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Last updated April 22, 2026 The Monad Validator Delegation Program (VDP) is a framework for strengthening the validator set for the Monad network.

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Core Objectives

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Promote decentralization

  • Promote decentralized block building/proposing
  • Promote a wide distribution of stake
  • Promote geographic diversity and infrastructure provider diversity
  • Oppose forces that centralize authority over block building

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Promote network performance and resilience

  • Encourage a validator set that is reliable, responsive and timely with respect to network operations
  • Encourage a validator set that exhibits honest behavior relative to the protocol specification

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Promote a healthy, diverse validator community

  • Support emerging node operators who demonstrate exceptional ability and contributions to the validator community

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Promote value capture to MON

  • Oppose forces that would give systems governed by third parties or alternative tokens the power to control block production
  • Oppose forces that would give systems governed by third parties or alternative tokens the power to direct order flow

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Promote overall ecosystem health

  • Promote a validator set that prioritizes user welfare and longer-term ecosystem health over short-term value optimization
  • Promote a validator set that does not engage in forms of toxic MEV such as frontrunning or sandwiching

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Evaluation and Intake

The Monad Foundation will evaluate the participation and uptime of every validator in the VDP on a six-month rolling basis. Validators who have performed well and who meet the general requirements of the program will be considered for further delegation over another six month period. Validators who have contributed significantly to the ecosystem in this period may receive additional delegation at the Foundation’s discretion.

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Intake

The VDP is open to validators who join the network and wish to receive delegation support from the Foundation. Prospective validators are evaluated on:
  • Testnet uptime (minimum of 4 weeks active operations for evaluation)
  • Industry experience
  • Monitoring / security processes
  • Geographic decentralization
  • Ecosystem contributions
A new application form is soon to be made available here.

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Eligibility Criteria

  • Complete KYC/KYB successfully prior to receiving delegation
  • Maintain uptime above 98%
    • The Monad Foundation reserves the right to remove delegation at any given time if performance does not meet desired standards - see below for demerit criteria/considerations
  • Have track record of operating on Monad Testnet
  • Set a commission fee of 10% or less (temporarily raised to 15%)
  • Allow node metrics to be accessed by the Monad Foundation
  • Comply with the policy on MEV and centralization
  • Operate a validator on Testnet at all times while in the VDP
  • Not use a validator node to service external RPCs (Axelar, Wormhole, etc.)
    • If validators wish to do this, they can spin up a separate Full Node
Teams building a MON LST/LRT or an MEV system are ineligible for the VDP.
Eligibility is monitored on a continuous basis.

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*Temporary Commission Adjustment

Stage 1 - Update as of January 23, 2026 In light of the early stage of the Monad ecosystem, the Foundation temporarily increased the maximum commission cap for validators participating in the VDP from 10% to 20% for an initial period of approximately six months. This adjustment is intended to:
  • Improve validator sustainability during the network’s early growth phase
  • Support continued geographic and operator diversity
  • Reduce reliance on Foundation-delegated stake over time
To ensure this change did not negatively impact non-Foundation delegating tokenholders, the Foundation proportionally reduced its own delegated stake in late January. As a result, delegating tokenholders should see no material change in net rewards, while validators benefit from improved economics. Stage 2 - Update as of April 24, 2026 Following the temporary increase of the maximum validator commission cap from 10% to 20% in late January 2026, the cap has been adjusted to 15%. The initial temporary increase was implemented to support validator sustainability during the early stages of the Monad ecosystem, encourage geographic and operator diversity, and reduce reliance on Foundation-delegated stake. As the network continues to mature and validator economics improve, this adjustment reflects a step toward a more steady-state commission structure. This change coincides with the addition of a new wave of participants to the Validator Delegation Program (VDP), further expanding and diversifying the validator set. All validators participating in the VDP are required to be in compliance with the updated 15% maximum commission cap by Friday, April 24, 2026 at 11:59 PM UTC. In addition, the Foundation increased the delegated amount to Tier 4 VDP participants by 10,000,000 MON, for a total delegation of 25,000,000 MON.

