Epics DAO Validator Powering ERPC's SWQoS Infrastructure Surpasses 200,000 SOL Staked — Achieves TOP 20 in Shinobi Performance Pool and Pushes for Higher
Epics DAO Validator Powering ERPC's SWQoS Infrastructure Surpasses 200,000 SOL Staked — Achieves TOP 20 in Shinobi Performance Pool and Pushes for Higher
ELSOUL LABO B.V. (Headquartered in Amsterdam, Netherlands; CEO: Fumitake Kawasaki) and Validators DAO are pleased to announce that the Epics DAO validator — a core node powering ERPC's SWQoS endpoint — has surpassed 200,000 SOL (~$17.8M) in active stake.
In parallel, the Epics DAO validator has climbed approximately 80 positions in the Shinobi Performance Pool rankings, achieving TOP 20 status. Currently hovering between 12th and 14th place, we are actively pushing toward TOP 10, then TOP 3, and ultimately the number one position.
Validator address: EpicsoqLdDP8qRn3wQRKTSKAXbjK9dUgFfNPRQS77MQD
Staking page: https://epics.dev/en/staking/
Two Years of R&D Taking Shape
Validators DAO, ERPC, and Epics DAO have been researching and building top-tier Solana network infrastructure globally — pushing the boundaries of scalability, speed, and possibility for the fastest blockchain in the world.
The Epics DAO validator has undergone two years of continuous performance R&D. That work is now objectively reflected in the validator's TOP 20 ranking in the Shinobi Performance Pool.
TOP 20 is only a milestone. TOP 10 is within striking distance, and TOP 3 — even the top position — is becoming realistic. We have headroom built into our configuration, and the foundation to make it happen is in place.
Reaching the top is not the finish line. We will continue building the fastest infrastructure globally to expand Solana's potential and achieve unprecedented speed and scalability.
Shinobi Pool Performance Ranking: https://xshin.fi/#Validators
From 100K to 200K SOL — Accelerating Stake Growth
Last month we reached 100,000 SOL staked. This month, we have surpassed 200,000 SOL.
Pursuing maximum performance and an environment where staker incentives are maximized — this is our conviction.
Solana's design aligns decentralization metrics, performance metrics, and incentive structures so that high-performance operation directly maximizes incentives. Every direction points the same way. Every performance-focused Solana validator contributes to operating one ecosystem: a fast blockchain.
We have dedicated ourselves to being a leading performer in this ecosystem, contributing to network speed, stability, and scalability through continuous R&D.
Evaluation in the Shinobi Performance Pool
The Shinobi Performance Pool allocates stake based on on-chain performance metrics. From thousands of validators worldwide, it automatically selects roughly the top 50 based on performance, then ranks them. Being selected at all is proof of high performance; staying in this set consistently is no easy task.
Evaluation criteria include skip rate, average vote latency, Compute Units per block, vote inclusion, APY, and more. Commission rates, advertising spend, and other external factors have no bearing on rankings. Performance alone determines position.
The Epics DAO validator currently holds a score of 99.80, has entered the TOP 20, and has risen approximately 80 positions in the rankings.
SWQoS Endpoint and the Compounding Effect of Stake Growth
Stake-weighted Quality of Service (SWQoS) is Solana's priority traffic control mechanism, granting staked nodes access to priority lanes. Under SWQoS, stake directly translates to priority bandwidth.
Surpassing 200,000 SOL means that ERPC's SWQoS endpoint now commands even greater priority bandwidth. Our targets are 300K SOL and beyond, ideally reaching 500K SOL. As stake grows, ERPC's overall transmission performance and reliability continue to strengthen.
Five Consecutive Years of WBSO Approval — R&D Crystallizing into Infrastructure
ELSOUL LABO has received WBSO approval — the Dutch government's R&D support program — for five consecutive years since 2022. We have been conducting continuous research on ultra-low-latency Solana RPC infrastructure, validator placement, and operational orchestration automation, with results directly feeding into platform performance improvements.
The upgrade to AMD EPYC 5th Gen (Turin), adoption of DDR5 6400MHz and NVMe SSD Gen5, and the migration to HTTP across all regions have together delivered over 120ms improvement in P99 latency for both Geyser gRPC and Shreds.
Furthermore, we are opening a new top-tier Solana-specialized data center under our own ASN (AS200261), assigned by RIPE NCC. Designed to surpass our existing premium data centers, it features hardware unified on AMD EPYC 5th Gen, AMD Threadripper PRO 5th Gen (9975WX and similar), and NVMe Gen5, combined with optimized network routing through our own ASN. This facility is expected to become available shortly.
R&D results compound over time, and the angle of improvement steepens with each iteration. Five years of research are crystallizing across validator performance, infrastructure quality, and network design.
Epics DAO Validator Operating Policy
The Epics DAO validator operates under a policy that prioritizes both performance and staker value:
- Staking commission: 0%
- MEV fee: 0%
We maximize incentives for stakers while reinvesting revenue into network performance improvements and R&D. By pursuing top-tier execution quality while maintaining zero fees, we achieve the most rational conditions for stakers alongside meaningful performance contributions to the network.
Acknowledgments and the Road Ahead
The improvements we have made would not have been possible without the support and cooperation of our community. Feedback from users of our RPC and network services has been instrumental to our progress. Every piece of information leads to new discoveries, and we have been able to sustain exciting development throughout.
This will continue. We remain committed to evolving and contributing to the growth of the Solana ecosystem.
- Epics DAO Official Website: https://epics.dev/en
- Epics DAO Staking: https://epics.dev/en/staking/
- ERPC Official Website: https://erpc.global/en
- Validators DAO Discord: https://discord.gg/C7ZQSrCkYR
Disclaimer
This article is not intended as investment advice.
Staking, LSTs, SWQoS endpoints, and related services carry inherent risks.
Please conduct your own research and exercise your own judgment before use (NFA / DYOR).
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