Blockdaemon beat benchmark staking rates on Ethereum and Solana every month of Q3 2026. See PRR data, reward composition, and key protocol changes.
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Performance Report
Ethereum & Solana · Validator Performance
Blockdaemon is a leading staking provider for institutions, offering secure, risk-mitigated rewards across more than 50 blockchain networks. Blockdaemon secures over $10 billion in staked assets and delivers 99.9% uptime. This report analyzes Blockdaemon's Q3 2026 validator fleet performance on Ethereum and Solana against network benchmarks, with complete data for July, August, and September.
Overview
Blockdaemon outperformed benchmark staking rates on both Ethereum and Solana in every month of Q3 2026. Across the quarter, Blockdaemon averaged 2.64% PRR vs. a 2.63% CESR (Composite Ether Staking Rate) on Ethereum and 5.96% vs. 5.87% on Solana, as absolute rewards eased on both networks.
On Ethereum, Blockdaemon stayed ahead of CESR by about 1 basis point in each month, keeping its record of outperformance in every month of 2026 so far as the benchmark eased from 2.66% to 2.60%. On Solana, Blockdaemon posted a +21 bps margin in August as MEV and fee income rose, finished September 1 bp ahead, and extended its streak to twelve consecutive months.
Base rewards fell on both networks: more ETH was staked, and Solana's vote rewards kept declining. In that environment, steady execution is what keeps realized rewards ahead of the benchmark.
Glamsterdam has reached Sepolia, Alpenglow went live on Solana's test networks, and Solana halved its block time. Blockdaemon manages all infrastructure changes on behalf of customers, so stakers do not need to act.
Solana validators approved a faster reward decline (SIMD-0550), and its last prerequisite merged in September. On Ethereum, the EIP-8363 reward burn was withdrawn from Hegotá and moved to its own process. Neither changes rewards today, but both are worth building into reward models now.
Ethereum
Blockdaemon outperformed the ETH CESR benchmark in every month of Q3 2026, averaging 2.64% vs. 2.63%, and has now beaten the benchmark in every month of the year.
| Period | Blockdaemon Avg PRR | CESR PRR | Outperformance |
|---|---|---|---|
| July 2026 | 2.67% | 2.66% | +1 bp |
| August 2026 | 2.63% | 2.62% | +1 bp |
| September 2026 | 2.61% | 2.60% | +1 bp |
Margins held at about 1 basis point all quarter as the benchmark drifted from 2.66% to 2.60%. With more than 43 million ETH staked by early October, about 36% of supply, the base reward rate keeps compressing for every operator. That makes reliable execution the main driver of relative performance.
PRR (Protocol Reward Rate) estimates protocol rewards based on historical ETH staking data and does not guarantee future results. Blockdaemon uses the Rated.network API for all competitive benchmarking so comparisons are measured on a consistent third-party basis. Internal validator performance data is used for Blockdaemon reporting. Trend includes Q2 2026 months for context.
Protocol & Policy
Glamsterdam moved onto public testnets, and the two biggest staking-policy debates of the quarter changed course.
The Platåberget testnet forked to Glamsterdam on August 20. Sepolia followed on October 6, about a week later than first pencilled in after devnet bugs, and began running blocks of about 200 million gas, roughly 3.3 times mainnet. Glamsterdam adds enshrined proposer-builder separation (EIP-7732), a new validator duty, and block-level access lists (EIP-7928) for parallel block checking. Hoodi, the staker testnet, is next. No mainnet date is set.
Announcement: blog.ethereum.org · Scope: EIP-7773
Published as a draft on August 4, EIP-8363 would have burned a growing share of staking rewards as more ETH is staked. After 200+ forum comments, its authors withdrew it from Hegotá on October 1 and called for a separate process for issuance policy, starting with a forum at Devcon in November. This proposal will not cut rewards in Hegotá, but the issuance debate continues on its own track.
Status: forkcast.org/eips/8363
Proposed for Hegotá, EIP-7716 would scale the penalty for missed votes by how many validators fail at once: about 9× when 1% of stake drops together, about 78× at 10%, capped at 256×. A validator that fails alone pays today's penalty, and this is not slashing. The aim is to reward operators that spread validators across clients, clouds, and regions.
Calculator: validatordowntime.obol.org (Obol)
Hegotá, the upgrade after Glamsterdam, is being scoped now. FOCIL (EIP-7805, forced inclusion lists for censorship resistance) and Frame Transactions are its headliners. EIP-7716 has been proposed for inclusion, while EIP-8363 is now declined for this fork.
