# Citadel.one has shut down its Aztec sequencers, leaving 1.35M AZTEC staked on offline keys

Citadel.one said on 30 October 2026 that it has stopped running its Aztec sequencers. Seven of its sequencers, with 1.35M AZTEC staked, are still in the active set but have missed every duty, and are exposed to inactivity slashing until their delegators exit.

- Published: 2026-11-03T17:04:46Z
- Updated: 2026-11-03T17:04:46Z
- Chains: Aztec
- Source: https://forum.aztec.network/t/citadel-one-has-sunset-the-validator-operations/8682
- Web page: https://bitbasic.com/news/12-citadelone-has-shut-down-its-aztec-sequencers-leaving-135m-aztec-staked-on
- By: BitBasic (https://bitbasic.com), run by BitNordic

Staking provider Citadel.one has shut down its Aztec sequencer operation. In a post on the Aztec forum on 30 October 2026, it said the shutdown followed an operational restructuring and that its node has been turned off. It also said Aztec offered it "no option for a validator to opt out or exit gracefully", and asked delegators with questions to contact it on Telegram.

## What BitBasic's data shows

On 3 November 2026 at 17:00 UTC, the [Citadel.one provider page](https://bitbasic.com/aztec/providers/71) on BitBasic showed:

- **7 sequencers still in the active set**, with 1.35 million AZTEC staked between them. That is 0.22% of active stake. The network has 3,155 active sequencers.
- **No work done since 26 October**: 0 of 39 proposal slots filled and 0 of 1,084 attestations seen. As a result, these stakes have earned nothing in that time.
- **Stakes below the 200,000 AZTEC activation amount**: four sequencers hold 190,000 AZTEC each and three hold 196,000 each.
- **195 keys still in the provider's queue**: under Aztec's staking registry, a new stake made through this provider would be assigned one of them.

## Why delegators should act

Under Aztec's slashing rules, a sequencer that misses at least 90% of its duties in an epoch can be slashed 2,000 AZTEC for inactivity. A sequencer whose stake falls below 190,000 AZTEC is ejected from the active set. Its remaining stake then moves into the exit queue and stays locked until it is withdrawn. Four of Citadel.one's sequencers are already at that threshold.

With delegated staking on Aztec, the provider holds the attester key that runs the sequencer. The delegator controls the withdrawer, so delegators can start an exit without the provider. According to Aztec's documentation:

- The withdrawer can start an exit at any time and names the recipient address when doing so.
- The sequencer leaves the active set straight away. It stays slashable for past conduct during the 4-day rollup exit delay.
- The stake can be claimed once the roughly 9.6-day governance withdrawal delay has passed, counted from the start of the exit. Anyone can then call `finalizeWithdraw` to send it to the recipient.
- The docs warn against using a command-line tool from before v6 to exit, because older versions send the stake to the attester's address.

Delegators who staked through Citadel.one can check their position on the provider page above or on [BitBasic's Aztec sequencer list](https://bitbasic.com/aztec). The [Aztec dashboard](https://bitbasic.com/aztec) shows the network as a whole.

## Sources

- [Citadel.one: "Citadel.one has sunset the validator operations", Aztec forum, 30 October 2026](https://forum.aztec.network/t/citadel-one-has-sunset-the-validator-operations/8682)
- [Aztec docs: Exiting a sequencer](https://docs.aztec.network/operate/operators/sequencer-management/exiting-a-sequencer)
- [Aztec docs: Slashing](https://docs.aztec.network/operate/operators/concepts/slashing)
- [BitBasic: Citadel.one on Aztec](https://bitbasic.com/aztec/providers/71)