Hardhat Chad, the pseudonymous creator of the Ore project, has suggested that the Solana Foundation offer a reward if it intends to incentivize testnet activity.

This suggestion comes after the Solana network faced congestion issues for nearly a week with a transaction failure rate as high as 75%.

In a post on the X social platform, Hardhat Chad said that if Solana blockchain platform wishes to encourage users to participate in testnet activities, such as testing new features or protocols, the Solana Foundation should provide an incentive in the form of SOL (SOL) tokens.

This incentive could motivate users to actively engage in testing, which can improve the platform’s performance and identify potential issues before deployment to the mainnet.

The community’s response to Hardhat Chad’s suggestion was divided. Some supported it, while others disagreed. One user, TheSoftwareJedi, disagreed, advising Chad to focus on building his project first and demonstrating goodwill to the foundation.

The user proposed that Hardhat Chad could apply for funding via a grant from the foundation but stressed the significance of preserving autonomy from foundation incentives.

However, Hardhat Chad clarified that he isn’t looking for funds from the foundation. His goal for Ore is to establish a currency, not develop testnet tools. He’s reassessing incentives to combat spam, questioning the need to prioritize building testnet spam bots.

This proposal comes after Hardhat Chad announced via social media that the immediate cessation of mining operations was essential for the well-being of the Solana network and Ore’s stakeholders. Hardhat Chad emphasized the need for an overhauled smart contract framework amid recent network difficulties.

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This strategic move also aligns with the project’s roadmap for developing Ore’s second version (v2), emphasizing a commitment to long-term sustainability.

Ore, a blockchain-based project launched on Solana, is exploring the proper distribution method by using 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 contributed significantly to Solana’s network congestion, impacting transaction scheduling and leading to a high rate of failed transactions, especially from the memecoin frenzy on the network.

However, Solana developers have released a mainnet beta update, v1.17.31, to address the ongoing network congestion on the Solana blockchain.

This patch contains enhancements that will help with some of the ongoing network congestion, and further improvements will follow in v1.18.

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