Solana unveils key upgrade to tackle congestion; What’s next for SOL?

The Solana (SOL) blockchain has faced criticism over sustained network congestion that resulted in widespread transaction failures. While Solana has a history of network outages, the surge in popularity of meme coins on the platform has complicated the situation, leading to frustration among users.

The delays and dropped transactions during periods of high network congestion have significantly impacted user experience, prompting some industry players to question Solana’s ability to compete with established entities like Ethereum (ETH).

Despite these challenges, the Solana team has moved to implement necessary upgrades to address the issues. In this regard, Anza, a Solana-focused devshop, announced on April 12 the release of a fix dubbed Testnet v1.18.11 for the devnet and recommended its implementation on the testnet as well.

This solution aims to resolve the congestion issues faced by the chain and is expected to mitigate the problem once deployed on the mainnet.

Impact on SOL’s price 

The possible deployment of the upgrade on the mainnet could potentially bolster the price of SOL, considering that outages can undermine confidence in a blockchain, resulting in diminished demand. 

It’s worth noting that the recent congestion has not significantly impacted the price of Solana, as the token has largely traded in correlation with the overall bullish sentiment in the market. 

Besides the bullish environment, SOL has benefited from the launch of meme coins on the platform, increased activity on decentralized exchanges (DEX), and the demand for its Saga smartphone.

Despite the congestion issues, SOL has managed to sustain its momentum, with attempts to reach a new record high after briefly surpassing $200 at some point and rising over 450% in the past year.

Solana’s AI price prediction

Currently, Solana has predominantly turned bearish, which is in line with the overall market sentiment. To gain insights into SOL’s future price outlook, Finbold consulted the CoinCodex platform, which utilizes machine learning algorithms.

According to the tool, SOL still has bullish sentiments and will likely reclaim key resistance levels in the coming days. For instance, the tool projects that SOL will trade at $150.98 on April 18. 

Looking at the monthly projection, the tool anticipates SOL to trade at $171.28 on May 13, representing a 20% increase from the current valuation.

Solana SI price prediction. Source: CoinCodex

SOL price analysis

By press time, SOL was trading at $142, having declined by over 12% in the last 24 hours and nearly 20% on a weekly basis.

Solana seven-day price chart. Source: Finbold

Apart from the network upgrade, the impact on SOL’s price will hinge on various factors, such as market sentiment and broader cryptocurrency trends.