Author: Danny Nelson, CoinDesk; Translated by: Tao Zhu, Jinse Caijing
Solana is intensifying its testing of Firedancer, a highly anticipated software upgrade expected to significantly enhance the blockchain's processing speed.
According to information from the Solana technical Discord server, by this weekend, Solana's core developers hope that the 'vast majority' of the processing power on the low-risk test network will be able to run the early version of Firedancer, known as Frankendancer.
The call to Solana validators (the individuals who run the computers powering the network) marks the largest test for Firedancer 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 into the blockchain. They point to its theoretical speed: one million transactions per second, which is several magnitudes faster than any blockchain-based system today.
The release date for Firedancer itself has not yet been determined. 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 number of validators had adopted Frankendancer; many reported to CoinDesk that they found it flawed and prone to crashes.
"It is 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 promote broader adoption of Frankendancer is a sign that the software has 'matured.'
"If you can confidently say, 'Hey, we want 60% of the testnet to run this client,' then we are 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 system upgrades more difficult to coordinate.
For many years, the non-profit organization managing the network, the Solana Foundation, has addressed this coordination challenge through subsidies. Its 'Delegation Program' helps smaller validators (those who do not have much staked SOL and thus earn less income from validating the chain) remain profitable. It often coerces validators into keeping their software updated by threatening to revoke their delegated stakes if they do not upgrade in a timely manner.
On Tuesday, the Solana Foundation used this subsidy 'carrot and stick' policy for the first time to directly promote 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.
"As of now, they seem to have reached their target," said validator operator Jon, who claimed to have been running Frankendancer for several months. "Currently, about 30% of validators on the testnet are running Frankendancer, but they still believe they have not reached an absolute majority."
