For too long, sybil operators have been stealing stake away from honest validators. Today, we're fixing that. Introducing the SolBlaze Verified Validators program, a pathway for Solana validators to prove their unique value to the network and gain >10k SOL in stake! 1/12

Why is the SolBlaze Verified Validators program important? Some entities exploit the generosity of stake pools by running networks of sybil validators. These entities serve no purpose other than to extract stake from pools while starving out honest validators. 2/12

To join, validators have to answer three simple questions: - What contributions have you made to the Solana ecosystem? - How will stake from this program help you achieve your goals? - To determine the stake queue priority, what makes your validator stand out? 5/12

Although it's easy for sybils to spin up new validators in a matter of minutes, it takes real effort to make genuine and verifiable contributions to the Solana ecosystem. Our system creates a sufficient barrier for sybils while giving more stake to honest validators. 7/12

Once we start accepting validators to the program, we will publish an API endpoint listing all verified validators and blacklisted validators so that other stake pools can enhance their own staking strategies. 11/12