#SolanaStrong The Solana Foundation is implementing a new validator onboarding and offboarding policy designed to increase network decentralization and reduce validator reliance on foundation support.

For every new validator joining the Solana Foundation Delegation Program (SFDP), three validators will be removed if they have been eligible for delegation for at least 18 months and have attracted less than 1,000 SOL in outside stake, according to Ben Hawkins, Head of Staking Ecosystem at the Solana Foundation.

Hawkins’ statement on Discord was shared on X by Mert Mumtaz, CEO of Helius. The initiative comes as Foundation-delegated stake has declined over the years.

EigenLayer’s head of special projects, known online as Kydo, raised the issue, citing data from Stakeview.

"While it is impressive to see that the Solana Foundation's control over the network has been on a decreasing trend since 2022 in terms of the percentage of active stake owned, it would be beneficial to have more visibility into the foundation's impact on the total number of validators,” Kydo told Decrypt. "Transparency improves our industry."