Firedancer devs want to remove Solana’s block limit to speed up network

Jump Crypto has proposed removing Solana’s fixed compute block limit to enhance network performance and encourage validators with lower-grade hardware to upgrade. This plan comes as they develop a high-performance Firedancer validator client for Solana. The proposal is intended to be implemented after the Alpenglow upgrade, which is expected to make significant improvements to the network's performance and resilience. By eliminating the fixed block cap of 60 million compute units, the network could adapt based on the transaction capacity of individual validators. The idea is that slower validators would skip complex blocks, which would be processed by better-equipped validators, creating a cycle of improved performance. However, concerns about potential centralization risks have been raised, as larger validators may continuously upgrade hardware, potentially sidelining smaller validators. The upcoming Alpenglow upgrade aims to bring substantial changes to Solana’s core protocol, significantly reducing block time and enhancing network capability.

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