Author: Danny Nelson, CoinDesk; Translated by: Tao Zhu, Jinse Finance
Solana is ramping up testing of Firedancer, a highly anticipated software upgrade expected to significantly improve the blockchain's processing speed.
According to information from the Solana technical Discord server, by the end of this weekend, Solana's core developers hope that the 'vast majority' of processing power on the chain's low-risk test network will be running an early version of Firedancer, Frankendancer.
The call to Solana validators (the people who power the network with their computers) marks Firedancer's biggest test to date. The upgrade has been in preparation since 2022 when the chain frequently experienced outages, which were seen as a challenge to Solana's stability and speed.
Supporters of Firedancer believe that the software, developed by the cryptocurrency division of trading giant Jump, will give Solana an unparalleled advantage in the race to attract global financial markets to blockchain. They point to its theoretical speed: 1 million transactions per second, which is several orders of magnitude faster than any blockchain-based system today.
Firedancer itself has not yet set a release date. Currently, Jump Crypto has only launched Frankendancer, which is a hybrid that combines elements of Firedancer and Solana's main client architecture. Before this week, only a small portion of validators had adopted Frankendancer; many told CoinDesk that they found it flawed and prone to crashes.
"It's well known that keeping this thing alive and running is very difficult, but we did it," said Kollen House, a long-time member of the Solana validator community. He believes that the new initiative to drive broader adoption of Frankendancer is a sign of the software's 'maturity.'
"If you can confidently say, 'Hey, we want 60% of the testnet running this client,' then we're getting close," said House.
Cryptocurrency networks like Solana are supported by hundreds of individual validators. Each validator independently runs a computer equipped with 'client' software, connecting them to the network. This decentralization helps keep the blockchain secure but makes it harder to coordinate system upgrades.
For years, the non-profit Solana Foundation managing the network has subsidized part of this coordination challenge. Its 'delegation program' helps smaller validators (those who do not have much staked SOL, so they earn less from their work validating the chain) stay profitable. It often coerces validators to keep their software up to date by threatening to revoke the delegated stakes of those who do not upgrade in time.
On Tuesday, the Solana Foundation used this subsidy 'carrot and stick' policy for the first time to directly encourage the adoption of Frankendancer. Validators have only a few days to switch their testnet systems to the new client, or they will lose their delegated stakes.
"Currently, they seem to have reached their goal," said validator operator Jon, who stated he has been running Frankendancer for several months. "Currently, about 30% of validators on the testnet are running Frankendancer, but they still believe they have not yet reached an absolute majority."
