Solana's growth spurt thanks to meme coins has exposed a critical question: how to scale the network without sacrificing affordability? While tweaks to transaction scheduling are on the way, a bigger solution is likely needed - increasing block sizes.

Solana's secret weapon is supposed to be its hardware-based scaling. Imagine a car that gets faster as the engine gets better. That's the idea - validators with stronger hardware boost transaction capacity. But it only works if the gas tank is big enough! Right now, Solana's block sizes are limiting how much data they can process.

Solana co-founder Yakovenko is a vocal supporter of bigger blocks, but it's unclear when or if that will happen. For now, they're focusing on shorter-term solutions like priority fee adjustments in the upcoming 1.8 update (expected in April).

While Solana releases updates more frequently than Ethereum, a permanent fix won't come overnight. Patience is key, according to Yakovenko.