Solana’s network health has improved across resilience, economic security and performance, but concentrations among validators, hosting providers and client software remain areas to watch, according to a report from Fidelity’s Center for Applied Technology (FCAT), as reported by Cointelegraph.
Two years without a reported outage
The report found that Solana has experienced no reported mainnet outages in the past two years. Mainnet refers to the live version of a blockchain used to process real transactions, making network availability a central measure of reliability.
Fidelity said Solana’s economic security is supported by substantial participation in staking and by incentives designed to reward validator performance. Staking involves committing tokens to help operate and secure a proof-of-stake blockchain. Validators process transactions and help maintain the network, with rewards intended to encourage reliable participation.
The report also highlighted Solana’s low latency, increased capacity and inexpensive transactions. Together, these characteristics support the network’s ability to handle practical use at scale, according to the assessment.
Decentralization remains under observation
Despite the progress, FCAT identified several issues related to decentralization and resilience that require continued monitoring. In particular, stake is concentrated among a relatively small number of validator identities and operators.
A validator is a participant responsible for helping verify and process blockchain activity. When a large share of staked assets or network infrastructure is controlled by a limited group, concentration can become relevant to the network’s resilience and decentralization. The report also pointed to concentrations in hosting and client software as potential sources of risk.
Fidelity’s assessment did not describe these factors as a current outage, but said they could threaten resilience if they become problematic. The findings therefore present Solana as a network that has made measurable progress while still requiring scrutiny of how widely its infrastructure and stake are distributed.
Faster confirmations are part of the network’s development
Solana has also been working to reduce the time between blocks, known as slot time. Cointelegraph reported on Aug. 21 that the network had reduced its slot time to 350 milliseconds, the first such reduction since Solana was launched, citing Solana Foundation Vice President of Technology Jacob Creech.
In June, the Solana Foundation outlined plans to reduce slot times further to 200 milliseconds. The foundation said the change would improve latency and speed up transaction confirmations. Three additional reductions of 50 milliseconds each are planned.
Current market picture
Moneyiar market data at 21:39 on Oct. 17, 2026, showed Solana (SOL) trading at $101.8501048203, down 2.28% over 24 hours and 7.57% over seven days.
Other assets in the supplied data were also lower. Lighter (LIT) was $3.1089807161, down 3.02% in 24 hours and 15.64% over seven days. Monad (MON) stood at $0.0214823482, down 6.14% and 15.04%, respectively, while Tagger (TAG) was $0.0005527705, down 5.07% over 24 hours and 13.77% over seven days. These prices are market data, not part of Fidelity’s network assessment.
