Solana’s validator count has fallen sharply over the past three years, raising concerns about the network’s decentralization as the cost of running a node squeezes out smaller operators.
According to Solanacompass data, the number of validators dropped 68% to 795 as of Wednesday, down from a peak of 2,560 in March 2023.
Validators play a crucial role in the network, responsible for adding new blocks and verifying transactions on the blockchain.
While part of the decline is due to the removal of inactive or “zombie” nodes, industry insiders say rising operating costs and fee competition are pushing smaller validators offline.
An independent Solana validator operator, posting under the name Moo on X, said many small validators are weighing shutdowns because the economics are no longer viable.
“Many small validators are actively considering shutting down (including us). Not due to lack of belief in Solana, but because the economics no longer work,” Moo wrote.
Rising node costs push small validators out of Solana
Moo, the independent validator, said large validators charging 0% fees are squeezing smaller operators, making it economically unviable to continue running a node.
“We started validating to support decentralization. But without economic viability, decentralization becomes charity,” Moo said.
The trend suggests that retail validators can no longer sustainably secure the network, with nodes increasingly concentrated among larger operators. This raises potential concerns about Solana’s overall decentralization.
Solana’s Nakamoto Coefficient drops 35%
Alongside the falling validator count, Solana’s Nakamoto Coefficient — a metric measuring the minimum number of independent entities controlling a blockchain — has declined 35%, from 31 in March 2023 to 20 as of Wednesday, according to Solanacompass.
The drop indicates that staked SOL is becoming less widely distributed, signaling a decline in network decentralization and highlighting growing concentration among a smaller number of large validators.
Rising costs squeeze Solana validators
One key factor behind the decline in Solana validators is the increasing cost of running a profitable node, which has grown significantly over the past three years alongside SOL’s price.
Excluding hardware and server expenses, validators need an initial investment of at least $49,000 in SOL for their first year of operations. To stay active, they must also allocate around 401 SOL annually for voting fees.
Validators participate in protocol consensus by sending a vote transaction for each block they validate. According to technical documentation from Solana validator Agave, this can cost up to 1.1 SOL per day, making node operations increasingly expensive for smaller participants.
