Ethereum Block Service Reaches 7.8% of Staked Ether
Optimum says operators using its mump2p block-delivery service now represent 7.8% of staked Ether, up from more than 3% at launch.
Updated on Nov. 11, 2026 in Quantum Computing
Optimum reported that operators using its mump2p block-delivery service represent 7.8% of staked Ether, up from more than 3% when the service launched on Ethereum mainnet on October 20. The November 3 update did not include a new operator count.
Why it matters
Receiving a block sooner could leave a validator more time to process it and submit an attestation. The service offers an alternative path for block data alongside Ethereum's existing GossipSub network without changing consensus rules.
The 95th-percentile block arrival time was 1,207 milliseconds at mump2p gateways versus 1,614 milliseconds at public Xatu sentry nodes in an Optimum evaluation of 180,327 slots on the Hoodi testnet. Independent mainnet testing across 36 full nodes found that some arrival gains did not persist after client processing, and whether validator votes or rewards improve remains unassessed.
The players
Optimum
Optimum is the company behind the mump2p block-delivery service, which distributes coded pieces of Ethereum blocks to validators as an alternative to the network's default propagation path.
Muriel Médard
Muriel Médard is a co-founder of Optimum and an MIT professor known for research on network coding, the technique underlying the mump2p service.
The details
Optimum's mump2p gateway runs beside existing Ethereum software and distributes coded pieces of a block. At launch, 16 node operators with about 1.4 million ETH in connected stake, covering roughly 22,000 validator keys, used the service.
Timeline
August 27 through September 7: Independent mainnet test ran on 36 Ethereum mainnet full nodes.
September 17 to October 15: Optimum evaluated 180,327 slots on the Hoodi testnet.
October 20: The mump2p service launched on Ethereum mainnet.
November 3: Optimum reported the 7.8% share of staked Ether.
The Tech Race
The mump2p service supplements Ethereum's GossipSub network, the protocol that has carried block data across the network since the Merge, by adding a parallel distribution path. Its rise to 7.8% of staked Ether positions Optimum to compete with other efforts to speed block propagation on the chain.
Validators that receive blocks sooner may have more time to process them and submit attestations, which could affect the rewards they earn. Operators choosing between software paths will need to weigh the faster arrival times against the unresolved results from independent testing.
The takeaway
Speed gains in blockchain networks are measurable at the gateway but must survive client processing before they change validator outcomes. Watch for independent results that include attached validators before drawing conclusions about rewards.
Further reading
For more on the computing research behind network speed and reliability, explore Quantum Computing coverage on Wisevoter.
Source note: This article includes information reported by TokenPost.
