We're excited to announce the first batch of SolBlaze Verified Validators and highlight their unique contributions to the Solana ecosystem! If you didn't make it in this batch, stay tuned for the next batch in the coming weeks. Read on to learn about these validators... 1/23

1. @blueshift_gg is providing high-quality Solana developer education covering Anchor, Rust/Pinocchio, and TypeScript. The node is operated by @deanmlittle who makes contributions in the Solana ecosystem ranging from assembly to cryptography. 2/23

2. @phaselabs_ is building tools for the Solana ecosystem like @NetrunnerTax (Solana-native tax tools), @SentinelStake (institutional-grade validator services), and @AeroPool_ (a stake pool designed with a similar philosophy of supporting ecosystem contributors). 3/23

3. @SolanaHubApp is building an all-in-one DeFi and wallet management platform for Solana. The node is operated by @Amir0X1 who has been contributing to the Solana ecosystem for 5 years. 4/23

4. Grid Systems is operated by @c2yptic, who contributed to @MarinadeFinance in their early days, helped establish the @jup_dao, led a community revival of @thesaberdao, co-founded @thevaultfinance (community-oriented stake pool), and co-founded @votex_so (bribes market). 5/23

5. @PineStake is running a monitoring dashboard to help stake pools identify malicious validator behaviors. The node is operated by @Jotadotsol who contributes to @JagPool_xyz, a stake pool dedicated to increasing geographic decentralization. 6/23

6. Shiro is operated by Riku from @orca_so who helps grow Solana's presence in APAC and contributes to @bonk_inu efforts in Japan. They were a founding member of @SuperteamJapan, supported top Solana projects as an angel, and helped tokens build more liquidity on-chain. 7/23

7. @meshvalidator builds public goods tooling for Solana tokens. The node is operated by @rockooor, a developer who has contributed to projects like @thesaberdao, @thevaultfinance, and @votex_so. 8/23

8. @marginfi is a major lending protocol on Solana, helping people unlock liquidity across tokens and stake accounts through composable markets. Their validator operations help them contribute and make improvements to core network infrastructure. 9/23

9. @solincinerator is a widely-used utility that has helped millions of users reclaim SOL by burning spam assets. They are also dedicated to education with contributions to Solana-focused learning hubs and upcoming resources. 10/23

10. @Vybe_Network runs analytics for protocols, tokens, and wallets to provide access to high-quality data visuals for the Solana ecosystem. They have a comprehensive wallet portfolio dashboard for Solana power users, with an emphasis on tracking staking rewards. 11/23

11. @CharitySoul_ leverages Solana liquid staking to generate yield for vetted charities. Their mission involves harnessing the power of staking to support various causes, onboarding web2 charities to web3, and incentivizing community donations. 12/23

12. @_gammafi uses data-driven strategies to help people manage their SOL and has built a platform to help validators grow their stake. The node is operated by @RealSamiar who contributes to @fib_finance and helps increase liquidity and capital efficiency for protocols. 13/23

13. @HedgehogMarket provides prediction markets on Solana. The node is operated by @kdipep who is also building @GetAmpPay to help consumers earn yield and spend on-chain assets globally, onboarding new users to the Solana ecosystem. 14/23

14. @GooseFX1 runs the first hybrid AMM/CLMM on Solana and has been building open-source on-chain programs in the DEX and NFT space since 2021. Their validator revenues go towards increasing on-chain liquidity for Solana tokens. 15/23

15. @thelibraryvc runs a free Discord community focused on researching, funding, and supporting protocols and teams on Solana. They provide educational opportunities for users to get involved with the vast Solana DeFi ecosystem in safe and low-risk ways. 16/23

16. Nordic Staking is operated by @kagren0, who used to run @ZippyStake (a stake pool) and now manages stake pool operations at @thevaultfinance. They also contribute to smart contract development in the liquid staking space as well as data analytics for Solana governance. 17/23

17. @nl_gripto is a core contributor to @jump_firedancer and leads the Firedancer Security Engineering team at @asymmetric_re. They perform code reviews, fuzzing, architecture reviews, and defense in depth measures for core Firedancer codebases. 18/23

18. 1000X runs a real-time validator dashboard and maintains a documentation website for Solana validator CLI flags. They also build helpful open-source tools for validators and RPC operators. 19/23

19. Hanabi Staking is operated by @0x7cf, who runs a staking rewards program across Solana and provides standardized DeFi APIs and dashboards for Solana protocols. They also conduct and publish research on sandwiching activity performed by malicious validators. 20/23

20. @banditostake is a validator for Solana's first trait-based NFT DAO. The node is operated by @hankobaggins who is building @Soladex_io (a place to discover Solana apps) as well as @overfedduck who contributes to @saydialect (notifications infrastructure on Solana). 21/23

BlazeStake will incrementally rebalance 10k SOL in stake to each of these validators over the upcoming epochs based on their queue priority, helping to support their ecosystem contributions! You can see the status of those staking operations at 22/23

We're excited to welcome these validators into the SolBlaze Verified Validators program as the first batch, with more validators to join soon in the next batch! (this is the last post in the thread) 23/23

@HayekFinance Here's the information on how to apply!