Solana Staking ReferenceSolana Staking Glossary
Plain-language definitions of terms used in Solana staking, delegation, and validator operations.
A reference glossary for readers navigating Solana network participation. Terms are defined in context — not as standalone dictionary entries.
- Active stake
- Stake that has completed the warmup period and is currently earning inflation rewards. An active stake account shows "active" status in block explorers and wallet interfaces.
- Commission
- The percentage of inflation rewards that a validator retains before distributing the remainder to delegators. Set by the validator operator and changeable without delegator consent.
- Cooldown
- The period after submitting an undelegation instruction during which stake is deactivating. Typically lasts one epoch. No rewards accrue during cooldown.
- Delegation
- The act of assigning your staked SOL to a specific validator's vote account. Your SOL supports that validator's voting weight but remains in your stake account.
- Epoch
- A period of approximately 400 slots on Solana, lasting roughly two to three days. Rewards are calculated at epoch boundaries.
- Inflation
- The protocol-level minting of new SOL distributed to validators and delegators as staking rewards. The annual inflation rate decreases over time according to a predefined schedule.
- Skip rate
- The percentage of slots in which a validator failed to vote. Higher skip rates reduce rewards for all delegators to that validator during affected epochs.
- Stake account
- A dedicated on-chain account that holds delegated SOL. Separate from your main wallet address. Has its own address, stake authority, and withdraw authority.
- Stake authority
- The address permitted to delegate, undelegate, or split a stake account. Usually held by the wallet owner.
- Validator
- An operator running a node that participates in Solana consensus by voting on blocks. Validators earn rewards from both inflation and transaction fees.
- Vote account
- The on-chain account associated with a validator's voting activity. Delegators point their stake accounts at a validator's vote account.
- Warmup
- The period between submitting a delegation and the stake becoming active. Duration depends on network-wide activation queue volume. No rewards during warmup.
- Withdraw authority
- The address permitted to withdraw SOL from a stake account after undelegation is complete. Usually the same as the stake authority.
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