Solana Smashes Transaction Records with 66% Capacity Boost

Solana's network processed a record 169.9 million transactions in a single day on August 4, according to data from Blockworks. This milestone surpasses the previous high set in early February and represents a 55% increase since April lows. The achievement is attributed to a recent network upgrade called SIMD-0286, which increased the maximum compute limit in a block from 60 million to 100 million compute units, a 66% capacity increase.

The upgrade, written by Jito Labs engineer Lucas Bruder, was necessary due to high demand and volatile periods, during which traders needed their orders to land quickly. The previous 60 million cap was being tested under real traffic conditions, with 11.2% of blocks hitting 56 million compute units or higher.

Notably, the new flow on Solana's network consists mainly of trading machinery, including market makers running proprietary AMMs that update their quotes constantly. This type of traffic expands to fill available blockspace and helps maintain tight spreads for other users. The payments side also saw an increase with Western Union's Stablecard going live on August 4 on Solana rails through Rain, covering 37 markets and using the USDPT stablecoin.