Question 1

What is Solana Scout?

Accepted Answer

Solana Scout is a neutral validator-comparison tool for the Solana blockchain. It ranks every active validator by performance, commission, decentralization signal, and MEV policy — sourced from on-chain data via Solana RPC and StakeWiz, refreshed every hour.

Question 2

How do I choose a Solana validator?

Accepted Answer

Look at four signals together: commission (lower is more delegator-friendly), skip rate (lower means more reliable block production), Scout Score (a composite quality metric), and decentralization (smaller, geographically diverse validators strengthen the network). Scout's 'Most recommended' filter pre-applies sensible thresholds across these.

Question 3

What is Scout Score?

Accepted Answer

Scout Score is a composite validator-quality metric derived from the StakeWiz Wiz Score, normalized so that ~85+ is healthy, 70–85 is acceptable, and below 70 is poor. It accounts for vote credits, skip rate, commission consistency, and decentralization signals.

Question 4

What is the Nakamoto coefficient for Solana?

Accepted Answer

The Nakamoto coefficient is the minimum number of validators that, working together, could halt the network. For Solana, the value sits in the low double digits — higher is more decentralized. Scout's Locate view shows the live number.

Question 5

What is Jito MEV on Solana?

Accepted Answer

Jito is a modified Solana validator client that captures MEV (Maximum Extractable Value) and shares a portion with delegators as extra yield. 'Jito MEV only' is a filter in Scout that narrows the directory to validators running the Jito client.

Question 6

What APY does staking Solana pay?

Accepted Answer

Solana staking APY combines two sources: inflation rewards (network-wide, ~6.5% effective at current emissions) and optional Jito MEV tips for validators running Jito. After commission, effective APY for a delegator typically lands in the 5.5–7.5% range depending on validator choice. Scout's Estimate tool projects compounded rewards for any stake amount.

Question 7

What is ASN concentration and why does it matter?

Accepted Answer

An ASN is a hosting network (AWS, Hetzner, OVH, TeraSwitch, etc.). When one provider hosts a large share of total stake, an outage at that provider takes that share offline simultaneously. Scout's Locate view surfaces ASN concentration so delegators can avoid contributing to a single point of failure.

Question 8

What is the Solana Foundation Delegation Program (SFDP)?

Accepted Answer

SFDP is a bootstrap program that delegates Solana Foundation stake to qualifying validators for ~12 months (tapering), covering voting costs and providing matched delegation. Acceptance requires meeting performance and decentralization criteria — Scout helps stakers identify SFDP-aligned validators.

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