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Criteria for Removal of Delegation

These criteria apply to nodes receiving delegation from the VDP:
  • Failure to upgrade in a timely manner (within 48 hours of announcement unless otherwise specified)
  • Unresponsiveness within 24 hours of outreach in the case of node performance
  • Failure to adhere to 98% uptime minimum*
  • Running any alt binary in contravention of the MEV policy
  • Peering with centralized flow routers in contravention of the MEV policy
  • Failure to maintain regulatory compliance
*If a validator’s weekly uptime is flagged as less than 98% three times within a 3 month period, this warrants removal from the VDP, barring extenuating circumstances. This will be evaluated at Monad Foundation discretion.For example, if a validator’s total uptime in Week 1 is 97%, that constitutes 1 of 3 weeks allowed under the benchmark in a 3 month period. If that validator’s uptime for Week 4 is 97%, that constitutes a second violation in the 3 month period. That validator now has to ensure its adherence is above 98% in all weeks remaining in that 3 month period to avoid being removed from the program.

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Maximum Stake within the VDP

If a validator reaches 1 billion MON of non-VDP delegation, the Monad Foundation will remove the VDP allocation delegation, as one of the goals of the VDP is to promote a distributed stake weight.

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VDP Delegations

  • The Monad Foundation delegated 9.3B MON (~9.3% of total supply) through the VDP in Wave 1
  • The delegation was spread across 170 validators. The Monad Foundation provided the MIN_AUTH_ADDRESS_STAKE (100,000 MON) as a one-time grant to all successful applicants
  • The VDP delegated at least ACTIVE_VALIDATOR_STAKE (10,000,000 MON), to all successful applicants

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Plans for Reduction of Foundation Stake Over Time

A purpose of the VDP is to support the initial security and functionality of the Monad network by facilitating early validator participation. Over time, as network participation evolves and third-party stake increases, the Foundation may determine that a reduced level of Foundation-delegated stake is appropriate. Any adjustment to the Foundation’s staking participation will be made at its discretion, based on its assessment of network conditions, and may occur at any time or not at all.

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Delegation Tiers

The VDP will initially be split into 4 tiers that correspond with performance and ecosystem contribution.
TierCriteria*Delegation
1Highest performance across high throughput networks in the industry, and/or strong level of experience operating in high throughput networks. Potential to have high impact in offering ecosystem contributions.90,000,000 MON
2Strong performance across high throughput networks in the industry, and/or solid level of experience operating in high throughput networks. Potential to have a strong level of impact in contribution to the ecosystem.75,000,000 MON
3Good performance across high throughput networks in the industry. Potential to have a good level of impact in contribution to the ecosystem.52,500,000 MON
4Entities that can attract significant stake without the assistance of the foundation, or fair performance across high throughput networks in the industry. No extra ecosystem contributions planned beyond node operations.25,000,000 MON
*These categories and levels are provided to outline the general framework, but are not definitive. Validators can work toward increasing their allocation through ecosystem contributions. This will be evaluated based on the impact an validator’s contributions have had on the ecosystem.

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Changelog

The VDP launched alongside Monad Public Mainnet on November 24, 2025. The initial cohort comprised validators who had proven themselves through Monad’s pre-Mainnet networks (Testnet-1 and Testnet-2), and were selected and tiered based on:
  • Performance in Monad’s pre-Mainnet testnets
  • Contribution to geographic decentralization
  • Contribution to the Monad ecosystem, including tools, dashboards, snapshots, integrations, support for other validators, and community activation / support
DateChange
Nov 24, 2025VDP launched with Monad Public Mainnet; initial delegation spread across 170 validators:
Tier 1: 120,000,000 MON
Tier 2: 90,000,000 MON
Tier 3: 70,000,000 MON
Tier 4: 20,000,000 MON
Jan 23, 2026Raise max VDP commission from 10% to 20%
Jan 23, 2026Reduce delegations:
Tier 1: 120,000,000 → 90,000,000 MON
Tier 2: 100,000,000 → 75,000,000 MON
Tier 3: 70,000,000 → 52,500,000 MON
Tier 4: 20,000,000 → 15,000,000 MON
April 24, 2026Lower max VDP commission from 20% to 15%
April 24, 2026Tier 4 delegation increased from 15,000,000 MON to 25,000,000 MON

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FAQ

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Does a delegation guarantee active set inclusion in every epoch?

All participants will have been delegated sufficient stake to exceed the ACTIVE_VALIDATOR_STAKE requirement. There are multiple requirements, namely the validator must also rank in the top ACTIVE_VALSET_SIZE (200) by stake weight as well. Thus, VDP delegation does not guarantee inclusion in every epoch. Delegated entities are expected to attract their own stake, and not solely rely on the foundation stake.

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After receiving a delegation, can I stop my Testnet Validator?

No, to remain compliant with the VDP requirements, all mainnet validators must operate a testnet validator for the duration of their participation in the VDP.