Solana Network Shrinks to 800 Validators as Operating Costs Soar

• The number of active Solana validators has crashed from over 2,500 in 2023 to just 800, sparking fears of centralization .
• Operating a node now requires ~350 SOL/year in voting fees alone, forcing smaller players to exit the network.
• Despite the exodus, the Nakamoto Coefficient holds at 20, suggesting the network’s security core remains intact for now .

Solana’s decentralized infrastructure is facing a significant stress test as the active validator count collapses to a two-year low. New data flagged by blockchain journalist Colin Wu reveals that the network has shed nearly 70% of its validator base since March 2023, dropping to approximately 800 active nodes as of Tuesday, December 9, 2025.

The Profitability Squeeze: Pay-to-Play Economics

The decline cited by Wu has led to diverging opinions among the Solana community. Optimists consider the development positive, describing it as a way of pruning the network of Sybil nodes. However, opposing views insist that many recent exits were genuine operators who could no longer bear the operational costs of running Solana nodes.

For context, running a Solana node, which qualifies a network user as a validator, involves setup costs of between $3,000 and $9,000 in addition to $500-$1,000 monthly server fees. 

Related: Solana Price Risks Steeper Drop As Long-Term Support Breaks And Validator Count Shrinks

Validators on the Solana network also pay between 300 and 350 SOL yearly in vote costs, making it difficult for small operators to stay profitable without investing significantly huge amounts in delegated stake.

Solana’s Centralization Risk vs. Network Efficiency

It is worth noting that the declining number of validators on the Solana network reflects on its decentralization reputation, with pessimists suggesting that the blockchain may slide into centralization. 

Solana’s Nakamoto Coefficient holds at 20, with the network performance reflecting relative strength with a 0.17% skip rate and over 900 TPS.

The Path Forward: Can DAOs Stop the Bleed?

It is obvious that participants and users of the Solana network are split over the potential effect of the declining number of validators on the network. Many of them have responded based on individual preference and what they believe could be behind the decline. 

For instance, one such participant has dismissed the idea that the decline in validators will hurt the network’s decentralization. According to him, decentralization is about aligned incentives, and DAO could bootstrap validator co-operations to reverse the bleed.

Related: Is Solana Changing Its Strategy? New Debate on Decentralization Heats Up