Solana Expands Transaction Capacity by 3x Amid Record Network Activity

Solana (SOL) has expanded the data capacity per transaction by more than three times, increasing it to 4096 bytes, and shortened block creation intervals as part of a performance upgrade amid record network activity. The blockchain introduced its new transaction format V1 on September 15, allowing complex operations like privacy features, multi-signatures, and large account data to be processed in a single transaction without splitting into multiple transactions.

Developers can now include up to 64 accounts directly within a single transaction, along with computational resource requirements and fee-related information. Solana clarified that the V1 update does not automatically make transactions faster or cheaper but simplifies development for complex applications by enabling more work per transaction.

The network is also reducing its mainnet slot interval from 400ms to 250ms, effective September 18. This change will allow Solana to generate approximately four slots per second if successful. However, the network's throughput does not scale linearly with shorter intervals, as validators must verify and propagate more work within tighter timeframes.

Network activity has grown significantly: non-voting transactions reached 5.2 billion in August, up 19% from July’s 4.2 billion. Weekly revenue for Solana-based applications hit $40.8 million, the highest since January, while DEX volume totaled around $16.59 billion. Stablecoin interactions also rose to 888,000 daily active addresses in September—a 2.7x increase from one year ago—and tokenized stock supply reached a record $684 million.