The Solana Foundation has made a significant change to its Delegation Program (SFDP) with the aim of bolstering decentralization and creating a more sustainable validator ecosystem. Starting today, the program will be adjusted with a key rule: three existing validators are removed from SFDP each time a new one is added. This process requires that the replaced validators meet specific criteria – they must have been part of the program for at least 18 months and possess less than 1,000 SOL in external staked assets beyond Foundation support. 3 validators will be replaced with every new validator joining the program. The reasoning behind this move comes from a commitment to long-term network health and decentralization. Ben Hawkins, Head of Staking Ecosystem at the Solana Foundation, explained these new regulations in detail: ‘Our ongoing commitment to decentralization and network health means implementing a policy regarding validator recruitment and cancellation from the SFDP.’ This initiative will go into effect immediately and is expected to serve three main purposes – reducing reliance on the Foundation’s staking power by removing centralized points of influence; rewarding community-supported validators, especially those attracting independent delegates; and ultimately increasing decentralization and network efficiency through a more flexible and robust infrastructure. The details of this update were shared with the community by Solana Foundation officials. *This is not investment advice.*