Stakefish is monitoring block arrivals at its Ethereum gateways after adding Optimum’s mump2p software, while cautioning that quicker delivery alone does not establish higher staking returns for validators.
Optimum said mump2p was in use at 16 node operators on Ethereum’s mainnet by Oct. 20. It put the rollout at roughly 22,000 validator keys and active stake exceeding 1.4 million Ether (ETH). The company identified Blockdaemon, Everstake, P2P.org and stakefish among the operators.
Stakefish said it is tracking performance on its own gateways. The operator cautioned that faster block propagation does not guarantee a higher headline annual percentage rate for stakers.
The software gives blocks another path to validators alongside GossipSub, Ethereum’s peer-to-peer protocol. In early mainnet measurements, Optimum reported average block propagation two to four times faster than its GossipSub baseline. That comparison measures delivery speed, not validator income.
Optimum says late blocks can cost validators attestation or maximal extractable value (MEV) rewards. It identifies geographically remote validators as particularly exposed to delays. The potential benefit of an additional route is therefore tied to whether blocks reach those validators in time to earn rewards.
Optimum also said ether.fi has made mump2p mandatory for its 12 node operators.
StereumLabs tested an earlier version of the software and observed sooner block arrivals for three of six Ethereum consensus clients, but none of the differences was statistically significant. Its test nodes had no validators, so the study did not measure staking rewards. It examined arrival times rather than the propagation-speed measure in Optimum’s early comparison.
After Oct. 26, Optimum plans to limit acceleration to registered operators, a company representative said. The change is intended to allow a clearer comparison of block arrival times.
