Solana Foundation caps its validator delegation program at 12 months and 100 validators

The revised rules also force validators out once their external stake tops 300,000 SOL, turning the program into a strict launchpad The Solana Foundation has put an expiration date on its help. Under updated rules for its Validator Delegation Program, membership now lasts a maximum of 12 months. The program will also support no more than 100 validators at a time. Any validator that attracts more than 300,000 SOL in external stake has to leave. What changed in the delegation program The new guidelines took effect on November 6, 2026. They apply to the Solana Foundation Delegation Program, usually shortened to SFDP. Validators are the computers that process transactions and keep the Solana network running. They earn rewards based on how much SOL, the network’s native token, is staked with them. New validators face a classic chicken-and-egg problem. Nobody wants to stake with an unproven operator, and operators can’t prove themselves without stake. The SFDP has tried to solve that by lending Foundation stake to promising newcomers. The revised rules set three hard limits: Time: participation is capped at 12 months. Size: the program will delegate to a maximum of 100 validators. Succes...