The current validator set
X1 mainnet has 435 active validators and 28 delinquent, with roughly 426 independent community operators alongside 12 Foundation-run nodes. Delinquent nodes hold 0.14% of total stake, so their absence is a rewards problem for their delegators rather than a liveness problem for the chain.
The set is large relative to X1's circulating supply, which is a direct consequence of the Foundation delegation program: it makes it viable to operate a node without a large personal treasury, provided you clear the performance bar every single epoch.
What a validator actually does
X1 is an SVM-based Layer 1 and the largest fork of Solana, so the validator role mirrors Solana's. Each node runs the Tachyon client and:
- Votes on blocks produced by the current leader, earning vote credits that determine reward share.
- Produces blocks during its assigned leader slots. Missed slots show up as skip rate, the headline performance metric.
- Gossips cluster state and forwards shreds through the Turbine tree.
- Serves RPC, optionally; many operators run RPC separately from their voting node.
Rewards are DPoS block rewards distributed at each epoch boundary. The validator takes its commission (median 10% across the active set), and the rest flows to delegators.
The Tachyon client
Tachyon is X1 Labs' validator client. The current mainnet release is v4.0.3, rebased onto Agave v4.0.3, and upgrades are not optional: operators who fail to upgrade within the announced window get forked out of the network. On October 15, 2026, nodes on v4.0.3 held 99.99% of active stake.
Key operational points from v4.0.3:
- QUIC only. UDP transaction ingestion is gone, and
--tpu-enable-udp,--tpu-disable-quic,--use-udpand--use-quicwere removed. - A wider port range. Set
--dynamic-port-range 8000-8030and make sure your firewall allows it. A node that cannot reach its full range looks healthy and performs badly. --block-verification-method blockstore-processoris no longer supported. Drop the flag or switch tounified-scheduler.- No clean downgrade. Once v4.0 has written the ledger, v3.1 cannot read it. Take a snapshot first if you want a rollback path.
- Removed flags stop the node from starting, so audit your startup script before you restart.
v4.0.3 also carries the v4.0 feature gates. X1 Labs began activating them one per epoch on October 13, 2026, starting with a 1 XNT vote-account stake floor and p-token. Upgrade steps: Tachyon v4.0.3 upgrade guide. Rollout: X1 feature gates resume.
Getting Foundation stake behind you
Running a node and getting delegated to are two different problems. The Foundation's program is the biggest source of externally-delegated XNT on the network, and it is fully automated: an algorithm runs at each epoch boundary, checks every approved validator, and redistributes. Good validators get more. Validators that slip get cut. It resets daily.
There are six hard requirements, and failing any one at an epoch boundary removes your delegation with no warning and no partial credit. The two that filter hardest:
- 5,000 XNT minimum self-stake. Set under Project Capybara, up from 3,000 XNT in June 2026, and it is the criterion that fails the most validators: 311 of 701 in September 2026. Note that the current definition of "self-stake" includes community delegations you have already received, not only tokens you personally staked. The Foundation has flagged this may be tightened.
- Commission at or below 10%. Checked every epoch. Raise your rate above the cap after receiving delegation and you lose it at the next run.
The remaining criteria cover vote credits (at least 92% of the cluster average), skip rate (no more than 10% above average), the minimum Tachyon version and liveness. Our operator's guide to the delegation program walks through all six and what to monitor to stay in.
Validator tooling
| Tool | What it is for |
|---|---|
| X1VAL | Performance monitoring and uptime tracking |
| X1 Validator HQ | Percentile, self-stake and delegation status terminal |
| X1 Galaxy | Validator explorer and staking dashboard |
| Foundation Delegation Portal | P85 threshold, rewards and program status |
| X1 Console | Open-source validator management CLI |
| X1 Explorer | Raw vote accounts, blocks and transactions |
Frequently Asked Questions
How many validators does X1 have?
X1 currently has 435 active validators voting on mainnet, plus 28 delinquent. Around 426 of those are independent community operators; the X1 Foundation runs 12 of its own. These counts are read live from the mainnet RPC via getVoteAccounts.
What do X1 validators do?
They run the Tachyon client, vote on blocks, and produce blocks when scheduled as leader. In return they earn DPoS block rewards, taking a commission before passing the remainder to their delegators. X1 is SVM-based, so the validator role is functionally the same as on Solana.
What are the hardware requirements to run an X1 validator?
Treat Solana validator specs as the baseline: a many-core CPU, generous RAM, and fast NVMe storage. RAM is the binding constraint since Tachyon v3.1.14, which made the client keep the accounts index fully in memory by default and deprecates the on-disk index. Several operators had to raise kernel memory limits before the new client would run cleanly. Confirm headroom before upgrading.
How much XNT do I need to run a validator?
Technically you can run a node with very little. Economically, the number that matters is 5,000 XNT self-stake, the floor the X1 Foundation delegation program applies today under Project Capybara (it was 3,000 XNT in June 2026). Below that you are running at your own cost with no Foundation stake behind you.
How does the X1 Foundation delegation program work?
A fully automated on-chain program runs at every epoch boundary (roughly every 24 hours), checking each approved validator against six hard requirements and redistributing stake. No committee, no manual review. Fail a check and your delegation is gone at the next run with no grace period. The requirements include the 5,000 XNT self-stake floor, commission at or below 10%, vote credits of at least 92% of the cluster average and a skip rate no more than 10% above average. Details: the delegation program guide.
What is the P85 threshold?
The self-stake bar introduced by Project Capybara. The minimum self-stake for Foundation delegation is set around the 85th percentile of validator self-stake, so it rises as operators stake more: 1,000 XNT in April 2026, 3,000 XNT in June and 5,000 XNT as of September. The upcoming validator airdrop is expected to push it higher again.
Which client does X1 run?
Tachyon, X1 Labs' validator client. The current mainnet release is v4.0.3, which rebases Tachyon onto Agave v4.0.3 and carries the v4.0 feature gates that X1 Labs is activating one per epoch. It accepts transactions over QUIC only, needs a wider port range (8000-8030), and once it has written the ledger there is no clean downgrade to v3.1. Nodes still on 3.1.x or 2.2.x fall off the network as the gates activate. See the v4.0.3 upgrade guide.
Where can I monitor X1 validator performance?
X1VAL for uptime and performance monitoring, X1 Validator HQ for percentile and self-stake status, X1 Galaxy for a validator explorer, and the official explorer for raw vote account data. X1 Console is an open-source CLI for managing your own node.