What happened?
Jump Trading’s Firedancer team proposed SIMD-0370 to remove Solana’s fixed compute unit block limits so validators can scale transaction capacity based on their hardware. The idea builds on the recent Alpenglow upgrade’s skip-vote mechanisms that already bypass slow-to-execute blocks. The proposal is sparking debate because it could improve throughput but raises technical and centralization concerns and needs more testing.
Who does this affect?
Big validators and infrastructure providers would benefit most, since better hardware and optimized clients could process larger blocks and capture more fees. Smaller validators and solo operators could be squeezed out or forced to upgrade, and newcomers might face harder sync and participation hurdles. Dapps, users, and institutional players would feel the effects through changes in latency, fees, and overall network reliability.
Why does this matter?
Market-wise, removing fixed limits could kick off a hardware arms race that increases throughput and fee revenue for top validators, shifting who earns what on the network. If it works, Solana could lock in its high-performance narrative and attract more institutional demand—especially with potential ETF approvals on the horizon—which could lift SOL prices. But if centralization or implementation failures hit stability or confidence, the opposite could happen and damage token demand and market sentiment.