Solana Boosts Block Capacity by 20% to Accommodate Increasing Demand

The network of Solana has increased its block capacity by 20%, raising it to 60 million computational units (CU). This was announced by Mert Mumtaz, co-founder and CEO of the infrastructure company Helius.

This upgrade will enhance the network’s ability to process more transactions within a single block. Previously, the limit was set at 48 million CU, which was increased to 50 million CU for stability testing, and those tests were successful, according to Mumtaz.

He further stated that developers aim to at least double the current block capacity in the future.

Mumtaz emphasized that this upgrade will lower transaction fees while maintaining the same demand, create more opportunities for developers, and enhance the overall user experience.

The Solana developers have proposed increasing the block’s computational unit limit from 60 million to 100 million, which would boost the network’s throughput by 66%. This proposal has been documented in the SIMD-0286 published on GitHub.

Raising this limit would allow complex applications, such as order-book DEX and MEV auctions, to function without hitting overhead errors. However, this would also increase the load on validators.

The demand for limit expansion has surged due to the rising activity in restaking protocols, NFT minting, and DePIN projects, which are increasingly consuming block space.

The proposal is currently under discussion and testing, and it will take effect in one of the future software updates, activating automatically after validation approval.

Following the news, the price of SOL exceeded $200. As of the time of writing, the «people’s cryptocurrency» has adjusted to $182.25, according to CoinGecko. The asset has risen by 4.9% over the last week and by 24.6% over the past month.

Some companies have started accumulating Solana. DeFi Development Corp reported that it is close to holding 1 million SOL. The mining company Bit Mining announced plans to raise up to $300 million for building its SOL treasury.

On-chain analyst Ali Martinez highlighted a breakout of a classic «cup and handle» pattern. According to his prediction, Solana’s price could reach $131.5.

This pattern is considered a bullish signal and suggests a potential continuation of an upward trend following a consolidation period. A breakout above the pattern’s upper boundary opens the door to significant growth.

It’s worth noting that CoinDesk’s deputy editor Omkar Godbole identified a «golden cross» on the Solana chart.