Solana Labs co-founder Toly highlights IRS tax changes over network tweaks

Anatoly “Toly” Yakovenko, co-founder of Solana Labs, made a pointed argument on September 7: changing how the IRS taxes block rewards would do more for Solana’s ecosystem than any tweak to the network’s burn mechanisms, transaction fees, or inflation schedule. The tax problem nobody wants to do math on The core issue traces back to IRS Revenue Ruling 2023-14, which treats staking rewards as ordinary income the moment a validator or delegator gains “dominion” over them. In practical terms, that means if you earn 100 SOL in staking rewards and SOL is trading at $150, you owe income tax on $15,000, even if you never sold a single token. This creates what tax professionals call “phantom income.” You have a tax bill on gains you haven’t actually realized. If SOL’s price drops 40% before you sell, you still owe taxes based on the higher value at the time you received the rewards. The burden falls hardest on smaller stakers who may not have the liquidity to cover tax obligations without selling their rewards. That selling pressure, ironically, can push prices down further, creating a cycle that discourages the very participation proof-of-stake networks depend on. Legislative momentum, but...