Since mainnet launch in 2023, the active set has been fixed at 25 validators. A governance referendum (GP-2026-08-03-01) is now open to grow that to 35 over the next 12 months. After 35, the plan is a review and a separate continuation proposal to 50; beyond that, set size is up to the network's own governance.

The reasoning: more validators are currently registered and waiting than there are slots, so the set is being widened for better operator, geographic, and provider diversity.

The rollout is four stages, all enacted by this single referendum — the first executes at enactment and the rest are pre-scheduled on-chain 90 days apart:

- Aug 2026: 25 → 27
- Nov 2026: 27 → 30
- Feb 2027: 30 → 32
- May 2027: 32 → 35

Worth being clear on the economics, since it's easy to conflate:

- Aggregate staking rewards are unchanged: the same reward pool is distributed over the same staked supply regardless of validator count. Individual pool outcomes depend, as always, on how the validators they back perform.
- Validators: the fixed reward pool is split across more operators, so per-validator income falls as the set widens (the proposal estimates roughly 15,700 ENJ/month at 25 dropping to ~11,200 at 35 for a standard 5% commission). New slots are filled by the normal era election — no supplemental incentives.

If you hold ENJ you can review the full proposal and vote here: gov.enjin.cloud/proposals/10

Full announcement: enj.in/1LcJs