Straight Talk: Solana's New Validator Shuffle
Breaking down Solana's fresh new onboarding and offboarding policy
Solana Foundation Adjusts Validator Approach to Foster Validator Autonomy
The Solana gang's got a fresh spice up their sleeve - a new validator shuffling act! The Solana Foundation's throwing down a new policy to boost network decentralization and trim validator reliance on foundation support. Here's the lowdown.
Each time a new validator hops on the Solana Foundation Delegation Program (SFDP) train, one of the ol' timers who's been there for at least 18 months, sporting less than 1,000 SOL in outside stake, is outta here, according to Ben Hawkins - Head of Staking Ecosystem at the Solana Foundation. And while this might sound harsh, it's all part of the game in the blockchain world, capping off the foundation's fall in staked SOL over the years.
EigenLayer's head honcho, Kydo, drew attention to the situation, using Stakeview data that suggested most validators on the chain were spawned by the Solana Foundation themselves. These validators raked in 90-100% of their staking funds from the foundation. Talk about a dependence!
Max Resnick, lead economist at Solana-focused R&D firm Anza, responded, noting that they are winding down the SFDP slowly. He emphasized that validator count wasn't all it's cracked up to be and, to boot, validators with minuscule stake affected network performance.
Helius, in a September 2024 study, estimated that 57% of Solana validators would struggle to stay afloat if the SFDP fizzled out of the picture due to their inability to cover operational costs, most of which were spent on voting fees. But the move toward self-reliance among validators,iasm for Solana's growing self-reliance abounds.
Raising the Nakamoto Coefficient (think of it as a measure of decentralization) brings resilience to Solana as broader stake distribution among validators means a bigger spread of pow-er. Helius pointed out that the network's coefficient was "frequently cited as 19" in November 2024, but they acknowledged that it was likely to be lower.
All in all, Solana's shaking things up with a "three-for-one" swap mechanism for stakeholders, building a more autonomous network and sticking it to those who depend on institutional support.
- Solana is introducing a new validator shuffling policy to boost network decentralization and reduce reliance on foundation support.
- The new policy states that when a new validator joins the Solana Foundation Delegation Program (SFDP), an existing validator with less than 1,000 SOL in outside stake and who has been active for at least 18 months will be removed.
- According to Ben Hawkins, Head of Staking Ecosystem at the Solana Foundation, this policy is to be more inclusive and to create a more diverse ecosystem of validators.
- EigenLayer's head, Kydo, has drawn attention to the situation using Stakeview data, suggesting that most validators on the Solana network were spawned by the Solana Foundation itself.
- Max Resnick, lead economist at Solana-focused R&D firm Anza, responded, noting that the SFDP will be gradually wound down.
- Helius, in a September 2024 study, estimated that 57% of Solana validators would struggle to continue operating if the SFDP were to be discontinued.
- The move towards self-reliance among validators, as well as the growing self-reliance of the Solana network, is generating a lot of excitement within the crypto industry and the world of finance, as it brings greater resilience and technology advancements to the Solana ecosystem.
