Solana Faces Congestion Amid Trump Memecoin Frenzy

Over the weekend, Solana's blockchain faced heavy congestion as demand surged, fueled by the popularity of memecoins inspired by Donald and Melania Trump.
The sudden spike overwhelmed the network, causing transaction delays and failures across platforms like Phantom and Jito, as well as centralized exchanges like Coinbase and Binance.
Phantom, a leading Solana wallet, struggled to handle over 8 million requests per minute, leading to disruptions despite processing $1.25 billion in trading volume and 10 million transactions in a single day. Jito also experienced severe performance issues, with its Block Engine API impacted by the unprecedented load. Coinbase and Binance reported similar difficulties, with Coinbase scrambling to scale its Solana infrastructure and Binance halting some USDC withdrawals.
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Mert Mumtaz, CEO of Helius Labs, attributed the issues to a combination of technical challenges, including volatile memecoin prices, inefficient block usage, fee inconsistencies, and software limitations. While Solana managed to keep block production active, the event underscored the need for improvements in scalability and network resilience.
Mumtaz described the congestion as a valuable stress test, highlighting that such events push developers to address vulnerabilities and better prepare for future surges in demand.