What is a commission rug pull?
A commission rug pull is when a validator sharply raises its commission, sometimes to 100%, so the high rate is in place when an epoch's rewards are counted, then lowers it again soon after. Its delegators lose some or all of that epoch's rewards, while the current rate looks normal. Your SOL itself stays in your stake account.
How does a commission rug pull work?
It relies on two ordinary facts about Solana.
Rewards are counted once per epoch. An epoch is a network cycle of about 1–2 days. 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 rug pull uses the gap between those two facts. Here is a made-up, simplified example:
- A validator charges 5% for months and builds up stake.
- Before an epoch ends, it raises its commission to 100%.
- The epoch closes. Inflation rewards are counted at 100%, so its delegators get none for that epoch.
- Soon after the next epoch starts, the rate goes back to 5%.
- Anyone who checks the validator from then on sees 5%.
The whole thing can be over in a few days. From the outside, nothing looks wrong.
Why is a commission rug pull hard to spot?
A current commission tells you what a validator charges today. It says nothing about the rate in force when the last epoch closed, and that's the rate that decided your rewards.
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 | Set so the high rate is in force when an epoch's rewards are counted |
| 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 do we flag commission rug pulls?
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 flag. A red flag next to the validator's name, in the list and on its page. 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.
Commission history on the validator page. Each validator page shows how its commission has changed over time. This is where a rug is easy to recognize: a tall, narrow spike instead of a step that stays.
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, though, so once the rate drops back, the number recovers. 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 Telegram alerts help?
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.
Be clear about what an alert can and can't do. It can't undo a raise that has already been counted. Unstaking takes effect at the end of an epoch, so by the time you hear about a spike, that epoch's rewards are usually gone. What an alert gives you is notice. You find out within minutes, not weeks later, and you can move your stake before it happens again.
What should you do if your validator raised its commission?
- Read the history first. Open the validator's page and look at its commission history. A step up that stays? Decide whether the new rate still suits you. A spike that dropped back? 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 timed for the reward count and dropped soon after. Our Fees raised flag shows both kinds, so open the validator's commission history to see which one you're looking at.
Usually not. Unstaking takes effect at the end of an epoch, so stake that was active when the high rate hit is counted at that rate. What the alert gives you is early notice: you learn about the first spike soon after it happens and can move your stake before there's a second.
Find the validator in our list and open its page. The commission history shows how its rate has moved: a spike that drops back within a few epochs is the pattern to look for. In the list itself, a red Fees raised flag 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 how long the validator has held that rate and whether its history shows any spikes.