The Solana Foundation has just announced a noteworthy strategic change in the validator support program – a decisive move to reduce the network's dependence on the Foundation itself and promote true decentralization. But behind this is a surprising fact: more than 57% of validators could 'disappear' if they no longer receive stake from the Foundation?
Bold move: “1 in, 3 out” to promote self-reliance
According to a statement from Ben Hawkins – head of the staking ecosystem at #SolanaFoundation – whenever a new validator is accepted into the Solana Foundation Delegation Program (SFDP), three old validators will be eliminated if they:
Has participated in the program for at least 18 months, and
Only attracted less than 1,000 SOL stake from outside.
The goal of this policy is to encourage validators to operate independently, attracting stake from the community instead of relying on the Foundation's support.
Shocking fact: More than half of validators “survive off the Foundation”?
Kydo – head of special projects at EigenLayer – pointed out a concerning issue: according to data from Stakeview, up to 90-100% of the stake from many validators comes from the Solana Foundation itself.
He stated bluntly: “Most current validators only exist because they were created by the Foundation. Without the SFDP, they would collapse.”
A report from Helius in August 2024 also stated that if the Solana Foundation immediately stopped the SFDP program, about 57% of validators would not be able to continue operating due to insufficient revenue to cover maintenance fees – with the largest cost being the voting fee.
Solana responds: “Gradually reducing dependence, and that's a good thing”
Max Resnick – chief economist at Anza research firm specializing in Solana – confirmed that the SFDP is gradually being diminished.
He emphasized: “Many validators nowadays operate independently after having been supported by #SFDP . The number of validators is less important than their quality – those validators with small stakes actually decrease network performance.”
Network effect: Increase Nakamoto coefficient, strengthen long-term trust
Although controversial in the short term, many experts still believe this new strategy is a positive signal for Solana's future.
Encouraging validators to be self-reliant helps increase the Nakamoto Coefficient – an important measure of the level of decentralization of a blockchain network. The higher this coefficient, the more widely the control of stake is distributed, making the network harder to manipulate.
According to data from Helius, the Nakamoto coefficient of $SOL is said to be around 19 in November 2024 – however, the actual number may be lower. Reducing dependent validators and increasing stake for independent validators could help improve this metric in the future.
Impact on the crypto market and Binance users?
While Solana is one of the formidable competing blockchains with many other ecosystems, this move not only showcases a clear long-term strategy but also suggests a trend forming in the blockchain world: the growing emphasis on the autonomy of nodes to avoid concentration risks.
For Binance users – especially investors who are staking or participating in DeFi on Solana – this could bring long-term benefits such as:
Increase network security.
Reduce the risk of manipulation by a large group of validators.
Increase the reliability of projects built on the Solana platform.
However, in the short term, some staking services may be affected as weaker validators gradually disappear from the network.
Conclusion
The Solana Foundation is betting on a truly decentralized strategy – ready to eliminate validators that rely on subsidies to build a more sustainable and robust network. While it may cause temporary shock, this could be a necessary step to strengthen Solana's position in the blockchain race.
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