Tracker: forkcast.org/upgrade/hegota
As with every network upgrade, no action is required for staked ETH. Blockdaemon handles client updates and all validator-level changes, including the new duties that arrive with Glamsterdam.
Solana
Blockdaemon outperformed the Solana network average in every month of Q3 2026, averaging 5.96% vs. 5.87% and extending its streak to twelve consecutive months.
| Period | Blockdaemon Avg PRR | Network Avg PRR | Outperformance |
|---|---|---|---|
| July 2026 | 6.18% | 6.12% | +6 bps |
| August 2026 | 5.98% | 5.77% | +21 bps |
| September 2026 | 5.73% | 5.72% | +1 bp |
The margin widened to +21 bps in August, when MEV and fee income rose, then narrowed to +1 bp in September as MEV eased. Results were supported by full machine uptime, 99.9% protocol uptime, and zero slashing events over the prior 12 months.
PRR is an estimated annualized reward rate based on historical SOL-staking data and does not guarantee future results. Blockdaemon uses its own Staking Rewards Reporting to track the PRR of every SOL validator it operates. PRR is calculated each epoch using the standard APY formula: ((365 ÷ epoch days) × ⟨gross commission + fees earned⟩) ÷ (active stake). Trend includes Q2 2026 months for context.
Solana
Vote rewards remained the largest part of Solana staking income but fell across the quarter, while MEV and fees made up a slightly larger share.
| Month | Vote (Inflation) | MEV | Fees | Blockdaemon PRR |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| July 2026 | 5.47% | 0.23% | 0.48% | 6.18% |
| August 2026 | 5.11% | 0.31% | 0.56% | 5.98% |
| September 2026 | 4.96% | 0.22% | 0.55% | 5.73% |
Fee income rose from 0.48% to 0.56% in August and held at 0.55% in September. MEV peaked at 0.31% in August before easing. Looking ahead, SIMD-0550 will make vote rewards fall about twice as fast each year once it activates, so MEV, fees, and execution quality will make up a growing share of what separates providers.
Protocol & Policy
Solana's biggest quarter of upgrades so far: a new consensus system reached the test networks, blocks got twice as fast, and governance settled its first two token-policy votes.
Alpenglow replaced Solana's old voting system on testnet on September 24 and on devnet a day later. On testnet, blocks are final in a median of 54 milliseconds after a validator receives them. Mainnet follows a review period, with no date set. Frankendancer support ends at mainnet activation, and Firedancer nodes must switch to Agave for the changeover. Blockdaemon manages the migration on behalf of customers.
Announcement: Anza on X
Solana halved its block time in four steps: 350 ms on August 21, 300 ms on August 28, 250 ms on September 18, and 200 ms on October 9. The total room for transactions did not change; blocks are smaller and come twice as often. Epochs now last about a day, so rewards are paid and stake activates faster. Signed transactions now expire in about 30 seconds instead of 60.
Rollout: solana.com/upgrades/reduced-slot-times · Live: solana.com/200ms
Validators passed SIMD-0550 on August 28 with 67% of participating stake. It doubles how fast Solana's inflation rate falls each year, from 15% to 30%, so the 1.5% floor arrives around 2029 instead of 2032. Its last prerequisite, SIMD-0607, merged on September 1. The change is set to ship in Agave v4.4, with no activation date yet and no drop on day one.
Blockdaemon research: What is SIMD-0550? · Spec: SIMD-0550
SGP-0003, the vote on burning transaction fees in full, ended at 53.9% support, short of the 66.7% needed. About 72 million SOL abstained, enough to decide the outcome. Burns stay near 648 SOL per day and no revised proposal is scheduled, so SOL's supply outlook rests on disinflation alone.
Governance: governance.solana.com
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Legal
The information provided in this report is for educational and informational purposes only and does not constitute financial, investment, or trading advice. No representation or warranty is made, expressed or implied, with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the information or to the future performance of any digital asset, financial instrument, or other market or economic measure.
The information is believed to be current as of the date indicated and may not be updated or otherwise revised to reflect information that subsequently became available or a change in circumstances after the date of publication. Prior results presented here are not guaranteed, and prior results do not guarantee future performance.
Blockdaemon may have financial interests in, or relationships with, some of the assets, entities, and/or publications discussed or otherwise referenced in the materials. Certain links that may be provided in the materials are provided for convenience and do not imply Blockdaemon's endorsement or approval of any third-party websites or their content.
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