Behind the Blocks is where we highlight the extraordinary individuals who make Chorus One more than just a workplace—it’s a space where passion meets purpose. "When I joined in 2022," says Chief People Officer, Flora Bondici, "I was drawn not only to the innovative work in decentralized infrastructure but also to the opportunity to be part of something deeply meaningful. At Chorus One, a career is more than a job—it’s a journey of growth, learning, and making a real impact."
As a fully remote and globally diverse team, we empower our people to thrive on their own terms. In this series, you’ll meet inspiring team members like Thalita Franklin, who entered Web3 through a developer course we sponsored, alongside others who’ve forged unique paths into blockchain. Their journeys reflect a culture built on transparency, collaboration, and curiosity. Let’s dive into Thalita’s story and explore how her work is shaping the future of decentralized technology.
From Web2 to Web3: Thalita’s Journey to Chorus One
Today, we’re excited to feature Thalita Franklin, Networks Lead at Chorus One. From Brazil to Portugal, Thalita’s journey into Web3 started with a unique opportunity—a one-month Web3 developer course sponsored by Chorus One. Now a key leader in the company, Thalita shares how that opportunity opened the door to a thriving career in blockchain, and how her work continues to make an impact across the ecosystem.
Q: How long have you been with Chorus One, and what’s your role? What does your day-to-day look like?
Thalita: I’ve been with Chorus One for 2,8 years, but it all started when I applied for a one-month Web3 developer course. Chorus One sponsored 10 women, and I was lucky enough to be one of them. That experience introduced me to the world of blockchain and gave me a chance to prove myself. I started working on Solana as a Research Analyst, but now I’m the Networks Lead. My day-to-day involves a mix of deep work in the mornings, being in between the business and engineering, handling projects like staking research, and meetings with internal teams and external partners to explore investment opportunities or new networks we’re looking at.
Q: Can you tell us more about that initial course and how it shaped your journey?
Thalita: Absolutely. Before joining Chorus One, I was living in Brazil and didn’t have much experience in Web3. When I saw the opportunity for the Web3 developer course, I knew I had to apply. The fact that Chorus One was sponsoring women to join the space really stood out to me. During my initial 3 months with Chorus One, I found out about MEV and started working on a project focused on MEV (learn more), after I joined, which was my introduction to how complex and exciting the blockchain space has become. The course gave me the confidence and skills I needed to step into this field. It was an incredible launchpad that led to where I am today.
Q: What’s it like being a Networks Lead at Chorus One? Can you walk us through your typical day?
Thalita: Being a Networks Lead is both challenging and rewarding. I focus a lot on analyzing new staking opportunities and keeping up with our live networks like Solana and Cosmos. My mornings are all about focus—whether it’s research or preparing for the day’s meetings. I have most of my meetings around midday due to different time zones, and those can range from internal strategy sessions to calls with networks we’re looking to partner with. I also work closely with the ventures team to explore potential investments, which keeps things really interesting.
Q: What’s one of the most exciting projects you’ve worked on, and why did it stand out?
Thalita: I’d say the Solana project was the most exciting. When I first started, many people were skeptical about Solana’s potential, but Chorus One believed in it. I got heavily involved in the research and educational content creation for Solana, which was a big part of getting people to see the value in the project. Watching Solana grow and survive through challenges was incredibly fulfilling. It showed me that research and education could really make a difference. Plus, I enjoyed hosting podcasts about it—getting to communicate the value of these networks to a broader audience is something I love.
Q: Can you share a moment when your research directly influenced a major decision at Chorus One?
Thalita: A big one was our work on MEV. I was involved in researching and creating educational materials about it, and it became clear how important MEV was to the validator ecosystem. This work helped Chorus One adjust our strategy, not just in how we provide infrastructure, but in how we approach new networks and educate our partners and the broader community. It was one of those moments where you can see your research shaping decisions that impact the entire company.
