Verification of Solana’s performance
Solana, often touted as a faster and cheaper alternative to Ethereum, has had significant difficulties delivering on its promises. Despite the theoretical ability to process 50,000 transactions per second (TPS), real-world conditions have shown the network to peak at around 1,000 TPS with latency of 30 to 60 seconds.
While these numbers are impressive by blockchain standards, they fall well short of advertised speeds and lead to persistent network congestion and downtime. The network has experienced more than 150 hours of downtime over the past three years, raising concerns about reliability and scalability.
Network outages and congestion issues
Solana’s history of frequent network outages is far greater than that of other major blockchains. Since 2021, the network has experienced nine outages, including a five-hour outage on February 6 and a 58-hour outage in January 2022. In April, 75% of all non-voting SOL transactions failed, largely due to increased demand for meme coins and a surge in bot activity.
Such high transaction failure rates have led to a significant user experience degradation, with many taking to social media to voice their discontent. Despite these issues, Solana’s official uptime reports have shown 100% uptime in the months since exchanges and users reported severe network outages, raising questions about the accuracy of its performance metrics.
The Impact of Meme Coins on Solana’s Stability
The rise of meme coins has further exacerbated Solana’s congestion issues. Spectra Cities founder Ryan Rzepecki noted that if meme coins can disrupt core operations on the chain, it would represent an “existential moment” for Solana.
The network’s ability to handle high traffic, including bot activity and meme coin trading, has been a significant factor in its frequent outages. While some argue that congestion is a natural consequence of success, Solana’s ongoing network outages point to a deeper problem that cannot be easily ignored. For blockchain to be taken seriously, it must demonstrate long-term stability and reliability.
challenges and opportunities
Solana has become a popular choice among retail investors, bot operators, and especially those starting meme projects due to its low transaction fees. However, Solana will need to overcome reliability issues to achieve real-world utility and wider adoption. While the blockchain industry often points to the early congestion issues faced by Ethereum and Bitcoin as examples of growing pains, Solana’s ongoing outages suggest more fundamental flaws in its design and operation.
A comparison with Visa’s network stability highlights the stakes involved. In 2018, Visa experienced a 10-hour service outage that led to aggressive media coverage and compensation to cardholders. Since then, Visa has accommodated much more traffic without experiencing similar failures. If Solana is to earn its reputation for reliability and high performance, it will need to achieve a similar reliability record.