What Is Chorus One? Staking Infrastructure, Networks and Ownership

Chorus One's /about page lists Brian Fabian Crain as co-founder and CEO and Meher Roy as co-founder and CTO ². A Swiss business directory places the company's seat in Zug ⁶.

On February 19, 2026, Bitwise announced it had acquired Chorus One. Chorus One joined Bitwise Onchain Solutions (BOS), Bitwise's staking division for institutions, family offices and financial platforms. About 50 staff moved over, and Crain moved into an advisory role ³. Price and terms were not disclosed ⁴. Bitwise's Swiss counsel described the deal as a purchase of Chorus One AG from its shareholders ⁵.

• Enterprise staking. Dedicated validator setups for institutions such as custodians, funds and exchanges ¹.
• Public nodes. Validators any token holder can delegate to from their own wallet ¹.
• White-label validators. Infrastructure run under a client's brand ¹.
• Research. Reports on protocols, governance and staking economics ¹³.
• Chorus Ventures. A separate fund the company describes as $30 million ¹. It is an investor, not a staking service.
• Open-source tools. For example, an offline signer for Hyperliquid actions using a Ledger device ¹.

The process depends on the network, but on most delegated proof-of-stake chains it works like this:

1. You keep your tokens in your own wallet (or with your custodian) and pick Chorus One's validator in a staking interface.
2. You delegate. The chain records your stake as backing that validator. On these networks, delegation does not move tokens into Chorus One's control.
3. Chorus One runs the node. It signs blocks and votes, and rewards accrue to delegators after the validator's commission.
4. Unstaking follows each chain's own unbonding period, which Chorus One cannot shorten.

Ethereum is different. Validators there are funded in 32 ETH units. Many people reach Chorus One indirectly through liquid staking protocols that assign it validators. It has run validators as a node operator for Lido ⁷⁹. For background, see how crypto staking works and liquid staking.

Chorus One earns a commission on staking rewards, not a fee on the principal. Each network has its own commission, and it is usually visible on-chain or in the staking interface before you delegate. No company-wide rate was published on the pages reviewed, so check the commission on the specific validator you choose. You also pay the chain's own transaction fees to delegate, claim and undelegate. Enterprise and white-label pricing is set by contract.

• Slashing. If a validator double-signs, the network can destroy part of the stake, including delegators' tokens on many chains. Chorus One had a slash on Centrifuge in January 2022, which governance later canceled ⁸.
• Downtime. A validator that goes offline misses rewards. A storage failure in October 2021 cost Lido stakers about 33.83 ETH in missed rewards, which Chorus One reimbursed ⁷.
• Operational errors. Process failures can affect protocols that rely on the operator, for example delayed exits (see the 2023 entry below) ⁹.
• Commission changes. Operators can change commissions within each chain's rules.
• Ownership change. Since 2026, Chorus One is part of Bitwise. Institutional clients may want to review contract and service terms after the acquisition ³.