Solana Prepares for Financial Market Integration with ‘Firedancer’ Trial

• https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/11MkzvAcuGDPBCVX5GO3Pmo1j_UE42lstGkhj2DqWWXk/edit?gid=0#gid=0Solana is advancing Firedancer testing to increase transaction speed and improve network stability.

• The Solana Foundation uses incentives to encourage validators to adopt Frankendancer on the test network.

Solana is working to implement a Firedancer software upgrade to improve the speed and stability of the blockchain that sits at the heart of the network. Core developers plan to get a “super majority” of the hashrate on the test network with Frankendancer, an early version of Firedancer, by the end of the week.

This is the biggest test of Firedancer so far, proving how valuable it is for Solana’s architecture. First deployed in 2022 during network stress, Firedancer is expected to scale up the blockchain’s throughput to a million transactions per second. 

Frankendancer, which incorporates the features of Firedancer along with the Solana architecture, has not been easily adopted. Initially, the platforms faced many crashes and bugs, but the latter issues have been fixed, which makes the development process reliable.

Kollen House, a long-time platform validator, sees the current efforts to promote the project as a step in the right direction for Firedancer.  “The confidence to request 60% adoption on the testnet indicates maturity,” House stated.

Currently, 30% of testnet validators are using Frankendancer. The Solana Foundation has encouraged validators to switch to the new client through the delegation program. If validators do not update their systems, they may lose their delegated stakes.

Firedancer’s Potential Impact

Jump Crypto has created Firedancer, a trading firm that focuses on blockchain technology. Solana’s speed, several times that of current blockchain platforms, defines it as a serious participant in the competition to link the blockchain with the global financial system.

This is in light of Solana’s problems in 2022, including the network slowdown and some outage issues. Firedancer is intended to solve these problems while enhancing the network’s reliability and capacity. Even though the launch date of Frankendancer is still not set, its progress is important.

Solana’s network also retains the decentralization model, where it has hundreds of validators across the network. While this decentralization enhances security, upgrading the entire system is difficult. The Solana Foundation has also had a delegation program where they provide subsidies to the smaller validators who are also in a position to upgrade their systems in this manner.

Solana’s Market Challenges

Nonetheless, Solana grapples with market conditions even with the availability of technology. The cryptocurrency hit an all-time high of $263.83 on November 23, 2024, and investors believed that the price would soon break the $300 ceiling. However, SOL is currently trading at $191, registering a 24-hour 3% market decline.

Currently, the Solana token is in a bearish trend on the daily chart and is trading inside a falling wedge. Having failed to break through a critical resistance level, a decline to $190 or $188 is conceivable. But, the technical indicators indicate that a rebound at these levels may help avert a sharp selling pressure.

Source: Trading view

The MACD indicator shows that selling pressure is slowing down, which is in tandem with the possibility of a bullish bounce. However, if the price resumes selling pressure, a bearish crossover probability could trigger a bearish target below 190.

Other metrics reflect these challenges. Solana’s TVL has declined by 4.5%, and the monthly revenue has fallen to $12 million from $1.13 million in November. This decline is attributed to a 50% reduction in daily trading activities and enhanced competition from other blockchains.