Nansen, best known for helping degens and institutions alike track wallets and on-chain flows, just made its first real move into Ethereum staking. The blockchain analytics platform launched a non-custodial ETH staking product built on Lido’s stVaults, effectively transforming itself from a data company into a validator operator with skin in the game.
The product went live as part of Lido’s stVaults mainnet release on January 30, 2026. Users can now stake ETH directly to Nansen-operated validators and earn both consensus rewards and MEV (miner extractable value) rewards, all without needing the traditional 32 ETH minimum that solo staking demands.
How Nansen’s staking product actually works
Nansen’s product plugs into Lido’s V3 stVaults architecture. stVaults separate the roles of vault ownership and node operation, which means Nansen serves as both the stVault owner and the node operator. Nansen runs the validators, manages the infrastructure, and users deposit whatever amount of ETH they want.
In return, stakers receive stETH liquidity, Lido’s liquid staking token that can be used across DeFi protocols. The entire setup is non-custodial, meaning Nansen never takes direct control of user funds. The underlying smart contracts have been audited by reputable security firms.
