Solana spikes 7% as Anza releases update to resolve congestion issues

Solana (SOL) has surged by 7% over the last 24 hours in an effort to recover from recent market downturns, coinciding with a new update release aimed at resolving the network’s congestion issues.

Solana experienced significant losses during the recent market-wide downturn, which also saw Bitcoin (BTC) fall to $61,514. Alongside the broader market, SOL plummeted to a six-week low of $116 on April 13, marking a three-day losing streak.

Despite rebounding from the $116 support level, Solana saw a decline of over 21% from April 11 to 13, marking one of its most significant three-day losses this year.

However, following this steep downturn, the cryptocurrency embarked on a recovery effort, capitalizing on Bitcoin’s rebound to regain the support levels it had lost. 

Solana has maintained its upward trajectory, aiming to recover and hold the Fibonacci 0.5 level at $159.91. Surpassing this mark and reclaiming $170.35 could strengthen SOL’s position to target the April 5 peak of $185.21, which aligns with Fib. 0.786.

Currently trading at $154.60, the altcoin is poised to encounter a significant challenge at the 50-day EMA of $160.67. A breakthrough above this indicator would signal a shift in short-term momentum from bearish to bullish.

Solana looks to resolve congestion issues

As Solana continues its recovery journey, efforts are underway to resolve its unique congestion challenges. The surge in meme coin trading and increased adoption have led to heightened network activity, resulting in congestion and sporadic transaction failures.

Last week, Anza, a cohort of Solana developers, rolled out a network upgrade, version 1.18.11, on the devnet, urging validators to evaluate its reliability on the testnet. This marked one of the initial steps taken to tackle the congestion issues.

Most recently, Anza announced the deployment of version 1.17.31 on the mainnet, highlighting its availability for public use. They affirmed that the update includes improvements designed to tackle the existing congestion issues until the official release of version 1.18 on the mainnet.

It’s worth noting that despite the ongoing congestion challenges, Solana has effectively mitigated any significant downtime. The network experienced its only major outage of the year on Feb. 6, lasting for over four hours.