Q: Beyond Chorus One, how does your work impact the broader ecosystem?
Thalita: Our role as validators goes beyond just running nodes. We try to contribute to the broader conversation around blockchain economics and how validators can provide more than just infrastructure. For example, our educational work on MEV and other topics has helped the community better understand the increasing complexity of the new trends. It’s important to me that the work I do has a ripple effect beyond Chorus One, whether it’s through writing articles, giving feedback to networks, or sharing insights on podcasts.
Q: You work closely with many teams across Chorus One. What’s been your favorite moment of collaboration?
Thalita: One of the best moments was to find myself having casual dinners at the beach with Gabriella, Maria and other team members. It’s through these informal moments that remind me how connected we are as a team. In terms of work, I’ve really enjoyed collaborating with the ventures team. We work together to evaluate potential investments and decide which networks we should get involved in. It’s been incredibly rewarding to see how those collaborations lead to tangible growth for Chorus One.
Q: How has Chorus One supported your career and personal growth?
Thalita: Chorus One has been amazing in helping me grow. When I first joined Web3, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to focus on development or something else, but they gave me the room to explore. Over time, I found my strengths in leading network research, and they’ve supported me all the way. On a personal level, moving from Brazil to Portugal was a big step, but the team was so supportive. Being closer to the team has helped me feel more empowered in my role.
About 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.
Chorus One is excited to announce our partnership with Fragmetric, a leading liquid restaking protocol on Solana.
Restaking, one of the most significant innovations in the crypto space in recent years, is now arriving on Solana through Jito Restaking. This platform will leverage Solana native assets to support Node Consensus Networks (NCNs), applications that deliver services to Solana users.
While progress in liquid restaking has been impressive, the space still faces challenges that slow down its growth:
Fragmetric solves these issues with $fragSOL, an innovative liquid restaking token (LRT) powered by Solana's unique features:
Stay tuned as Chorus One shapes the future of restaking with Fragmetric and $fragSOL!
About Fragmetric
Fragmetric is a native liquid restaking protocol on Solana, with a vision of enhancing the Solana ecosystem's security and economic potential. Through implementing advantage of Solana's token extension, Fragmetric has effectively implemented NCN reward distribution. Furthermore, Fragmetric designed practical solutions, the Normalized Token Program for leveraging various LSTs in restaking platforms. Fragmetric’s mission is to build a secure, transparent, and highly efficient restaking infrastructure that empowers users and supports the stability of the Solana's restaking ecosystem.
About 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.
Category Details:
Staking details:
Details for Investors:
Locked tokens are not eligible for staking in this first phase. It will be at a later stage
Starknet has been designed to enhance Ethereum's capabilities while maintaining its core values of security and composability. It operates as a permissionless Validity-Rollup, also known as a zero-knowledge rollup (ZK rollup), which is a Layer 2 solution built to improve the scalability of the Ethereum network.
As an L2 blockchain, Starknet empowers developers and decentralized applications to perform large-scale computations at significantly reduced costs. This scalability is achieved without compromising Ethereum’s inherent strengths, such as its decentralized nature.
Starknet uses an advanced cryptographic system known as STARK proofs (Scalable Transparent Argument of Knowledge). These proofs ensure transactions are both secure and verifiable, even when processed off-chain, which helps to maintain Ethereum’s high standards of trust and transparency.
A unique feature of Starknet is its use of Cairo, a purpose-built programming language designed to maximize efficiency and performance in the Starknet ecosystem. Cairo is used to write smart contracts, enabling developers to harness its full potential for creating innovative and high-performance applications.
With Starknet, the Ethereum ecosystem can achieve faster transaction speeds, lower costs, and improved scalability, making it a vital piece of the blockchain scalability puzzle included in Ethereum’s roadmap.
