Solana (SOL) was one of the altcoins that was hit the hardest in the declines caused by the tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump on Canada and Mexico. As Solana price fell to $120 levels, asset manager VanEck warned investors that Solana upgrades could reduce validator earnings. VanEck noted that Solana validators will vote in March on two proposed upgrades known as Solana Improvement Tokens (SIMDs), designed to provide rewards to stakeholders and adjust the inflation rate for the network’s native token, SOL. Matthew Sigel, head of digital asset research at VanEck, said these planned changes at Solana could reduce validator revenues by up to 95% and could impact smaller operators. “Solana has several upcoming protocol upgrades, known as SIMD, that aim to enhance its technical capabilities and economic framework. These changes could help stabilize and strengthen Solana’s position in the crypto ecosystem going forward. While these changes may reduce SOL staking rewards, we believe reducing inflation is a valuable goal that strengthens Solana's long-term sustainability.” According to Sigel, these proposals are generating significant controversy due to their expected impact on validator revenues. Accordingly, some estimates suggest that validator earnings could decrease by as much as 95%, making operations unsustainable for smaller validators. Running a Solana validator requires covering fixed costs, including voting fees of approximately 1.1 SOL per day ($58,000 per year) and hardware expenses of approximately $6,000 per year. Solana currently has 1,323 validators, but only 458 have enough stake (more than 100,000 SOL) to break the baseline profitability threshold. At this point, Sigel warned that if smaller validators shut down, the Solana network could become more centralized. The proposals come after asset managers filed spot Solana ETF applications, VanEck said, adding that the SOL ETFs are pegged at about a 70% chance of being approved in 2025, according to Bloomberg. *This is not investment advice. Continue Reading: VanEck's Solana Report! What's the Danger Awaiting SOL?
