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31 Validators Could Put Solana at Risk

The Solana Foundation has set the required number of validators for a network attack: 31.

By Mike Hesp
• 2 min read
31 Validators Could Put Solana at Risk

The Solana Foundation has identified the required number of validators for a network attack: 31. Other blockchains perform worse.

The Solana Foundation has published a status report on network health. According to the "Validator Health Report" Solana currently has 3,400 validators on six continents.

"Solana's long-term success depends on a strong, healthy network of validators," said the Solana Foundation. "A large, diverse group of validators is essential to maintain a resilient, distributed, and credibly neutral network that the whole world can use."

The number of validators can be used to determine the so-called Nakamoto coefficient: a minimum number of nodes that together can stop or alter block production on a network.

"For Solana, the Nakamoto coefficient is 31," the report says. "This means the smallest number of validators that would need to collude to censor the network is 31."

The low value is due to the proof-of-stake process, where validators with a higher stake are more often selected for block production. According to the Solana Foundation, networks like Avalanche, Binance, and Polygon have a lower Nakamoto coefficient.

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