Solana Co-founder Backs Transaction Fee Overhaul Amid Builder Opposition
Co-founder Anatoly Yakovenko has backed SGP-0003, a proposal to change how Solana charges for transactions. The app builders who actually ship products on Solana have expressed opposition, calling it 'yolo economics' due to unpredictable cost escalation.
The proposed fee structure would introduce a fixed inclusion fee of 2,500 lamports for block leaders alongside a variable resource fee tied to compute units. This fee starts at 1 lamport per 10 CUs but could climb as high as 1 lamport per 2 CUs depending on future evaluations.
Yakovenko's pitch centers around keeping SOL burn rates roughly in line with current levels, reducing supply pressure on SOL over time by burning a portion of the restructured fees. BlueShift, Firedancer Development, and Hylo have signaled support for SGP-0003, but critics are concerned about imposing a new fee regime now could discourage experimentation.
SGP-0003 is part of Solana's first foray into on-chain governance, replacing the traditionally off-chain decision-making process that has guided the network since its inception. Voting opened on August 23, and the proposal needs at least one-third of validators to participate for it to reach quorum.