1. Validators and Delegators

2. How Delegation Works

When you delegate your SOL tokens:
• Stake Account Creation: A dedicated "stake account" is created on the blockchain, containing your delegated tokens and metadata (e.g., validator details, rewards history).
• Bonding Period: Once delegated, there&aposs a brief activation period (typically one epoch, about 2-3 days) before your stake becomes active and starts earning rewards.
• Delegation to Validators: Your tokens are associated with a validator but are never moved from your wallet to theirs. Validators cannot access or misuse your staked tokens.

3. Earning Rewards

• Reward Distribution: Validators receive rewards for producing and confirming blocks. These rewards are proportional to their total stake (including both their own and delegated SOL). Validators share these rewards with their delegators after deducting a fee.
• Fee Structure: Validators charge a commission fee (a small percentage of the rewards) for their services. When choosing a validator, consider factors like performance, uptime, and commission rate.

4. Validator Performance

The rewards you earn depend heavily on your validator’s performance:
• Uptime: Validators must remain online and operational to produce and validate blocks. Frequent downtime reduces rewards.
• Vote Credits: Solana tracks how many blocks a validator has successfully voted on. Validators with higher vote credits are considered more reliable and are rewarded accordingly.

5. Unstaking and Deactivation

• Deactivating Stake: If you choose to stop staking, you can deactivate your stake account. Your tokens enter a "cooldown period," typically lasting one epoch, before becoming fully accessible.
• Unstaking Flexibility: Solana allows you to redelegate your stake to another validator at any time without withdrawing your tokens entirely.

6. Proof of Stake and Proof of History

• Proof of Stake (PoS): Staking on Solana follows a PoS model, where validators are selected to produce blocks based on the size of their total stake.
• Proof of History (PoH): Solana’s PoH acts as a cryptographic timestamp that orders transactions and ensures consensus. This allows the network to process transactions asynchronously, significantly increasing throughput.

7. Slashing Risks

Unlike some PoS networks, Solana does not currently implement slashing (a penalty where staked tokens are partially confiscated for validator misbehavior). However, choosing a reliable validator (Liquified Capital) remains crucial since poor performance directly impacts your staking rewards.

8. Key Technical Metrics to Monitor

When staking on Solana, keep an eye on the following validator metrics:
• Commission Rate: The percentage of rewards kept by the validator.
• Performance History: Validator reliability and uptime over time.
• Stake Weight: The total amount of SOL delegated to a validator, influencing its chances of being selected to produce blocks.