Solana Expands Validator Power With Launch of On-Chain Governance

• Validators with at least 100,000 delegated Solana can now submit on-chain governance proposals.
• Proposals move to a stake-weighted vote after securing at least 15% cluster support.

With the formal launch of its eagerly anticipated on-chain governance system, Solana now offers token holders and validators a more open and decentralised means of influencing important protocol decisions. Governance debates and voting are now fully conducted on-chain. It is supported by stake-weighted voting and cryptographic verification, with the recently implemented Solana Governance Proposals (SGPs).

Additionally, any validator having a delegated stake of at least 100,000 SOL is able to submit an SGP using the new structure. To ensure that only proposals with significant support forward, each proposal must first receive support from at least 15% of the network’s total staked SOL before going to a formal vote.

SGPs Split Community Choice From Technical Building

While Solana Improvement Documents (SIMDs) remain the standard process for technical protocol changes, SGPs serve a different purpose. SIMDs focus on answering how protocol upgrades should be implemented through technical review by core developers. 

SGPs, on the other hand, decide whether the larger ecosystem thinks a proposal should proceed, and an on-chain, stake-weighted vote makes the ultimate decision. Additionally, it reserves community-wide voting for proposals that have a major influence on the ecosystem. This distinction enables developers to continue building effectively.

Delegators Gain Greater Control Over Governance

One of the most notable additions is the ability for delegators to override their validator’s governance vote. The validator votes against a delegator’s preference or chooses not to vote at all. And the delegator can cast a vote directly using their own stake weight through Solana’s governance portal.

Merkle proofs secure the voting process by verifying each participant’s stake against a consensus snapshot recorded on-chain. Also, this method relies on specialised governance algorithms that deliver verifiable weights for stakeholders before the actual voting takes place.

As Solana implements on-chain governance, it is able to include more members of the community in governance without compromising the development process.

Validators proposing the governance proposal, stakeholders voting with their stakes, and delegators enjoying full sovereignty. Solana is applying a particular governance model that combines decentralisation and efficiency of protocol development.

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