One validator run jointly by several operators, so no single one can sign alone or take it down.
The idea: The validator's BLS key is split into Shamir shares held by several operators. Each operator signs with its share, and any threshold of these partial signatures combine into the normal validator signature, so no single operator ever holds the full key, and the validator keeps working if a few go offline.
Why it matters: Removes single points of failure for stakers.
On the map: threshold BLS over Shamir shares
Distributed validator technology (Obol, SSV) splits one validator's BLS key into Shamir shares held by several operators, who co-sign with threshold BLS[1, 2]. The validator keeps working if some operators go offline, and no single operator can sign alone.
It inherits BLS security plus the assumption that fewer than the threshold of operators collude.
If any of these breaks, this breaks too.
If this breaks, these break with it.
Nothing on the map depends on it: it is an end point, something people use directly.