The creator of the Ore project, known as Hardhat Chad, has put forward a suggestion to the Solana Foundation regarding incentivizing testnet activity. This proposal comes in response to the recent congestion issues faced by the Solana network, which resulted in a high transaction failure rate of up to 75%.
Hardhat Chad took to the X social platform to express his view that if the Solana blockchain platform wants to encourage users to actively participate in testnet activities, such as testing new features or protocols, the Solana Foundation should consider offering an incentive in the form of SOL tokens. By providing this incentive, users may be motivated to engage in testing, ultimately improving the platform’s performance and identifying any potential issues before deploying them to the mainnet.
The community’s reaction to Hardhat Chad’s suggestion was mixed, with some in support and others in disagreement. One user, TheSoftwareJedi, disagreed and advised Chad to focus on developing his project first and demonstrating goodwill to the foundation. The user proposed that Hardhat Chad could apply for funding through a grant from the foundation, emphasizing the importance of maintaining autonomy from foundation incentives.
Hardhat Chad clarified that his intention is not to seek funds from the foundation. Instead, his goal for Ore is to establish a currency rather than develop testnet tools. He is currently reassessing incentives to combat spam and questioning the necessity of prioritizing the creation of testnet spam bots.
This proposal follows Hardhat Chad’s recent announcement on social media regarding the immediate cessation of mining operations for the well-being of the Solana network and Ore’s stakeholders. He emphasized the need for an improved smart contract framework in light of the network difficulties experienced.
This strategic move aligns with Ore’s roadmap for developing its second version (v2) and demonstrates a commitment to long-term sustainability. Ore, a blockchain-based project launched on Solana, is exploring the most effective distribution method by utilizing a proof-of-work (PoW) token distribution mechanism. The project is experimenting with combining PoW’s security with Solana’s fast transaction capabilities.
Since its introduction, Ore’s activity has significantly contributed to Solana’s network congestion, impacting transaction scheduling and resulting in a high rate of failed transactions, particularly during the memecoin frenzy on the network.
However, Solana developers have released a mainnet beta update, v1.17.31, to address the ongoing network congestion issues on the Solana blockchain. This patch includes enhancements that will help alleviate some of the congestion, with further improvements planned for v1.18.