💫 Get stake from the pool
Learn how to receive stake from The Vault's pool to bolster your validator.
This page covers the criteria a validator must meet to receive stake from The Vault's pool, and how The Vault splits its undirected stake.
General delegation criteria
To qualify for stake, validator operators must meet the Solana Foundation Delegation Criteria (SFDC) in the following areas:
- Not part of the super-minority
- Maximum commission
- Vote credits
- Decentralization
- Minimum version of the validator client
Operating a testnet validator is not required.
How The Vault splits stake
The Vault allocates 90% of the undirected stake to validators on the approved list, through the Direct Stake Leaders bucket (40%) and the Elite Performance bucket (50%), and 10% to the gauges reserve (Figure 7.4).
Figure 7.4: How The Vault splits stake
To join the approved list and qualify for stake, a validator operator must meet both sets of requirements below.
General delegation criteria
The validator operator must fulfill the standard SFDC requirements.
Additional requirements
The validator operator must also run a Jito-enabled or Paladin-enabled client with an MEV commission of at most 10%, and meet at least one of the following:
- Be a dApp team running a validator to support its operations.
- Have a community actively involved in the validator's operations.
- Be a validator with a proven track record of contributing to the broader Solana ecosystem.
Impact on the ecosystem
By supporting decentralized stake distribution and helping builders on Solana generate more revenue, The Vault directly strengthens the financial stability of the Solana builder ecosystem.
Join the approved list
If you’re a validator operator looking to join the approved list, open a support ticket on Discord, choose Validator, and use the /apply command to get your application form. Once the Validator Board approves you, you can take part in the Direct Stake Leaders and Elite Performance buckets.