Solana has released a crucial update to tackle the ongoing congestion on the Solana Network. Version 1.17.31 is the first in a series of planned updates.
Solana has been plagued by congestion issues in recent months, caused by an unending meme coin frenzy that has led to a huge spike in user activity and bumped up network demand.
Solana Releases Crucial Update
Solana announced the release of the new software update on its official X handle, stating that the update is now recommended for general use by mainnet validators. Validators are those who run nodes or software, confirming actions and transactions and helping secure the network. They are also required to continually upgrade their nodes to keep up with the latest releases and deal with potential issues on the network. According to Solana developers, the release includes several enhancements that help tackle the problem of congestion on the Solana network.
“The v1.17.31 release is now recommended for general use by MainnetBeta validators. This release contains enhancements that will help alleviate the ongoing congestion on the Solana Network.”
According to Rex St John, the head of developer relations at Anza, version 1.17.31 is the first in a series of planned updates that will address Solana’s congestion woes.
“This contains the first round of @solana mainnet congestion updates which everyone has been waiting for from @anza_xyz. There are additional updates coming. It is important to note this is NOT v1.18, which will have further improvements.”
Referring to the changes brought by the update, these refer to staked vs unstaked packets sent down/throttled.
Solana’s Congestion Issues
Congestion issues have plagued Solana in recent months, driven by a meme coin frenzy. The surge in meme coin activity has also led to a significant spike in user activity, leading to high demand for the network, with transaction volumes on Solana reaching as high as $4 billion in March. For context, the usual figure for transaction volumes in 2023 was around $500 million per day. According to Solana developer 0xMert, the extremely high use of bots had caused a spike in failed transactions on the Solana network.
According to 0xMert, the final version prioritizes transactions from good or validators with a sizable stake. This priority allows validators who have a higher stake to receive better service, and prevents low quality validators from spamming the network with transactions. Users on Solana are hoping the network can get back on track following the upgrade.
Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.
