New Solana proposal aims to fix scalability issues with ‘lattice’ system

Solana developers have proposed introducing a new hashing system that changes how the Solana network verifies and traces user accounts — in a bid to fix scalability issues stemming from a mass of users on the network. 

In a Jan. 6 proposal, titled SIMD-215, developers introduced a “lattice-based homomorphic hashing function” which alters the way the blockchain tracks user accounts. 

“The main goal is to scale Solana to billions of accounts, and compute a ‘hash of all accounts’ in practical time and space,” the proposal reads.

Currently, the Solana network needs to recalculate the “state” of all accounts on a regular basis, which means that as the number of users increases, the process of recalculating the state becomes more arduous over time. 

Solana Labs co-founder Anatoly Yakovenko discussed this issue — dubbed the “state growth problem” — in a May 11 post to X last year.

“The problem comes down to this simple thing, new account creation has to actually create new accounts. Which means that a new account has to prove that it is new somehow,” wrote Yakovenko.

“This is trivial to do if the runtime has a full global index of all the accounts. But that kind of way of proving that the account is new is expensive, every node has to have a full index of all the accounts in the runtime.”

According to the proposal, The Accounts Lattice Hash upgrade eliminates the need to recalculate all states by introducing instant verification.

Additionally, the “homomorphic hashing” element of the proposal would technically allow the Solana network to update its state verification by only processing changed accounts. 

In a Jan. 7 post to X, crypto research firm Republik Labs described the intended outcome of the proposal in simple terms. 

“Think of it like cleaning a house. Instead of scrubbing every single room every day, you only tidy up the spaces that got messy. This saves time and effort while keeping everything in order,” wrote Republik Labs. 

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If the proposal is implemented, it could significantly improve the speed and efficiency of the Solana network. 

Solana currently stands at the center stage for DeFi and on-chain activity in the crypto space, generating 43% more volume than the Ethereum network across its various decentralized exchanges (DEXs) in the last month. 

The Solana network has seen over $113 billion in trading volume across its DEXs. In comparison, the Ethereum mainnet has seen $78.9 billion, according to DefiLlama data — highlighting continued growth on Solana relative to its main competitors. 

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