- Jump Crypto has proposed removing Solana’s fixed compute block limit to improve network performance.
- The proposed change, SIMD-0370, would take place after the upcoming Alpenglow upgrade.
- This move aims to encourage validators using slower hardware to upgrade, boosting rewards for those with better equipment.
- Concerns have been raised about potential centralization, as smaller validators may be forced out if they cannot afford better hardware.
- The Alpenglow upgrade is expected to significantly decrease transaction finality time and improve Solana’s overall resiliency.
Jump Crypto, a Web3 infrastructure company, has submitted a proposal to remove Solana’s fixed compute block limit following the Alpenglow upgrade. The proposed change, called SIMD-0370, is intended to boost network performance and motivate validators with less advanced hardware to make upgrades.
According to Solana research firm Anza, eliminating the block cap would let slower validators skip more complex transaction blocks, leaving those tasks to better-equipped validators. This creates an incentive cycle where block producers include more transactions to earn higher fees, and validators who fail to keep up lose rewards, encouraging further hardware and software improvements.
“This creates a performance flywheel: block producers pack more transactions to earn more fees. Validators that skip blocks lose rewards, so they upgrade hardware and optimize code. Better performance across the network means producers can safely push limits further,” Anza stated. The improvement proposal comes as efforts continue to strengthen Solana’s resiliency and diversify validator clients, such as the Firedancer client, which is expected to have a limited mainnet launch in September 2024. Solana is known for its fast, low-cost blockchain and has on occasion seen higher trading volumes on its decentralized exchanges than Ethereum.
Currently, Solana’s compute block limit is set at 60 million compute units—a measure of computational capacity per block. Under the new proposal, block size would adjust based on how many transactions a validator’s system could process, rather than a fixed number.
Some experts have raised concerns about possible centralization. Engineer Akhilesh Singhania said on GitHub: “Another type of centralization that we might see is that if the bigger validators keep upgrading to more expensive hardware, the smaller ones who cannot afford to upgrade would be forced to drop out. So as a result, we might end up with fewer big validators.”
The Alpenglow protocol upgrade, which passed in a nearly unanimous vote this month and deploys to testnet in December, is expected to be Solana’s most significant update to date. Anza noted that it could reduce transaction finality time from about 12.8 seconds to 150 milliseconds, with additional enhancements aimed at improving network stability. This follows a prior suggestion in May to raise the compute block limit to 100 million under SIMD-0286.
Solana has experienced network outages during periods of high activity in the past, prompting continued focus on upgrades for stability and performance.
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