The Solana blockchain, known for its high-speed transactions, is encountering significant congestion issues due to a surge in user activity and DeFi operations. This influx has led stakeholders to contemplate major operational changes to enhance network usability and tackle the problems arising from its popularity.

Addressing Congestion and Malicious Activity

The congestion on the Solana network has reached levels that hinder the smooth operation of blockchain projects, compelling Jito Labs, a key infrastructure developer for Solana, to shut down its mempool service. This decision aims to mitigate bot attacks on users during peak network activity times. Unlike Ethereum, which uses mempools as transaction waiting rooms, Solana doesn’t inherently have one, but Jito’s Block Engine provided a similar functionality, enabling users to exploit maximal extractable value (MEV) opportunities.

Negative MEV practices, such as sandwich attacks, have become rampant on Solana, exploiting its low fees to detrimentally affect both large and small traders. These attacks manipulate asset prices to profit attackers at the expense of victims, causing further strain on the network.

Solana’s Efforts to Improve User Experience

In light of these challenges, Solana co-founder Anatoly Yakovenko initiated discussions on whether to “aggressively” increase block space despite the potential risk of network outages. A recent poll on the matter showed a majority of Twitter users prioritizing network stability over alleviating congestion, reflecting the community’s concerns over the trade-offs involved.

The congestion has been exacerbated by the daily creation of thousands of meme coins and NFTs, with recent days seeing record numbers of new tokens minted on the network. The success of certain meme coins on Solana has inspired a flood of new tokens, contributing to unprecedented levels of network activity and complicating operations for projects reliant on the blockchain.