Solana Activates SIMD-0286, Doubling Block Compute Capacity
Solana's mainnet has activated SIMD-0286, boosting its block compute limit by 66% to 100 million Compute Units (CUs). This upgrade aims to address the network's capacity strain, particularly during sudden demand spikes. The increased limit allows for more parallel transactions without sacrificing the target 400ms block times.
The update does not change per-account limits or data size thresholds, instead focusing on total block compute capacity. Solana's mainnet has seen 11.2% of blocks nearing maximum usage during high-demand periods over the past year, prompting this capacity expansion.
With over 70% of validators adopting eXpress Data Path (XDP) / kernelless networking protocols, the network can safely process and replay larger blocks without compromising performance.