The launch for Starknet will happen in different phases, which are the following:
Phase 1:
Phase 2:
Phase 3:
Phase 4:
In order to stake with Chorus One, you can go to the staking rewards app available here
Once there, connect your wallet (Argent X or Braavos). If you’re visiting the website for the first time, you’ll need to grant the application access and approve a signature request.
Next, enter the amount of STRK you want to stake with Chorus One.
Click “Stake”, then confirm the transaction in your wallet to complete the staking process.
Congratulations! You have successfully staked your STRK. Click the button to track your staked STRK position in the Staking Terminal. You can also view the transaction details on Starkscan.
You can now monitor your stake, claim staking rewards, and unstake directly using the Staking Rewards Terminal, available here: https://www.stakingrewards.com/terminal
About 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.
Chorus One Validator: 0x6bcBe50912a51c4d956444CCbd2F3e9dAA217CC1
Recommended Wallet: MetaMask
Block Explorer: https://bartio.beratrail.io/
Staking Rewards: https://www.stakingrewards.com/asset/berachain-bera/about
Connecting to Testnet: https://docs.berachain.com/developers/network-configurations
Berachain (BERA), currently in their final testnet phase (Cartio), is changing how DeFi users access liquidity, supercharging applications, and providing flexibility and adaptability to the thriving digital economy. It combines the capabilities of the Cosmos SDK and introduces its novel 'Proof of Liquidity' as well as their new modular implementation of the EVM called Polaris. This not only tackles current obstacles but also paves the way for fresh avenues of creativity and advancement within the DeFi industry.
Through the unique Proof-of-Liquidity (PoL) consensus mechanism, Berachain is transforming traditional staking by requiring liquidity contributions instead of merely locking assets. This innovative approach incentivizes users to supply liquidity to the network, strengthening decentralized applications (dApps) and rewarding participants for enhancing liquidity pools.
To support the PoL model, Berachain utilizes a tri-token model comprising the Bera Governance Token (BGT), the native gas token (BERA), and Honey (HONEY).
Each token serves a specific role:
BGT plays a central role in the staking process on Berachain. It grants holders governance rights, enabling them to vote on proposals that shape protocol upgrades.
Together, this tri-token model creates a robust and dynamic economic framework that aligns network security, liquidity, and governance. While currently still in its testnet phase, Berachain’s innovative model is poised to reshape blockchain staking upon mainnet launch.
Chorus One has been involved with the ongoing developments of Berachain and their new PoL model and is prepared to offer day one support for the network. Alongside this, we have created a special algorithm called BeraBoost to maximize BGT rewards for PoL participants allowing Chorus One to provide infrastructure that maximizes the performance of the PoL system, ensuring that liquidity is efficiently managed while securing the network through the use of our in-house algorithm.
Chorus One will publish our BeraBoost algorithm on day one, which optimizes rewards distribution for liquidity providers and validators on Berachain. This approach maximizes returns for BGT delegators by tracking LP positions and directs incentives to the most relevant reward vaults.
BeraBoost which will maximize delegator income by strategically distributing BGT emissions to their reward vault positions. This is a sophisticated approach that takes into account nuances like vault turnover and varying incentive liquidity.
Chorus One BeraBoost will operate on a public dashboard, providing transparent, optimized incentive capture for delegators. BeraBoost maximizes incentives taking into account delegator reward vault positions and Chorus One will continue to improve BeraBoost as the chain matures.
Berachain Testnet Links
Below are the links you can use to get started on Berachain testnet if you'd like to explore the PoL mechanisms and staking process first-hand.
Berachain Faucet: The Berachain testnet faucet is the first place to begin to get some testnet BERA.
Home | BEX: BEX is the home of the swap and liquidity provisioning features to participate in PoL.
Vaults | BGT Station: BGT Station is your all in one stop to stake your liquidity tokens and delegate BGT and interact with other features of the network.
Once you've acquired some testnet tokens, you can use BEX to swap your BERA into different tokens you wish to provide liquidity for. For example, let's say you wanted to provide liquidity to the BERA/HONEY pool.
