Enable Compounding Rewards (0x01 → 0x02)

This section covers validators that are already running on 0x01. If you have not deposited yet, create the validator as 0x02 directly instead — see the prefix overview.

Moving an existing validator from 0x01 to 0x02 is not a BLS‑to‑Execution change. It is an EIP‑7251 consolidation request whose source and target are the same validator — a self‑consolidation — submitted on the execution layer through the consolidation system contract. Gnosis Chain has supported it since Pectra (30 April 2025, epoch 1 337 856).

The following must all be true, per the consensus spec's is_valid_switch_to_compounding_request check:

the validator is currently on 0x01 — if you are on 0x00, do the BLS‑to‑Execution change first;
the request is sent from the validator’s withdrawal address, i.e. the execution address in its credentials;
the validator is active and has not initiated an exit.

Unlike a consolidation of two different validators, the switch costs no churn and has no activation‑age requirement.

Option A — the validators app (recommended)

Open the validators app and connect the wallet that controls your withdrawal address.
Select the validators listed as Type 1 that you want to consolidate.
Choose Consolidate and confirm.

What happens depends on how many validators you select:

Select just one. It's simply self‑consolidated — no merging, no other validator involved. You end up with the same validator, same balance, now on 0x02.
Select several. You don't need to switch each one individually first. The app designates only as many of them as targets — self‑consolidating each to 0x02 (or reusing one you already had on 0x02, if it has room) — and merges the rest into those targets. A slider lets you choose how much GNO each target should hold (anywhere from 1 up to the 64 GNO cap; it defaults to 40 GNO), and the app packs validators into each target up to that amount before starting a new one. Leave it at the default and selecting, say, 10 one‑GNO validators typically produces one resulting 0x02 validator holding all 10 GNO, not ten separate 0x02 validators. A validator merged this way isn't separately switched to 0x02; its balance moves into the target and it stops being an active validator of its own.

Option B — call the system contract directly (advanced, most people won't need this)

Option B — call the system contract directly

Send a transaction from your withdrawal address to the consolidation contract:

Field	Value
`to`	`0x0000BBdDc7CE488642fb579F8B00f3a590007251`
`data`	Your validator’s 48‑byte public key repeated twice — 96 bytes of `source_pubkey ‖ target_pubkey`
`value`	The current request fee, in wei

The fee is dynamic — it starts at 1 wei and grows with queue pressure, and a request that sends less than the current fee reverts. Read it by calling the contract with empty calldata:

# Current consolidation request fee, returned in wei (hex)
curl -s -X POST https://rpc.gnosischain.com \
     -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
     --data '{"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":1,"method":"eth_call",
              "params":[{"to":"0x0000BBdDc7CE488642fb579F8B00f3a590007251","data":"0x"},"latest"]}'

Then submit the request. <PUBKEY> is your validator’s public key without the leading 0x, written twice so that the calldata is exactly 96 bytes:

cast send 0x0000BBdDc7CE488642fb579F8B00f3a590007251 \
     --data 0x<PUBKEY><PUBKEY> \
     --value <FEE_IN_WEI> \
     --rpc-url https://rpc.gnosischain.com \
     --ledger    # or --account <keystore>, --private-key <key>

The signing key must be the validator’s withdrawal address; a request sent from any other address is silently ignored by the consensus layer.

The balance above 1 GNO is not paid out

When the switch is processed, the beacon chain moves everything above 1 GNO out of the validator and immediately re‑deposits it into that same validator (queue_excess_active_balance). The explorer shows this as a SYSTEM withdrawal followed by a new deposit — it is bookkeeping, not a payout, and there is nothing to claim.

Once processed, the validator’s prefix becomes 0x02, its maximum effective balance rises from 1 GNO to 64 GNO, and rewards compound instead of being swept.

Option A — the validators app (recommended)​

Option B — call the system contract directly​

Option A — the validators app (recommended)

Option B — call the system contract directly