Galaxy Research Proposes New Voting System to Curb Solana Inflation

Galaxy Research has proposed an adjustment to the voting system that determines the future inflation rate of Solana.

We just introduced a new Solana proposal called Multiple Election Stake-Weight Aggregation (MESA) to reduce SOL inflation: a more market-based approach to agreeing on the rate of future SOL emissions.https://t.co/mcVdkRiM8y

— Galaxy Research (@glxyresearch) April 17, 2025

The initiative is named MESA (Multiple Election Stake-Weight Aggregation).

Instead of the traditional yes/no responses to determine the inflation level, the system will allow validators to vote on multiple deflation metrics and calculate a weighted average of the received options as the result.

The firm proposed MESA after the previous proposal, SIMD-228 failed to reach consensus on specific parameters. However, it did demonstrate unanimity regarding the need to reduce inflation.

SIMD-228 suggested a shift from a fixed schedule to a dynamic model: if the percentage of tokens in staking falls below the 33% threshold, SOL emissions would increase to incentivize participants. With a high volume of locked tokens, the metric would decrease, reflecting a reduced need to “overpay” for network security.

MESA maintains a fixed inflation rate of 1.5%, offering several deflation options for voting.

For example, if 5% voted for 15% deflation, 50% for 30%, and 45% for 33%, the new level would be 30.6%. The goal is to achieve a terminal inflation rate of 1.5%.

The aim of MESA is to offer a more market-driven approach, allowing validators to express preferences across a spectrum of deflation, while maintaining emission predictability.

Under the current mechanism, inflation starts at 8% per year and decreases by 15% annually until it reaches 1.5%. The current level is 4.6%.

According to Solana Compass, 64.7% of the total supply (387 million SOL) is locked in staking.

Back in February 19, Blockworks researcher Carlos Gonzalez Campo reported that annual SOL inflation rose by 30.5% following the implementation of a new fee distribution model on the platform.