StakeCraft Q1 2025 Report : A Quarter of Technical Depth, Ecosystem Growth & Validator Excellence
The first quarter of 2025 was a period of significant traction for StakeCraft as we strengthened our validator infrastructure, expanded our presence across new testnets and mainnets, and partnered with multiple next-gen protocols. From technical upgrades and governance decisions to ecosystem support and decentralized infrastructure deployments. Here is a detailed breakdown of everything we accomplished between January 1st and March 31st, 2025.
1. Validator Infrastructure Upgrades
StakeCraft executed over 30 upgrades across multiple chains during the quarter, ensuring our infrastructure is compliant with latest protocol changes and optimized for performance.
Solana
Mainnet Upgrades:
- v2.0.21
- Agave validator client v2.0.22
- Agave validator client v2.0.24
- Agave validator client v2.1.11
- Upgraded to v2.1.14
- Final March update to v2.1.16 — which included a critical fix for all RPC nodes. StakeCraft upgraded accordingly to maintain uptime and compliance.
- Firedancer 0.503.20214
Testnet Upgrades:
- Agave versions: v2.1.7 → v2.1.8 → v2.1.9 → v2.0.24
- Major switch from Agave to Firedancer validator client in testnet — Firedancer is a new high-performance validator software designed to diversify Solana’s validator set.
Governance Update:
- StakeCraft voted NO on the Solana proposal for “in-protocol distribution of block rewards to stakers.” Proposal link: https://forum.solana.com/t/proposal-for-an-in-protocol-distribution-of-block-rewards-to-stakers/3295
Polygon
Mainnet:
- Bor v1.5.4
- Bor v2.0.0 — major upgrade migrating from LevelDB to PebbleDB for enhanced performance and reduced disk usage. PebbleDB is a Go-based key-value store inspired by RocksDB.
- Bor v2.0.1
- Heimdall v1.2.0-beta → Heimdall v1.2.1 (included a Tendermint security patch)
Walrus
Testnet Progress:
- Upgraded versions: v1.10.0 → v1.12.0 → v1.13.1 → v1.14.0 → v1.15.3 → v1.15.4
- StakeCraft was selected as an official testnet validator in Walrus protocol: https://walrus.site
Stake dashboard: https://stake.walrus.site
Explorer: https://walruscan.com/testnet/home
Twitter: https://x.com/WalrusProtocol
Mainnet Launch (March 28):
- StakeCraft is now running a live mainnet node.
- Operator: https://walruscan.com/mainnet/operator/0xad45ce72b5c8141d940450aa00ef6baf897d1f99fbbe2bdb9707d379b7b39f89
- As part of decentralization research, we also deployed a demo website using Walrus’s decentralized hosting: https://stakecraft.walrus.site
Agoric
Mainnet upgrades:
- agoric-upgrade-18
- agoric-upgrade-18a
Other Upgrades
Kava Network:
- Mainnet upgrade to v18.0, including improvements to IBC Packet Forwarding Middleware, addressing issues with USDT IBC transaction reliability.
Redbelly:
- Testnet upgrades from v1.0.5 → v1.0.6
Band Protocol:
- v2.5.3 on testnet
- Launch of v3 testnet
Covalent:
- v1.3.6 → v2.0.1 (mainnet)
Stargaze:
- Mainnet upgraded to v15
Bitsong:
- Testnet: v021
- Mainnet: v0.21.5
Juno:
- Mainnet upgrade to v27
- Near Protocol:
- Nearcore upgraded to v2.5.0
- Release Notes
2. Testnet Expansion
StakeCraft continues to actively test and validate across emerging L1s and DePIN projects.
DoubleZero Testnet:
- Joined testnet in late Feb and became live on Solana testnet validator by March.
- Link: https://www.validators.app/validators/CaT9dSx37Quj1kcAXEVd6ncM6NLvYUSqhtgEnn1JtNKC?locale=en&network=testnet
- Project: https://x.com/doublezero
Torram Testnet:
- Joined in March. Torram is focused on BitcoinFi acceleration.
- Project: https://x.com/Torram_xyz
DIA Testnet
Hyperliquid Testnet
Aztec Testnet
Zeebu Testnet
3. New Mainnet Validators Deployed
Lava Network Mainnet:
- Validator launched with address: lava@1cetfvj5zlmwdzcx2mkx04r03yuv0nh2p7xx053
- Explorer: https://lava.explorers.guru/
- Website: https://www.lavanet.xyz
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/lavaprotocol
- We added support for Polygon and Arbitrum RPC endpoints. As of March, we are providing RPC for: —
Ethereum
Polygon
Arbitrum
DIA Lumina Mainnet:
- Launched March 28. StakeCraft congratulates the team.
Koii Network:
- StakeCraft has supported Koii since the early testnet phases and continues to operate as a mainnet validator.
- Validator: https://investor-vesting-portal.koii.network/portal
- Explorer: https://explorer.koii.live/
- Twitter: https://x.com/KoiiFoundation
4. Strategic Delegations & Partnerships
Lava Foundation Delegation (Feb 21):
- StakeCraft was selected for Phase 1 of Lava’s restaking delegation, aimed at improving network reliability and quality of service (QoS).
- Full announcement: https://www.lavanet.xyz/blog/lava-foundation-boosts-network-reliability-and-qos-with-restaking-delegation-round
ZetaChain Foundation Delegation (March 21):
- StakeCraft received official validator delegation as part of ZetaChain’s 10 million ZETA Validator Delegation Program.
- Blog: https://blog.zetachain.com/10-000-000-zeta-validator-delegation-program-round-2-e36bc11a0e1b
The Graph x InfraDAO:
- We joined The Graph’s initiative to test new chain integrations and zkEVM indexing.
- Discord thread: https://discord.com/channels/438038660412342282/737341252835737641/1346598947388657805
- Successfully added Polygon zkEVM indexing support
Zeebu Protocol:
- StakeCraft is now operating as a smart contract-based settlement node operator in Zeebu’s telecom settlement ecosystem.
- Twitter: https://x.com/zeebuofficial
DIA Lumina:
- StakeCraft joined as a Mainnet validator to support and strengеhen the network
Twitter: https://x.com/DIAdata_org
5. Community Contributions & Ecosystem Participation
- Hosting and Decentralization:
- Deployed demo site on Walrus protocol to test decentralized hosting capabilities: https://stakecraft.walrus.site
- Governance Engagement:
- Participated in Solana governance voting. Voted NO on protocol-level staking reward distribution.
In Summary
Q1 2025 marked a period of deep infrastructure upgrades, early adoption of promising testnets, and strategic alliances across the staking ecosystem. StakeCraft continues to remain at the frontier of validator operations with technical precision, transparent communication, and community alignment.
We’re grateful to our delegators, network partners, and supporters for your trust.
Let’s stake forward together.
Stay tuned for more updates via
- Twitter — https://x.com/stakecraft
- Discord — https://discord.gg/Bn2qumrW
- Website — https://stakecraft.com/
- LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/company/stakecraft/
