ChainThink report, January 29: According to Cointelegraph, data shows that the number of validator nodes on the Solana network has declined sharply from a peak of 2,560 in March 2023 to the current 795, representing a drop of 68%, sparking market concerns over the network’s degree of decentralization.

Industry experts point out that beyond the cleanup of "zombie nodes," the core issue lies in continuously rising operational costs combined with zero-fee competition among large validators, systematically driving out smaller-scale validators. A solo validator operator stated: "Many small nodes aren’t bearish on Solana—they simply can’t sustain their operations economically: 'Without economic viability, decentralization becomes an act of charity.'

Meanwhile, Solana’s Nakamoto Coefficient has dropped from 31 to 20 during the same period—a decline of approximately 35%—indicating a growing concentration of control over staked SOL among a few large validators, further eroding network decentralization. On the cost front:

Annual operational expenses (excluding hardware and server costs) require at least 49,000 USD equivalent in SOL;
Approximately 401 SOL per year are needed to cover voting fees;
Daily transaction costs for voting can reach up to 1.1 SOL.

The trend is clear: Solana is progressively evolving from a widely participatory node structure into one dominated by large institutional validators, which could have profound long-term implications for network security architecture and governance dynamics.