Solflare Steps In to Reimburse Stakers After Solana Validator Goes Offline

Solflare has pledged to repay users for staking rewards missed after a security breach at an external service provider took its Solana validator offline. Approximately 1.56 million SOL, worth nearly $160 million, remained delegated to the validator when it stopped generating rewards.

The wallet application said it would compensate affected users for the income they lost during the outage.

Through staking, SOL holders can earn rewards by delegating their tokens to validators, which verify transactions and help maintain Solana’s blockchain. Users receive a share of the rewards generated by their selected validator. Solflare allows customers to stake their tokens directly through its wallet app.

On Tuesday evening in the United States, Solflare disclosed that the outside company responsible for operating its validator had reported a security incident involving the keys it held for the service.

Solflare did not reveal the provider’s name. According to Stakewiz data, the validator had stopped earning rewards, while roughly 1.56 million SOL remained delegated to it as of Wednesday afternoon.

The company reassured customers that their funds were not compromised. It explained that staked SOL remains in individual stake accounts controlled by users’ private keys. Although a validator’s operator can disrupt its ability to function, it cannot use the validator keys to withdraw users’ delegated tokens.

The incident has therefore interrupted staking rewards without affecting the underlying assets. It also exposed that the validator, despite operating under the Solflare name, was managed by a third-party company.

Solflare announced on Wednesday that a replacement validator was operational and said it would reimburse missed rewards for users who move their stake to the new validator.

Customers can begin the process by selecting the regular unstaking option for “Solflare (Legacy)” and then delegating their SOL to the replacement service. Alternatively, they can wait for an upcoming app update that will guide them through the migration.

The change will not take effect immediately. Solana processes staking updates at the end of each epoch, which typically lasts around two days. As a result, the existing stake must complete its transition before the replacement validator can begin earning rewards.

Solflare also warned users about potential scams targeting those moving their tokens. The company said the migration would be handled entirely within its official application and stressed that it would never contact users directly or send external links requesting that they transfer their stake.