Recent months have seen a surge in meme coin trading activity, leading to increased strain on the network.
The rollout of version 1.17.31 marks the initial step in a series of planned updates aimed at alleviating network congestion. The surge in meme coin trading activity has led to a notable uptick in user engagement and heightened demand for network resources.
According to Solana developers, the latest software update is now recommended for general use by mainnet validators. This release, denoted as v1.17.31, incorporates enhancements designed to mitigate the ongoing congestion issues plaguing the Solana Network.
Rex St John, head of developer relations at Anza, the entity responsible for Monday’s update, emphasized the significance of this release in addressing network congestion.
Validators play a crucial role in confirming transactions and securing blockchain networks. To address evolving network challenges, validators must regularly upgrade their nodes with newer releases.
The surge in meme coin trading activity has led to a significant increase in user transactions, with transaction volumes exceeding $4 billion in March, a substantial leap from the usual figures of under $500 million per day in 2023.
The proliferation of bots has contributed to a surge in “failed” transactions on the network. These failures occur when smart contracts flag certain transactions as invalid, despite successfully submitting them to the Solana network.
The latest version of the software prioritizes transactions from reputable validators, granting precedence to those with a substantial stake. This prioritization ensures a higher quality of service for validators with significant stakes, thereby mitigating the risk of malicious activity from lower-quality validators flooding the network with transactions.
Version 1.18 is currently undergoing testing on a dedicated testnet to identify and address any potential bugs or issues before deployment on the main blockchain network.
