The Solana Foundation has removed a group of validator operators from its delegation program due to their involvement in sandwich attacks on traders. Sandwich attacks, a type of malicious trading behavior, occur when a trader places one order before and another after a target transaction, manipulating the price to their advantage. This ensures retail investors always receive the worst possible price, while the attacker profits from the price difference.

The validator operators were identified through their participation in mempools, which facilitate these attacks. Based on Solana Foundation rules that prohibit validators from engaging in malicious activity, these operators will no longer be assigned delegation work. Tim Garcia, Solana’s validator relations lead, announced the removal on Discord, emphasizing that operators engaging in such harmful activities will face immediate and permanent removal from the program.

The Solana Foundation Delegation Program supports validators by assigning them SOL tokens, relieving them from holding a significant number of tokens themselves. Validators, chosen based on their performance, handle block creation and transaction verification. The foundation’s crackdown aims to maintain the integrity of the network and protect retail users from exploitation.

Mert Mumtaz, co-founder of Solana remote procedure call provider Helius, explained on X (formerly Twitter) that some operators had modified their validators to enable sandwiching on Solana. He highlighted the foundation’s commitment to preventing retail users from being scammed, emphasizing the importance of ethical standards among validators.

By removing malicious validators, the Solana Foundation aims to ensure fair transaction processing and foster a secure, reliable environment for all participants in the cryptocurrency ecosystem.