Solana Validator Dispute Ignites as Founder Responds to 84% Drop Claim

In recent discussions, a viral post inaccurately claimed that Solana experienced an 84% drop in its validator count. Solana's founder, Anatoly Yakovenko, contest this assertion, clarifying that the actual decrease is closer to around 20%. He attributes this drop to the end of a subsidy program rather than a collapse of the network.

Key Takeaways

A viral claim suggested an 84% decrease in Solana validators.
Founder Anatoly Yakovenko clarified that the real drop is about 20%.
The decline is linked to the conclusion of the Solana Foundation Delegation Program (SFDP).
Concerns remain regarding Solana's decentralization and validator participation costs.
Operating costs for validators can be very high, impacting broader participation.

Solana validator drop debate and decentralization concerns.

Dispute Over Validator Numbers

Concerns regarding Solana's validator count and network decentralization surfaced over the weekend when a social media post circulated, asserting that there was an 84% decline in validators.

Solana validator debate flares as founder rebuts 84% node-collapse claim - 1

In response, Anatoly Yakovenko disputed the exaggerated claim, stating that the actual drop in validator participation over the last year is approximately 20%. He emphasized that the post confused validators with full nodes, clarifying, “Validators are not full nodes.” Yakovenko noted that Solana has about 5,000 full nodes, contrasting this with Ethereum's 8,300 full nodes. Notably, Ethereum’s market cap is substantially larger, being four times that of Solana.

Reasons Behind the Validator Decline

Yakovenko attributed the decline in Solana nodes to the end of the Solana Foundation Delegation Program (SFDP), a year-long initiative aimed at assisting smaller validators by covering their voting costs. Despite these clarifications, critics continued to raise concerns about Solana's decentralization, with ongoing comparisons to centralized systems.

One user on social media claimed that the operational costs of around $20 million per validator could deter wider participation among validators, although this figure has not been independently verified.

Financial Barriers for Node Operators

According to industry reports, successfully running a self-hosted, fully validating Solana node demands significant financial investment. Initial hardware costs can range from several hundred to several thousand dollars, while voting costs may escalate annual expenses to tens of thousands of dollars.

Many validators reportedly stake millions of dollars in tokens and incur operational costs that reach into the hundreds of thousands. To address these challenges, various startups are working on solutions that could enable network verification using consumer-grade hardware and standard home internet connections, although such solutions are still in early testing phases.