Despite popular criticism, the Solana Foundation recently published a report revealing that the Solana network has only become more decentralized since its launch in March 2020. Amongst other information provided in Wednesday’s report, it noted that the Solana blockchain presently has over 3,400 validators.
Per the report, over 3,400 active validators on the Solana network cut across several countries around the world, particularly nations on about six continents.
Solana Mainnet block validators surpass the 1,900 mark
As with most Proof-of-Stake (PoS) networks, validators operating on the Solana network are of two types, namely, consensus nodes and RPC (Remote Procedure Call) nodes.
Consensus nodes confirm transactions. They also produce and suggest new blocks to the Solana blockchain as well as vote on the validity of blocks proposed by their fellow nodes. The RPC nodes, on the other hand, offer specific services that will provide the necessary infrastructure for users and dApps (decentralized applications) making use of the Solana network.
Of the 3,400 validators on the network, the report noted that 1,915 of them are consensus node operators. At the same time, 88% (1,668) of these consensus nodes are verifiably being run by independent entities. The report further estimated that an average of 95 new consensus nodes and 99 RPC nodes joined the network every month since June 2021.
Regarding efforts currently being put into growing its decentralization metrics, the foundation confirmed it is continually “providing tools and education to [its] global community of validators and stakers.”
Near 100% Growth in Consensus Nodes in Less Than a Year
In September 2021, the Solana network, for the first time, recorded a total number of 1,000 validators (consensus node operators) making use of the network. At the time, these validators functioned in about 164 data centers with 99 servers located in 111 cities in 28 different countries.
Hence, the latest number of over 1,900 consensus nodes on the blockchain, represents roughly 90% growth in validators in the space of 11 months.
