A significant change has taken place on the Solana blockchain: the minimum required delegation amount for new staking accounts has been set at 1 SOL. Known as the SIMD-0490 protocol update, this network-level adjustment took effect on June 18, 2026. Importantly, this regulation only applies to staking accounts created after the update, leaving existing accounts and delegations unaffected.
1 SOL minimum for new staking accounts
The network-wide change comes at a time when Solana is moving toward generally lower rent costs on its blockchain. Reduced rent fees can make opening new accounts considerably cheaper, presenting the risk of an influx of minimally funded accounts. To prevent potential network congestion and abuse, Solana has introduced a new rule: from now on, any newly created staking account must contain at least 1 SOL.
Starting June 18, 2026, delegations below this minimum threshold will not be accepted for new staking accounts. This could impact users who tend to divide their holdings across many small accounts. Those users may need to revise their staking strategies going forward.
According to a statement shared by Everstake, the SIMD-0490 change on the Solana network came into force on June 18, 2026, raising the minimum stake delegation for new accounts to 1 SOL.
Current account holders unaffected
Existing Solana stakers do not need to take any action. Staking accounts created before the update remain valid, and their delegations continue under the previous conditions. As a result, this regulatory shift primarily concerns those planning to open new staking accounts in the future.
Solana’s reputation as a blockchain with high speed and low transaction costs is well established. This recent update is seen as an effort to maintain a balanced relationship between Solana’s technical cost structure and evolving user practices.
Everstake unveils Blockspace for Solana
Meanwhile, Everstake, a provider of validator services, has introduced a new product called Blockspace for streamlined access to Solana transactions. The company says this offering is tailored for validators, investors, advanced market participants, and decentralized finance protocols operating on the network.
According to Everstake, a notable portion of failed Solana transactions are filtered out before even reaching the chain. Some transactions fail at the RPC layer or during the QUIC handshake, while others are dropped by the scheduler or after the blockhash window closes. These bottlenecks, particularly during network congestion, can shape transaction accessibility.
Quick glossary: QUIC is a communications protocol that enables low-latency, faster data transfer over the internet. RPC is the access layer that facilitates data requests and interactions between user applications and blockchain nodes.
Everstake reports that many failed Solana transactions never reach a block, getting filtered at the stages of RPC, QUIC handshake, scheduler, or after the blockhash window closes.
Everstake positions Blockspace as a dual-sided marketplace with four key products. Validators provide infrastructure, while users can purchase bundled transaction access through the platform. The announcement underlines that Blockspace aims to deliver more orderly transaction access on the Solana network.
