Solana staking in 2026: where we're at
If you staked SOL two years ago and just checked back, the staking landscape has changed a lot.
The infrastructure has changed. The numbers are different and the direction things are heading is clearer than it's ever been.
The staking numbers
- Staked SOL crossed $34B in Q1 2026, an all-time high.
- Liquid staking TVL grew 217% year-over-year.
- Jito alone manages over $800 million in locked value.
And yet over 2 million wallets holding between 1 and 100 SOL have never staked a single token. That's the gap we are yet to fill.
The validators landscape
Significant changes have happened to Solana's validator set over the last two years. The active count dropped from over 2,500 in 2023 to around 800 today, not because the network got weaker, but because the Solana Foundation implemented a cleanup.
For every new validator admitted, underperformers were removed. The average stake per validator has risen from 470,000 SOL to around 620,000 SOL.
This resulted in fewer validators, better performance, higher average stake. That's a different network than the one that existed in 2023.A small number of validators - the superminority - control an outsized share of the stake. Foundation delegation, which once made up around 25% of all staked SOL, is now down to 13-16%, pushing validators toward independent economics.
The Solana Foundation's "Stake with Purpose" program is actively incentivizing smaller validators with grants and 35% of new validators this year are joining from emerging markets, Southeast Asia, Latin America, and Eastern Europe.
Overall, the direction is toward a more distributed, more independent validator set.
Tramplin's role
When you stake with Tramplin, your SOL is delegated to our validator, meaning it goes to a real node that contributes to block production, transaction processing and network consensus. Every SOL staked with us adds to the total stake securing Solana.
We see 2 million idle wallets as a product opportunity. More idle and retail participants staking means more distributed stake, a stronger superminority and a more resistant network overall.
Our reward model was designed to close that gap, not by making staking more complicated, but by making it feel worthwhile to participate in, even at 1 SOL 🟣
Where are things going?
Major investment firms began offering Solana-based funds in 2025. For average users, staking is becoming more and more normal, and a way to hold their SOL long-term.
The 2 million idle wallets are the last big unlock.
That's what staking on Solana looks like in 2026.
- Tramplin team.