Understand Solflare's 1 SOL minimum for a new native stake account, the separate account rent, and why your available balance may be too low.
A Solflare user asked whether staking now requires an extra SOL sitting idle in the wallet. The 1 SOL in Solflare's current guide is a minimum amount to delegate into a new native stake account, not a 1 SOL fee. You also need a small separate amount of liquid SOL for account creation and transactions. The distinction matters because adding exactly 1 SOL to a wallet may still leave too little to cover the other costs.
What changed when Solflare asked for 1 SOL?
In an illustrative example, I have less than 1 SOL available and see a staking warning. My first thought is that Solflare wants to take an entire coin as a fee. The clue is in Solflare's desktop staking guide: it calls 1 SOL the minimum delegation for a new stake account. Delegated SOL stays in that account and can later be undelegated and withdrawn under the normal unstaking process. That is different from a charge for opening it.
The original balance has three jobs. One portion is the SOL you choose to delegate, another covers the temporary stake-account deposit that Solflare currently lists as 0.002 SOL, and a little must remain available for transaction fees. Solflare's fuller staking guide describes the account deposit as refundable when the stake account is closed. The balance diagram separates these amounts; it is not a quote from your wallet.
Do you need another whole SOL left over?
No official Solflare guide says you must keep an additional 1 SOL untouched after delegating 1 SOL. You do need enough unstaked SOL to create the account and pay transaction fees. Before confirming anything, compare the wallet's available SOL with the amount you entered in the Stake form, then read the actual review screen for the current charges. The precise amount you can delegate depends on your wallet balance and the live transaction quote, so this page does not prescribe a universal leftover amount.
If you have 1.000 SOL available, entering 1.000 SOL as the delegation may leave no room for account creation or transaction fees. Entering a little less would leave room for fees but might fall below the 1 SOL minimum. The straightforward outcome is that this balance may simply be too small to open a new native stake account at the current minimum.
Is this the same as instant unstaking?
No. Opening a native stake account and withdrawing from one are different actions. The 1 SOL minimum is about new stake account creation. If your concern is that you received less than expected after an unstake, check the separate instant-unstake quote in Solflare; that route can have a liquidity-dependent fee.
Recheck Solflare's current guidance and the wallet's own review screen before committing funds; staking rules and quotes can change. HideFi is independent of Solflare and cannot see your account.
Official sources
Product interfaces and recovery policies can change. Confirm the current steps before acting.