Being a Solana validator used to be simple: just keep the node running.
That bar's gone.
The teams we delegate to spent the quarter shipping clients, filing security fixes, mentoring builders, and reinvesting rewards back into the network.
A handful went further than anyone expected 🧵👇
Applications for Q4 Builders are officially live.
Whether you want to start building on Solana or take your skills to the next level
This is your opportunity to:
→ Learn live from experts in interactive sessions.
→ Get hands-on with Solana, Anchor, and beyond.
→ Weekly Assignments, office-hours and Workshops
→ Apply your learnings by building a capstone project.
→ Ship your capstone from idea to devnet with expert guidance.
Come join the next wave of Solana engineers..!
Apply now: https://t.co/6YByhKd4JV
Years of vetting, sourcing, and closing the talent gap in this ecosystem, and every cohort still makes it feel like
we're just getting started.
Hell yeah, there's plenty of glass-chewing ahead..!
Being a Solana validator used to be simple: just keep the node running.
That bar's gone.
The teams we delegate to spent the quarter shipping clients, filing security fixes, mentoring builders, and reinvesting rewards back into the network.
A handful went further than anyone expected 🧵👇
None of this shows up on a basic uptime chart. But it's the foundation the rest of us build on: the clients, the docs, the tooling, the onboarding.
We delegate to these teams because a strong base beats chasing hype every time.
We're going to keep watching this space and sharing what we find.
If you're a validator doing work like this, reach out. Let's build something better together.
https://t.co/A0IsU5STSx
🔹 @SagaMobileDAO Fixing a real gap in @solanamobile. Their U$ER product, the only structured QA setup for the Solana Mobile dApp Store (435+ apps), is 85% done.
They've tested 11 dApps, generated $5k in builder revenue, and passed $4k of it to verified testers.
They also won a Superteam USA Builder Grant.
Quality infrastructure nobody else was building.
🔹South African Community Validator The first validator on the African continent, and they're widening the door.
Shipyard SA pulled 20+ project submissions in 6 weeks and connected 15+ devs globally, and their UCT and Stellenbosch partnerships are working toward 1,500 CS students.
100% of revenue goes back in. Regional onboarding is how the network actually grows.
🔹Pigs in Blankets Performance nerds in the best way. Top-20 TVC via the Xshin Performance Pool, an 85-95% LockedOut reduction from a mod other validators adopted, a 2.1x SHA-256 speedup, 92% faster snapshot acquisition, and a full dual-ISP rollout across Cogent and Vorboss.
Tiny optimizations that quietly make the whole network faster.
A little over a year ago, we started a dedicated Pinocchio Working Group.
👉The goal was simple:
Bring together builders who want to learn Pinocchio, collaborate, and contribute back to the ecosystem.
Since then:
- A growing group of Pinocchians
- Dozens of live sessions
- Hundreds of hours of technical discussions
- Multiple open-source projects shipped
Here's a look at what we've been building together 👇
Gm. Calling all @Solana testnet validators. We need your help testing the new Solana governance framework.
We need help testing the "propose" feature which requires 10% of stakeweight to support a proposal before it goes to vote.
1) Head here -> https://t.co/CItwrjGI77
1a) Please support proposals 0359 & 0333 using your testnet identity key.
1b) The easiest way to do this is to use the Backpack wallet with custom RPC pointing -> https://t.co/bjfxlQqvYS with your testnet identity key.
If you can reply to this tweet with your stake I'll calculate how far we need to hit 10%.
Thank you! 40 hours to go!
EP. 01: Reflecting 2025 • Powering 2026
ft. @japarjam
From the moments that shaped us
to the momentum ahead.
The journey continues…..
More energy. Bigger plans. 💪
EP. 04 Final: Reflecting 2025 • Powering 2026
Through education and public good, we empower thousands of builders every year to grow, build, and move forward with confidence.
Our mission stays the same: create lasting skills and meaningful impact and we are stepping into 2026 with more energy and more learning opportunities.
And we are incredibly grateful for our fearless, ethical, and high-integrity community.
The tribe continues to grow - stronger, sharper, and more united than ever.
Thank you to everyone who supported us. We’re truly grateful.
Wishing you all a Happy New Year 🎉
The grind starts soon.
Get ready for another great 2026 ride 🚘