✅ Approved validators

Congratulations on passing Validator Board review! You are now an approved validator of The Vault and eligible to participate in The Vault’s delegation programs. This guide explains what access you now have, how stake is allocated, and what you should expect next.

What approval unlocks

Approval does not mean you need to take immediate action. It means you are now eligible to receive delegation through gated programs and can fully participate across The Vault ecosystem.

You now have access to:

• Direct Stake Leaders bucket
• Elite Performance bucket
• Gauges participation (already permissionless)
• Directed staking via vSOL and Kamino Multiply

Stake allocation is handled automatically by the stakebot and updates every three hours.

Permissionless paths (already available)

These paths do not require board approval and may already be in use by your validator (Figure 8.1).

Directed stake via vSOL and Kamino

Any vSOL directed to your validator, from any wallet, counts toward your direct stake total. Multiple wallets and community contributors are supported.

If your total directed stake places you in the top 100 validators, you become eligible for bonus delegation.

Gauges

Each week, 10% of undirected stake is allocated via the gauge system.

You may:

• Lock $V to vote directly
• Incentivize votes using USDC via Votex

Gauge participation is permissionless, provided minimum performance requirements are met.

Figure 8.1: Permissionless delegation paths

Board-gated delegation buckets

Once approved, you become eligible for the following programs.

Direct Stake Leaders bucket (40%)

The top 100 validators by total directed stake through The Vault share 40% of undirected stake equally.

As an illustrative example, if the pool manages 1,000,000 SOL of undirected stake:

• 400,000 SOL is allocated to this bucket
• Each eligible validator receives ~4,000 SOL

Ranking within the top 100 does not change allocation size.

If you are already directing sufficient stake, there is nothing you need to do. The stakebot includes you automatically.

To view the top 100 direct stake leaders, you can see the top 50 in this Discord channel. The bottom 50 can be seen in this Discord channel. To rank, you just need to have more stake than the floor, which is 100th place in the bottom 50. Results are updated every day at midnight UTC. For how the bucket works, see Direct Stake Leaders bucket.

Elite Performance bucket (50%)

The top 50 validators with 0/0 commission, ranked by total vote credits over the last 10 epochs, share 50% of undirected stake (Figure 8.2).

Figure 8.2: How undirected stake is allocated

Illustrative example:

• 500,000 SOL shared among 50 validators
• ~10,000 SOL per validator

This bucket rewards sustained performance, reliability, and long-term alignment.

To view the top 50 validators based on vote credits and 0/0 commission, you can follow the Discord channel. Results are updated every day at midnight UTC. For how the bucket works, see Elite Performance bucket.

Stake-as-a-Service fees

Delegation received from the Direct Stake Leaders bucket and the Elite Performance bucket is subject to Stake-as-a-Service fees (Figure 8.3).

Key points:

• Fee rate is 25% of earnings only
• Applies only to stake received from The Vault, not your own stake
• Your self-directed stake, vSOL, Kamino positions, and gauge stake are not charged
• Invoices are issued automatically and visible in the validator dashboard (click on your validator name)

Figure 8.3: What the 25% fee covers

Ongoing requirements

To remain eligible for board-gated delegation, validators must maintain:

• Good actor status (no harmful MEV or sandwiching)
• Base commission of at most 5%
• MEV commission of at most 10%
• Uptime of at least 97.5%

Eligibility is evaluated continuously. Raising your commission above 5% or your MEV commission above 10% (the Solana Foundation Delegation Program criteria), even for one epoch, can block your stake for 10 epochs.

What happens next

If you are already directing stake or meet bucket thresholds:

• The stakebot will pick you up automatically
• Updates occur every three hours
• Large stake movements may take several cycles

If you do not see stake immediately, no action is required.

Recommended next steps

• Verify your directed stake totals
• Review your validator dashboard
• Communicate your partnership with The Vault to your community
• Encourage your community to direct stake vSOL to you
• Consider gauges if strategically beneficial

Need help

If anything is unclear or you want to confirm your status, visit The Vault Discord and open a support ticket. The team is happy to help.