What is a commission rug pull?
A commission rug pull is when a validator sharply raises its commission, sometimes to 100%, for one epoch's rewards, then lowers it again. Its delegators lose some or all of those rewards, and the rate on display looks normal. Since June 2026 a raise takes effect a full epoch later, so stakers who notice can leave first.
How does a commission rug pull work?
It relies on three facts about Solana.
Rewards are counted once per epoch. An epoch is a network cycle of about a day. When it ends, the network works out what every stake earned during it.
Validators set their own commission, and can change it. Commission is the validator's cut of the inflation rewards (new SOL the network pays to stakers) that its delegators earn. At 100%, the validator keeps all of it.
A change waits a full epoch. Since a network upgrade in June 2026 (SIMD-0249, live from epoch 991), a new inflation commission applies only from the epoch after next. A raise is public on-chain for at least a full epoch before it costs stakers anything.
A rug pull counts on how rarely people check. Here is a made-up, simplified example:
- A validator charges 5% for months and builds up stake.
- It raises its commission to 100%. The new rate will apply to rewards from the epoch after next.
- About an epoch later, before most people notice, it sets the rate back to 5%. That change also waits a full epoch, so one epoch is paid at 100%.
- That epoch closes. Inflation rewards are counted at 100%, so delegators who stayed get none for it.
- Anyone who checks the validator from then on sees 5%.
The whole thing takes about three epochs, less than a week. The warning was on-chain from the start, but only people who were watching saw it.
Why is a commission rug pull hard to spot?
A current commission tells you what a validator charges now. In the example above, the rate on display was already back to 5% while the 100% epoch was being counted. Unless you caught the raise during the short time it was visible, today's number tells you nothing.
Most delegators don't look often, either. Staking is meant to run on its own, and people treat it that way. One App Store reviewer (2025) mentioned finding "tokens I had forgotten I staked months ago."
And rewards move a little from one epoch to the next anyway. A thin payout doesn't stand out unless you compare it with the ones around it.
What does a commission rug pull cost you?
Your SOL stays where it was. Commission is a share of rewards, never of stake, so even a 100% commission can't touch the coins in your stake account.
What you lose is rewards: some or all of the inflation rewards for the epoch that was hit. One epoch is a small slice of a year.
The bigger problems are that it can happen again, and what it says about the operator. A validator that did this once has shown how it treats the people who back it. A delegator who never checks can keep paying for it.
How is a rug pull different from an ordinary fee increase?
Running a validator costs money, and operators do raise fees for ordinary reasons. A raise isn't a rug by itself. The shape of the change tells them apart.
| Ordinary fee increase | Commission rug pull | |
|---|---|---|
| Size | Any size | A big jump. We count 20 percentage points or more, sometimes all the way to 100% |
| Timing | Any time | Raised and reversed quickly, so the high rate covers about one epoch |
| Afterwards | The new rate stays | The rate drops back soon after. We look for a drop within 3 epochs |
| What you lose | A little more of each epoch's rewards from then on | Some or all of one epoch's inflation rewards, and it can happen again |
| What to do | Decide whether the new rate still suits you | Move your stake |
How can you spot a commission rug pull on our site?
We can't stop a validator from changing its commission. We can make sure it's hard to miss. It shows up in four places on our site.
The Fees raised chip. A red chip next to the validator's name in the validator list. It appears when a validator raised its commission in the last 30 days, or spiked it and dropped it again within the last 90.
We count a spike as a rise of 20 percentage points or more, followed by a drop within 3 epochs. The flag is strict on purpose: it also lights up for an ordinary raise. Read it as "look closer," not as a verdict.
What the validator page says. A validator's page says whether it raised its commission in the last 30 days or spiked it and lowered it again in the last 90, and whether it changed its fees in the last 90 days and how many times. There is no history chart, so use it to see whether something changed, not how the rate moved.
The Score and the Keeps 100% flag. Our Score rates every validator from 0 to 100, reliability first and fees second. A validator whose inflation commission is 100% when we score it gets 0, is marked Disqualified and carries the Keeps 100% flag.
The Score is worked out again every epoch, and its fees part uses the highest commission the validator set in the last 90 days. So a quick drop back does not hide the spike: the commission points stay low until the high rate is older than 90 days. The Keeps 100% rule only looks at the rate when we score, so it can lift while the history still counts. That's why Fees raised exists as a separate flag. It remembers.
Good for beginners. Our short list for first-time stakers leaves out every validator with a red flag, Fees raised included. A validator that spiked its commission in the last 90 days won't be on it.
How can a Telegram alert give you time to move?
Flags help before you stake. Once you're staked, someone has to keep watching, and that's what our Telegram bot is for. You give it your wallet's public key and nothing else: no recovery phrase, no signature, no wallet connection. It messages you when your validator changes its commission or goes offline.
Since June 2026, an alert can do more than warn you. A raise applies only from the epoch after next, so when the alert arrives you usually have until the end of the next epoch to unstake. Your stake is then inactive before the higher rate is used.
When many stakers exit at once, part of it may have to wait, so act soon. You find out within minutes, not weeks later.
What should you do if your validator raised its commission?
- Read the page first. Open the validator's page and see whether it changed its fees in the last 90 days. A raise that stays? Decide whether the new rate still suits you. A spike that was lowered again? Treat it as a rug.
- If it was a rug, move your stake. Unstake, wait for the epoch to end (usually by the next epoch, sometimes longer when many stakers exit at once), then stake with another validator. Your SOL stays under your wallet's control the whole time.
- Choose the next one with the red flags in view. The Good for beginners filter already leaves out validators with Fees raised.
- Turn on alerts for the new validator, so a repeat doesn't go unnoticed.
- Ignore anyone offering to "recover" lost rewards. There's no on-chain way to claim back rewards lost to a commission spike, and nobody needs your recovery phrase to help you. Anyone who asks for it is running a scam.
Questions
No. Commission is a share of the rewards your stake earns, never of the stake itself. Even at 100%, the validator only keeps that epoch's inflation rewards. Your SOL stays in a stake account that only your wallet controls, and you can unstake and move it to another validator whenever you choose.
No. Validators raise fees for ordinary reasons, and a step up that stays is a normal business decision. A rug is a big spike that covers about one epoch's rewards and is dropped soon after. Our Fees raised chip shows both kinds, so open the validator's page to see which one you're looking at.
Usually, yes. Since June 2026 a commission change applies only from the epoch after next. If you unstake before the next epoch ends, your stake is normally inactive by the time the higher rate is used. When many stakers exit at once, part of it may have to wait, so don't put it off.
Find the validator in our list and open its page. It says whether and how often its fees changed in the last 90 days, and whether it spiked them and lowered them again: a spike that drops back within a few epochs is the pattern to look for. In the list, a red Fees raised chip means a raise in the last 30 days or a spike-and-drop in the last 90.
Not by itself. A low rate is good for you while it lasts. But 0% can also be a way to attract stake and raise the rate later, so the number alone tells you little. Check on its page whether it changed its fees in the last 90 days, and watch for a raise or a spike that was lowered again.