The Solana (SOL) network was able to undergo a change in processing power with the presentation of two variants, SIMD-0207 and SIMD-0256. Both initiatives were facilitated by the Solana Foundation, the agency responsible for developing and promoting its network. Improves efficiency and reduces chain congestionrepetitive challenges at moments of high demand.
These proposals, according to the repository: Increases per block computing limitas reported by Cryptonoticia, allows Solana to handle more transactions or more complex programs without compromising performance or causing network disruptions.
At the time of this wording, both improvements are in the development and discussion stages in the Solana community. To be implemented, it must pass and be approved in the future through a voting process between validators.
What is SIMD? What are you looking for for these suggestions?
At Solana, SIMD (Solana Improvement Documents) is a formal document describing proposals for improving protocols, covering everything from technical adjustments to changes in governance or network economy.
In this case, SIMD-0207 and SIMD-0256 are two variants of the same idea. Increase the maximum number of computer units (for CU, English acronyms) can be included in blocks. This is a measure that adjusts the amount of throughput that each block can perform. This measurement CU is similar to the Ethereum Ecosystem (ETH), known as the GWEI, which measures the cost of gas to carry out an intelligent transaction or contract.
The purpose of these proposals in Solana is that Solana can be achieved by increasing the number of computing units per block. Process more transactions or run more complex programs in one blockreduces latency at moments of high activity, such as during tokens, and reduces crowding, such as using peaks in distributed finance applications (DEFIs).
This is particularly useful in the context of Solana facing busy issues in the past, as happened in February 2024, and there are five other five falls in the system between 2022 and 2023.
he The CUR CU limit per block is 48 million loss The limitations defined in both suggestions can be seen in the following image and extracted from the repository that describes them.
Dune analysis site data supports current limitations of the Solana network. It runs at an average of 48 million CUs per block. This is a limitation that both proposals attempt to overcome.
The essential difference between the two SIMDs lies in the magnitude of the increase. As explained by Ben Hawkins, head of Solana Foundation’s staking ecosystem on X on March 6, 2025, on X, “improvements in SIMD-0207 have occurred, bringing the CU limit to 50 million, and SIMD-0256 will increase to 60 million,” Hawkins added, “It’s time to increase the limits to make it possible for the network to take advantage of these performance improvements.”
This improvement could affect decentralization of Solana
The suggestions in this article explain that Solana could make a more efficient network, but they could also advertise it. More centralized chains.
Increased CU limits can be costly. Increased usage of computational resources per block Increases hardware demand for validatorswhich can make participation of smaller validators difficult, and ultimately, can facilitate the centralization of power for smaller amounts of variators.
