PANews reported on March 5 that asset management firm VanEck said that the protocol upgrades planned for Solana are crucial for the long-term health of the network, but may impact the revenue of validators. In March, Solana validators will vote on two blockchain protocol upgrade proposals (SIMD) aimed at ensuring rewards for stakers and adjusting the inflation rate of the native token SOL.

VanEck's head of digital asset research, Matthew Sigel, said in a March 4 post that these two proposals have sparked "significant controversy" as they could reduce validator revenue by up to 95%, potentially jeopardizing small operators. Sigel stated: "While these changes may reduce staking rewards, we believe lowering inflation is a worthwhile goal that can enhance Solana's long-term sustainability."

Sigel explained that the first proposal, SIMD 0123, will introduce an in-protocol mechanism to allocate Solana's priority fees to validator stakers. Traders can pay additional fees to accelerate transaction processing, with priority fees accounting for 40% of network revenue, but validators currently do not have to share with stakers. This proposal, which will be voted on on March 6, aims to increase staking rewards and prevent off-chain transaction protocols, strengthening on-chain execution. Sigel said the second proposal, SIMD 0228, is the "most impactful", as it will adjust the SOL inflation rate to be inversely proportional to the percentage of staked token supply, potentially reducing dilution and lowering selling pressure on stakers. According to a Coin Metrics report, as of February, Solana's inflation rate was 4%, down from an initial 8%, but still far above the 1.5% long-term target, currently declining at a rate of 15% per year.