a strategic step toward expanding our product suite which includes the Chorus One SDK and dApp, and reaching a broader client base. By lowering the barrier to entry for staking integration, we’re enabling more institutions, both traditional and decentralized, to offer their users access to rewards and participation in proof-of-stake networks.
Our goal is clear: make staking simple for everyone. Whether through SDKs for tailored integrations or the plug-and-play widget for faster rollouts, Chorus One is committed to delivering best-in-class staking infrastructure to meet our partners’ diverse needs.