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Solana validators approve 100% allocation of priority commissions, ending 50/50 consumption split
Solana validators voted to award 100% of the priority commissions to themselves on May 27, ending the previous 50/50 split between burning commissions and rewarding validators.
The proposal, known as SIMD-0096, approved with 77% approval. It aims to address perceived flaws in the current system and align incentives for network security and efficiency.
The change in priority allocation of fees seeks to reduce the potential for side deals between transaction submitters and block producers, which advocates say could undermine network security.
Validators such as Everstake, Jito, Helius, Stakehaus, Leapfrog, Bonk, Solend and Pico.sol have supported the change.
Meanwhile, validators, including Step Finance, Triton, GREED, Solana Compass, Shinobu, Orangefin, AG, Pumpkin Pull and Edgevana, opposed the proposal.
Bugs in the system
Critics, such as Bandito Stake’s Hanko Baggins, have raised concerns about the removal of the burn mechanism, which helps manage Solana’s annual inflation rate.
Baggins suggested that while increasing fees could benefit validators in the short term, removing burn could impact the long-term health of the network and lower the price of SOL.
Co-founder of Solana Anatoly Yakovenko addressed these concerns, saying that the current system requires users to pay double the priority fee to outbid bids, which go entirely to validators and are not burned. He described the priority fare burn as a bug in the system.
Stakewiz’s Laine estimated that the change could lead to a 4.6% increase in Solana’s emissions, bringing them in line with levels from a year ago. She pointed out that SIMD-0096 is part of a larger plan to improve the distribution of block rewards, with other proposals such as SIMD-0123 in development.
Delayed implementation
Although voting has concluded, activating SIMD-0096 may take several months, as the current Solana Mainnet or the next update does not support it.
The delay allows for further discussion and development of additional proposals, such as SIMD-0123, which aims to simplify the distribution of block rewards, and SIMD-0109, which proposes a native tipping mechanism.
The decision to award 100% of priority commissions to validators highlights the diverse perspectives within the Solana ecosystem and sets the stage for ongoing discussions about the future of the network.
The move comes in the middle growing interest in Solana, following its meteoric rise to the local high of $210 in early March. The network also recorded the higher trading volume in the last weeks.