diff --git a/ledger/state.go b/ledger/state.go
index c75f8fb7..c4bc370a 100644
--- a/ledger/state.go
+++ b/ledger/state.go
@@ -41,14 +41,17 @@ import (
 const (
 	cleanupConsumedUtxosInterval   = 5 * time.Minute
 	cleanupConsumedUtxosSlotWindow = 50000 // TODO: calculate this from params (#395)
+
+	validateHistoricalThreshold = 14 * (24 * time.Hour) // 2 weeks
 )
 
 type LedgerStateConfig struct {
-	Logger            *slog.Logger
-	DataDir           string
-	EventBus          *event.EventBus
-	CardanoNodeConfig *cardano.CardanoNodeConfig
-	PromRegistry      prometheus.Registerer
+	Logger             *slog.Logger
+	DataDir            string
+	EventBus           *event.EventBus
+	CardanoNodeConfig  *cardano.CardanoNodeConfig
+	PromRegistry       prometheus.Registerer
+	ValidateHistorical bool
 	// Callback(s)
 	BlockfetchRequestRangeFunc BlockfetchRequestRangeFunc
 }
@@ -357,6 +360,7 @@ func (ls *LedgerState) ledgerProcessBlocks() {
 		return
 	}
 	shouldBlock := false
+	shouldValidate := ls.config.ValidateHistorical
 	// We chose 500 as an arbitrary max batch size. A "chain extended" message will be logged after each batch
 	nextBatch := make([]*chain.ChainIteratorResult, 0, 500)
 	var next, nextRollback, cachedNext *chain.ChainIteratorResult
@@ -440,6 +444,23 @@ func (ls *LedgerState) ledgerProcessBlocks() {
 				}
 				needsRollback = true
 			}
+			// Enable validation if we're getting near current tip
+			if !shouldValidate && len(nextBatch) == 0 {
+				// Determine wall time for next block slot
+				slotTime, err := ls.SlotToTime(next.Point.Slot)
+				if err != nil {
+					ls.config.Logger.Error(
+						"failed to convert slot to time: " + err.Error(),
+					)
+					return
+				}
+				// Check difference from current time
+				timeDiff := time.Since(slotTime)
+				if timeDiff < validateHistoricalThreshold {
+					shouldValidate = true
+					ls.config.Logger.Debug("enabling validation as we approach tip")
+				}
+			}
 			// Add to batch
 			nextBatch = append(nextBatch, next)
 			// Don't exceed our pre-allocated capacity
@@ -480,7 +501,7 @@ func (ls *LedgerState) ledgerProcessBlocks() {
 					if err != nil {
 						return fmt.Errorf("block decode failed: %w", err)
 					}
-					if err = ls.ledgerProcessBlock(txn, next.Point, tmpBlock); err != nil {
+					if err = ls.ledgerProcessBlock(txn, next.Point, tmpBlock, shouldValidate); err != nil {
 						return err
 					}
 					// Update tip
@@ -527,6 +548,7 @@ func (ls *LedgerState) ledgerProcessBlock(
 	txn *database.Txn,
 	point ocommon.Point,
 	block ledger.Block,
+	shouldValidate bool,
 ) error {
 	// Check that we're processing things in order
 	if len(ls.currentTip.Point.Hash) > 0 {
@@ -546,34 +568,47 @@ func (ls *LedgerState) ledgerProcessBlock(
 	// Process transactions
 	var delta *LedgerDelta
 	for _, tx := range block.Transactions() {
-		// Validate transaction
-		if ls.currentEra.ValidateTxFunc != nil {
-			lv := &LedgerView{
-				txn: txn,
-				ls:  ls,
+		if delta == nil {
+			delta = &LedgerDelta{
+				Point: point,
 			}
-			err := ls.currentEra.ValidateTxFunc(
-				tx,
-				point.Slot,
-				lv,
-				ls.currentPParams,
-			)
-			if err != nil {
-				ls.config.Logger.Warn(
-					"TX " + tx.Hash().
-						String() +
-						" failed validation: " + err.Error(),
+		}
+		// Validate transaction
+		if shouldValidate {
+			if ls.currentEra.ValidateTxFunc != nil {
+				lv := &LedgerView{
+					txn: txn,
+					ls:  ls,
+				}
+				err := ls.currentEra.ValidateTxFunc(
+					tx,
+					point.Slot,
+					lv,
+					ls.currentPParams,
 				)
-				// return fmt.Errorf("TX validation failure: %w", err)
+				if err != nil {
+					ls.config.Logger.Warn(
+						"TX " + tx.Hash().
+							String() +
+							" failed validation: " + err.Error(),
+					)
+					// return fmt.Errorf("TX validation failure: %w", err)
+				}
 			}
 		}
-		// Populate ledger delta from transaction and apply
-		delta = &LedgerDelta{
-			Point: point,
-		}
+		// Populate ledger delta from transaction
 		if err := delta.processTransaction(tx); err != nil {
 			return fmt.Errorf("process transaction: %w", err)
 		}
+		// Apply delta immediately if we may need the data to validate the next TX
+		if shouldValidate {
+			if err := delta.apply(ls, txn); err != nil {
+				return err
+			}
+			delta = nil
+		}
+	}
+	if delta != nil {
 		if err := delta.apply(ls, txn); err != nil {
 			return fmt.Errorf("apply ledger delta: %w", err)
 		}