Coinbase said its Ethereum staking program, which has previously relied only on the Geth execution client software, plans to eventually distribute its usage evenly between Geth and two additional options, Nethermind and Erigon.
The move comes roughly a month after a bug on the Nethermind client knocked out 8% of Ethereum validators, highlighting the risks of an overreliance on Geth, and the lack of "client diversity."

Coinbase, the publicly traded U.S. crypto exchange, said it's moving to help reduce risks on the Ethereum blockchain by adding support for two additional computer programs known as "clients" that users rely on to access and run the distributed network.

In a blog post, Coinbase Cloud announced it's adding support for the Nethermind and Erigon execution clients, "which will diversify the execution layer within our Ethereum staking nodes."

Ethereum is heavily reliant on users running the Geth execution client, currently representing about 74% of all clients. Nethermind accounts for 13% and Erigon 3%, with another option, Besu, providing 9%.

Ironically, it was a bug on Nethermind last month that knocked out about 8% of Ethereum blockchain validators that shined a light on the network's lack of "client diversity." The fear is what might happen to the blockchain if there were ever a debilitating bug or other problem involving Geth.

Coinbase tweeted at the time that "Execution client diversity on Ethereum is a critical concern for all of us at Coinbase," adding that the company was "performing our latest assessment of alternative execution clients and will have more to share on that process and our next steps by the end of February."

On Wednesday, the company tweeted that "Over the next month, we plan to migrate roughly half our validators to Nethermind. Long term, we intend to evenly distribute between Geth, Nethermind, and Erigon."

Ethereum Staking Geth Coinbase

Bradley Keoun

Bradley Keoun is CoinDesk's managing editor of tech & protocols, where he oversees a team of reporters covering blockchain technology, and previously ran the global crypto markets team. A two-time Loeb Awards finalist, he previously was chief global finance and economic correspondent for TheStreet and before that worked as an editor and reporter for Bloomberg News in New York and Mexico City, reporting on Wall Street, emerging markets and the energy industry. He started out as a police-beat reporter for the Gainesville Sun in Florida and later worked as a general-assignment reporter for the Chicago Tribune. Originally from Fort Wayne, Indiana, he double-majored in electrical engineering and classical studies as an undergraduate at Duke University and later obtained a master's in journalism from the University of Florida. He is currently based in Austin, Texas, and in his spare time plays guitar, sings in a choir and hikes in the Texas Hill Country. He owns less than $1,000 each of several cryptocurrencies.