CipherStart buildingRun a validator on a Raspberry Pi.
Cipher validators verify Groth16 proofs and vote on blocks — roughly ten milliseconds of work, no GPU, no specialized silicon. The bar isn't horsepower; it's uptime. The node has to stay on and reachable, so a $5/mo cloud VM or a Raspberry Pi on a UPS earns just like a desktop with a 32-core CPU. Validators earn the network fees, claimed on-chain every epoch.
What you actually need.
From zero to validating in four shells.
Build the CLI
Get it from the release page, or build from source with Cargo. Either way the binary is signed, SBOM-attached, and reproducible — verify before you trust.
curl -L https://get.cipher.xyz/install.sh | sh
cipher --versionFund a devnet wallet
Registration takes 0.5 ETH plus transaction fees to function as a validator. On devnet the faucet drops 1 ETH every 6 hours.
cipher wallet new --network devnet
cipher wallet faucet --address <your-address>
cipher wallet balanceStake and register on-chain
Registration writes your validator key, bond, and reputation seed to the Cipher settlement contract on Base. Once the transaction lands, you're eligible.
cipher validator register \
--bond 0.5eth --moniker my-nodeStart the node
Pop in the worker session — tmux, systemd, launchd, whatever you prefer — and let the node lead. Cipher streams the consensus journal to stdout for the first hour, then drops to INFO.
# on the validator host
systemctl --user enable --now cipher-validator
journalctl --user -u cipher-validator -f
cipher validator statusSkin in the game, recorded in protocol.
Validators are bonded in ETH on Base. Misbehaving — equivocating, signing competing tips, going offline — burns part of the bond. Honest, available validators compound reputation, which drives selection weight in the next epoch.
The MPC ceremony runs in the open.
Anyone can contribute to the multi-party computation. Inputs are public, intermediate transcripts are notarized on Base, and the final state is verifiable. As long as one honest participant erases their randomness, the system is sound.
# clone the ceremony
git clone https://github.com/cipherlabs/mpc-ceremony
cd mpc-ceremony
cipher ceremony contribute --entropy "$(head -c 64 /dev/urandom | base64)"
cipher ceremony verify --transcript ./transcripts/latest.bin
# publish the contribution
cipher ceremony submit --signer <your-key>Devnet is open. Mainnet is gated by the ceremony.
Devnet validators are running today; you can join right now. Mainnet activation waits on MPC ceremony completion and the external security audit.