First, navigate to https://bartio.bex.berachain.com/swap and select how much BERA you wish to swap to HONEY.
Note: When providing liquidity, you will need to provide a roughly 50/50 distribution in value of each token. For example, $100 worth of BERA and $100 worth of HONEY.
You will see a preview of your swap, go ahead and complete the steps by approving the transaction in your wallet.
Once you have the tokens you want to provide liquidity for, navigate to https://bartio.bex.berachain.com/pools to select the liquidity pool you wish to interact with.
In this case, we will be demonstrating with the HONEY/BERA pool.
Click on 'Add' to be brought to the liquidity deposit screen. You can click on 'MAX' for either token to see what the most liquidity you can provide is based on the amounts of each token you have.
Next, click on 'Preview' and if it all looks good, go ahead and approve the transaction in your wallet and provide the liquidity to the pool.
After you've done so, you'll likely be prompted to deposit your liquidity receipt tokens to a rewards vault to begin earning BGT. (screenshot example below).
From BGT station, make sure you select the tab at the top called 'Vaults' and from there you can search for a rewards vault for HONEY/WBERA to stake you receipt tokens to.
Using the search function can be very helpful to find the vault you wish to use.
Simply click on 'Deposit' and you can stake your liquidity receipt tokens from your deposit earlier.
Enter the amount of the receipt tokens you wish to stake, then click on 'Deposit' to finalize the transaction in your wallet.
And now you've successfully participated in PoL! Your receipt tokens will begin accruing BGT rewards that you can claim and then stake with the Chorus One validator.
However, it's worth noting that BGT will not be instantly earned for your receipt token deposit, however, you will begin earning BGT from your stake in that rewards vault.
As it accrues, you can claim your pending BGT rewards.
Simply click on 'Claim Rewards' and you will claim the BGT that has accrued from the rewards vault.
If you are staking to other rewards vaults, you can see an overview of all your pending BGT rewards from: https://bartio.station.berachain.com/rewards
Once you have your BGT, you can navigate to the 'Validators' tab of BGT Station to select Chorus One.
Once on the Chorus One validator page, simply click on 'Delegate' to delegate your BGT to the validator.
Here you will see the screen where you can choose how much BGT to delegate.
After you've entered how much BGT you wish to delegate, click on 'Queue Boost' which will start the delegation process.
The delegation process is not instant. When you queue the BGT boost to the Chorus One validator, it will process in approximately 1-2 hours.
You can view the status of your delegation boost from the same page you used to delegate.
Please note that to finalize the BGT delegation, you will need to return to this page and confirm the boost after the time in the delegation queue has passed.
After you've come back and confirmed your BGT delegation to the Chorus One validator, you're all set! You've successfully delegated BGT and have boosted the Chorus One validator further, thus increasing the amount of BGT it will distribute to your rewards vault (in this case, HONEY/WBERA).
You will continue to accrue more BGT over time from your PoL positions which can be claimed from the 'Rewards' tab of BGT Station.
Converting BGT to BERA
BGT cannot be transferred to another wallet. It is soul bound to your wallet. While BGT can be delegated, it can also be converted one way in a 1:1 ratio to BERA.
Please note it is not possible to convert BERA back to BGT. This is a one way swap only.
This allows you to use your BGT rewards to either further boost the Chorus One validator or you can swap your BGT to BERA to use it for other functions in the Berachain ecosystem.
This 1:1 swap can be done from the 'Redeem' tab on BGT Station.
Simply select how much BGT you'd like to convert to BERA and click on 'Confirm' then finalize the transaction in your wallet.
And that's it -- You've now converted your BGT rewards to BERA and can use that BERA to swap in BEX or participate in other aspects of the Berachain ecosystem!
If you are an institutional investor looking to stake Berachain (BERA) with Chorus One, please reach out to us via our staking request form.
About 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.
