Anza releases proposed congestion fixes on Solana devnet, asks validators to upgrade on testnet

Solana’s validator client team Anza released proposed congestion fixes in version 1.18.11 on a devnet and asked testnet validators to implement and assist in analyzing its effectiveness.

“Solana testnet validators, the v1.18.11 release is now deployed to devnet, recommended for use on testnet. Please upgrade ASAP to help us start analyzing the effects of the proposed congestion fixes,” Anza stated.

Anza, the developer of one of Solana’s Agave validator clients, urged Solana testnet validators to quickly adopt the new version. This step is essential for the team to evaluate the release, allowing for necessary adjustments before the update is implemented on the mainnet.

Recently, Solana has experienced significant congestion, linked to spam transactions. Such congestion has led to slower transaction processing and higher transaction drop rates, impacting the overall user experience.

Solana’s unique architecture, which processes transactions directly without a mempool, is another factor at play. The developers are working on multiple solutions to tackle the matter. Anza previously stated it was working on fixes addressing specific issues related to the network's QUIC implementation.

Phantom, Solana’s most widely used wallet, noted that transaction success rates have improved a lot already ahead of the patch. The project stated its metrics showed that transactions were successful nearly 90% of the time, which is almost a fivefold improvement from a week ago.