Solana Network Congestion Draws Criticism, Fantom Co-founder Defends

Due to a surge in user activity, the Solana (SOL) network has been facing criticism for congestion issues. According to Fantom (FTM) co-founder Andre Cronje, these recent outages are a result of Solana's increasing popularity and are merely engineering hurdles that can be overcome, rather than faults in its consensus or critical components.

Solana Network Congestion Spurs Criticism, Fantom Co-founder Defends

Los Angeles, California, [Date] - The Solana (SOL) blockchain platform has recently faced criticism over its susceptibility to congestion issues. However, Fantom (FTM) co-founder Andre Cronje has come to Solana's defense, attributing the network's recent outages to its growing popularity and user demand.

In a post on social media platform X, Cronje stated, "Seeing a lot of 'I told you so's' against Solana, because checks notes Solana currently has so much demand for blockspace that they need to optimize some bottlenecks (which also by the way, is just an engineering hurdle and not a fault of consensus or any critical component)."

Last week, Solana experienced a period of significant congestion, with over 70% of its non-vote transactions failing. In response, the network's co-founder, Raj Gokal, assured users that developers were actively addressing the issue.

"World-class engineering teams are working around the clock to push fixes to improve the experience of submitting transactions on Solana," Gokal said. "I am messaging them multiple times a day asking how it's going, and they tell me this is a very helpful way to contribute to the solution."

Solana co-founder Anatoly Yakovenko also acknowledged the network's technical challenges, emphasizing the difficulty in finding a swift and easy solution to the congestion problem.

"Dealing with congestion bugs sucks so much more than total liveness failure. The latter is one and done – [the] bug is identified and patched and [the] chain continues. The former has to go through the full release and test pipeline. Shipping fast is impossible," Yakovenko said.

Despite the recent criticism, Solana remains a highly valued cryptocurrency. After hitting a low of $168.07 last week, SOL has since recovered and is currently trading at $178.01.

Cronje's defense of Solana highlights the challenges faced by high-throughput blockchain networks as they strive to scale and accommodate growing user activity. While congestion can be a frustrating issue for users, it also serves as a testament to the platform's popularity and potential.

Industry experts expect Solana to continue to face scrutiny as it navigates the complexities of scaling its network. However, the unwavering support from its co-founders and the dedication of its engineering team suggest that Solana is committed to addressing its technical challenges and delivering a reliable and efficient blockchain experience for its users.