Bitwise Says 72.8% of Solana Staking Is Concentrated in Europe

North America 16.2%; Asia 10.6%

More than seven in 10 staked Solana tokens are assigned to validators operating in Europe, according to Bitwise. The crypto asset manager said faster network speeds could also increase the operating burden on validators located far from the network’s main hubs.

Bitwise’s "Q4 2026 Staking Report," released on October 22, showed that 72.8% of all staked SOL was allocated to European validators. The concentration was especially heavy in a corridor linking Amsterdam, Frankfurt and London. North America accounted for 16.2%, Asia for 10.6% and South America for 0.4%.

Validators confirm transactions, produce blocks and help run the network. SOL holders can delegate tokens to validators to earn staking rewards. The figures reflect the geographic distribution of staked SOL based on where validators operate, not the share of SOL held by European investors or the number of validators in each region.

The report examined that regional concentration alongside Solana’s speed improvements. In August and September, Solana shortened its slot time — the unit of time allocated for block production — to 250 milliseconds from 400 milliseconds. That reduced transaction-processing delays while also leaving validators less time to receive and verify blocks before sending votes.

Regional gaps became more pronounced as a result. When slot times were 400 milliseconds, the share of votes arriving within a single slot was above 98% for validators in Europe, North America and Asia. At 250 milliseconds, that rate was 95.8% in Europe and 92.8% in North America, while Asia fell to 70.7% and South America to 70.3%.