Solana’s plan to cut account deposits by 90% could weaken a reason to hold SOL

According to CryptoSlate, Solana rolled out its first rent reduction on September 3, lowering the minimum SOL required to create accounts from 6,960 to 6,333 lamports per byte. This change allows eligible token-account owners to reclaim excess SOL previously locked for storage overhead. Businesses funding new accounts also benefit from reduced upfront capital requirements.

Further reductions depend on state-growth reviews, with the final three steps anticipated alongside Agave 4.4 in November. If the network completes its proposed 90% reduction down to 696 lamports per byte, total persistent account state would need to grow tenfold to require the same minimum reserves as before the rollout. The Solana Foundation notes that withdrawal authority dictates who controls the excess capital, meaning payments providers cannot automatically claim funds supplied for customer accounts.

While lower reserve requirements reduce a specific reason to hold SOL for storage, other utility channels remain. Transactions require SOL for fees, and holders can delegate stake to validators for rewards. Additional parameter changes are scheduled to proceed following network reviews.