The Cost of Speed
Solana requires high-performance hardware. You are looking at significant monthly server costs.
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Understanding the economics is crucial for sustainability.
Vote Costs
Validators pay transaction fees to vote on every block. This amounts to approx 1-2 SOL per day. At current prices, this is a non-trivial operational expense.
Delegation Strategy
To break even, you typically need a self-stake or external delegation of around 50k-100k SOL, depending on the current commission rates and SOL price.