Blox

Blox operates as an open-source, non-custodial staking platform for Ethereum, representing a significant evolution from its origins. The company was founded in Tel Aviv, Israel, in 2016 by Alon Muroch and Adam Efrima, initially under the name CoinDash. Muroch, the CEO, became deeply involved in the blockchain space after reading the Satoshi white-paper in 2014, contributing code to both Bitcoin and Ethereum before co-founding the company. Efrima's background is in digital finance and technology, having served as the Operations Director for eToro's Shanghai office, which provided him with experience in building fintech products. The initial venture, CoinDash, was conceived as a crypto-based social trading and portfolio management platform.

Pivoting from its initial model, the company rebranded to Blox and focused on crypto asset tracking, management, and accounting solutions for professionals and businesses. This iteration of the platform, sometimes called the "QuickBooks of cryptocurrency," enabled users to sync crypto wallets and exchanges automatically, offering tools for bookkeeping and analytics. The business model included monthly subscription plans with discounts available for staking the native platform token, initially called CDT.

The company's focus has since shifted again towards Ethereum staking, culminating in the development of Blox Staking and the ssv.network. This latest evolution centers on Secret Shared Validators (SSV), also known as Distributed Validator Technology (DVT). This open-source protocol allows a single Ethereum validator key to be split into multiple encrypted "KeyShares" and distributed among several non-trusting node operators. This structure enhances security and decentralization by removing the single point of failure inherent in traditional staking setups. If some operators go offline, the remaining ones can still perform validation duties, preventing penalties for the staker.

The platform is fully non-custodial, meaning users retain complete control over their private validator and withdrawal keys. Blox's technology, which includes components like KeyVault powered by Hashicorp Vault, acts as a remote signer, managing the validator on the user's chosen cloud infrastructure without holding the keys itself. This gives users the flexibility to migrate their validator to another service or their own node at any time. The company has developed its native token, SSV (converted from CDT), which is used for payments within the network—compensating operators for their services—and for governance of the DAO that oversees the protocol.

Keywords: Ethereum staking, non-custodial staking, Distributed Validator Technology (DVT), Secret Shared Validators (SSV), Alon Muroch, Adam Efrima, ssv.network, blockchain infrastructure, crypto asset management, open-source protocol, staking-as-a-service, ETH staking, validator key management, decentralized finance, Tel Aviv, crypto accounting, portfolio tracking, Hashicorp Vault, KeyShares, remote signer