A fresh debate around Solana’s decentralization has taken over crypto social media after a viral post claimed the network had lost a massive 84% of its validators. The post quickly sparked fears that Solana was becoming dangerously centralized, with some critics even comparing it to a “centralized database.”
But Solana co-founder Anatoly Yakovenko was quick to push back, calling the claim misleading and based on a misunderstanding of how the network actually works.
What Yakovenko Says Really Happened
According to Yakovenko, the real decline in validator participation over the past year is closer to 20%, not 84%. He explained that the drop is largely linked to the end of a Solana Foundation support initiative, not a network collapse.
That initiative, known as the Solana Foundation Delegation Program (SFDP), was a one-year bootstrap effort that helped small validators by covering voting costs. When the program wrapped up, some validators exited the network — but Yakovenko says this was expected and doesn’t point to any systemic failure.
Validators vs. Full Nodes: A Key Difference
One major issue Yakovenko highlighted is that the viral post mixed up two very different things: validators and full nodes.
“Validators are not full nodes,” he wrote in response.
To clarify, validators are responsible for confirming transactions and securing the network, while full nodes mainly verify and store blockchain data. Using this distinction, Yakovenko pointed out that Solana currently operates around 5,000 full nodes, compared to about 8,300 full nodes on Ethereum — even though Ethereum’s market capitalization is roughly four times larger than Solana’s.
This comparison, he argues, shows that Solana is not nearly as centralized as some critics suggest.
Critics Still Raise Concerns
Despite Yakovenko’s explanation, skepticism hasn’t disappeared. Some users continued to argue that Solana remains difficult for everyday participants to join, with one viral comment claiming it costs as much as $20 million per validator to operate on the network. However, this figure could not be independently verified.
What is clear is that running a Solana validator is not cheap.
The Real Cost of Running a Solana Node
According to industry reports and node operators:
- Hardware costs can start in the hundreds of dollars and go up into the thousands, depending on performance requirements.
- Voting costs and network participation fees can push annual expenses into the tens of thousands of dollars.
- Some large validators reportedly stake millions of dollars worth of SOL and spend hundreds of thousands of dollars each year on operations.
These high costs have fueled concerns that only well-funded players can realistically participate, which could limit decentralization over time.
Efforts to Lower the Barrier
The good news is that several startups are working on tools that would allow Solana verification on consumer-grade hardware and standard home internet connections. These projects aim to make participation easier and cheaper — though for now, most of these solutions are still in early, alpha testing stages.
Bottom Line
While claims of an 84% validator collapse appear exaggerated, the debate has once again put Solana’s decentralization under the spotlight. Yakovenko’s response suggests the situation is far less dramatic than viral posts made it seem, but the discussion around costs, access, and long-term decentralization is far from over.
As Solana continues to grow, how it balances performance with openness may prove just as important as transaction speed or fees.
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