Why Fantom’s CEO is Betting on Solana, Despite Everything

Last Updated on April 8, 2024

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Fantom (Ftm) Logo Is Displayed on a Smartphone Screen. Source: Rafael Henrique - stock.adobe.com

Key Takeaways:

  • Andre Cronje of Fantom supports Solana, attributing its network congestion to rapid growth and high demand for block space, not to its fundamental design.
  • Solana faces challenges with transaction failures, notably from memecoin activities, and is working on long-term solutions for network congestion and technical difficulties.
  • Despite network outages and performance issues, Solana’s SOL token saw a significant increase in March, maintaining its position as a top cryptocurrency by market capitalization.

Fantom’s Andre Cronje recently voiced his support for the Solana network, highlighting the challenges it faces due to its success.

Cronje, a prominent figure in the decentralized finance sector, views the congestion on Solana not as a flaw but as a consequence of the platform’s rapid growth, which has escalated the demand for block space.

This perspective was shared in a post by Cronje on the social platform X, where he emphasized that the issues faced by Solana are technical rather than fundamental to its consensus mechanism.

Dune Analytics reported a significant spike in transaction failures on Solana, attributing about 75% of non-vote transaction failures on April 4 to the frenzy around memecoins.

Critics of the data argue it’s misinterpreted, highlighting the network’s growing pains rather than systemic issues.

The surge in transaction issues has sparked discussions among Solana’s user base, with many expressing dissatisfaction with the network’s performance on social media.

Nonetheless, there is a portion of the community that echoes Cronje’s sentiments, suggesting that the frustrations stem from a misunderstanding of the challenges that come with scaling a blockchain network.

Solana’s CEO, Anatoly Yakovenko, shared his struggles with addressing these congestion problems, noting the complexity of fixing bugs related to network congestion compared to those causing total network failures.

The latter can be swiftly identified and patched, whereas congestion issues require extensive testing and gradual updates, which slows down the response time.

Solana has experienced its fair share of technical difficulties, including a significant network outage in early February that disrupted block production for over five hours.

Since January 2022, the network has faced several outages, with about 15 days affected by complete or partial service interruptions.

Following the February incident, a software development company specializing in Solana released a detailed analysis, pinpointing the cause to a bug in the Just-in-Time (JIT) compilation cache, which is crucial for executing transactions.

The Solana Foundation’s strategy lead, Austin Federa, disclosed plans to overhaul the network’s loader system to prevent similar issues in the future.

In the financial realm, Solana’s SOL token witnessed a slight dip of 3% over the past week, following a notable 45% increase in March.

This recent fluctuation has adjusted its position in the market, as reported by CoinGecko, marking it as the fifth-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization.

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Victor Fawole, a seasoned Web3 content creator and social media influencer, excels in bringing the pulse of the crypto world to our readers.

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