House of Sol Workshops: The Operator Question: How Validator Choice Shapes Staking Outcomes: SRI x Figment

The Operator Question: How Validator Choice Shapes Staking Outcomes

Hosted by Solana Research Institute and Figment

If every Solana validator earns roughly the same base reward, what actually separates them? This discussion will cover Figment’s view of where staking rewards come from, how block building and transaction ordering shape rewards, and what's changing with upcoming network upgrades.

Outline:

• Solana now: activity, network activity, and who's building

• Where rewards come from: inflation, priority fees, and MEV

• Inside the block: how validators order transactions, and who pays for it

• Evaluating a validator: reward split, method, and operations

• What's next: faster slots, lower issuance, DoubleZero, and Alpenglow

Speakers:

Nick Yushkevich, Head of Solana at Figment. Nick leads Solana product strategy at Figment and oversees validator operations for 25M+ SOL staked with Figment. He builds the MEV optimization strategies, validator performance tooling, and real-time data products that institutional clients rely on to stake SOL.

Tom Nicholls, Account Director at Figment. Tom works alongside banks, asset managers, and other institutions across EMEA to build and scale their staking programs. He helps clients through validator selection, integration, and the operational and compliance requirements that come with offering staking at scale.

Attend if You're: A digital asset, custody, product, or risk/compliance professional at a financial institution who holds, custody or plan to offer SOL exposure, or who are exploring issuing on Solana. This session is for teams already past the research stage, such as those comparing validator providers, scoping a product launch, or making the case to risk and compliance.