Solana Launches Mainnet Beta Update v1.17.31 to Address Congestion

Solana has introduced a new Mainnet Beta update, version 1.17.31, to resolve congestion issues on the blockchain.

After three days of testing since its release on April 12, the update is now recommended for general use by Mainnet Beta validators.

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This update is part of an effort to handle the increased load on Solana's network, which has recently suffered from high transaction failure rates due to a surge in network activity and a memecoin trading frenzy. The problems became so severe that transaction failure rates soared to 75% last week.

Solana has introduced these changes:

• The ability to differentiate between staked and non-staked packets;
• Implementing "smallvec" on the Quic protocol to aggregate chunks, reducing allocation per packet;
• BankingStage Forwarding Filter;
• Tighter controls on the minimal streams allowed per 100ms for staked nodes;
• Treating super low-staked nodes as unstaked in streamer quality of service;
• Default staked client in LocalCluster.

These enhancements are designed to improve network efficiency and reduce the bottlenecks that have led to transaction failures.

Solana developer Anza has asked validators to install the update when there is less than a 5% delinquent stake, which refers to the proportion of inactive or offline validators.

As the community implements these changes, the Solana ecosystem hopes these efforts will stabilize the network and restore efficient operation.

In other Solana-related news, former security engineer Shakeeb Ahmed was recently sentenced to three years for stealing over $12 million from Solana-based DEXs.