Solana validators face a dilemma between efficiency and profitability

Recently, an intriguing phenomenon has emerged in the Solana network: the median block time has significantly increased, and the network's transaction processing speed has slowed down. This trend is attributed to some validators adopting a new strategy of delaying block generation to gain more rewards.

In the Solana network, each block is created and broadcasted by a validator. Validators earn fees by processing transactions, so they may be inclined to wait longer to collect more transactions, thereby maximizing their profits. This behavior leads to an increase in the cycle length of Solana, countering its goal of pursuing high-speed transactions.

The network provides a "grace period tick" mechanism, allowing validators to submit blocks with a certain delay. This was originally intended to accommodate remote validators, but has also been exploited by some validators to deliberately delay block submissions. A recently released alternative client even introduced a revenue-maximizing scheduler, making this strategy more common on Solana.

Data shows that the median block time of some large validators has exceeded 570 milliseconds, far higher than Solana's nominal block time of 400 milliseconds. This behavior has sparked strong opposition from the community, and some major staking pool providers are considering blacklisting slow validators or discussing relevant punitive measures through governance proposals.

At the same time, protocol-level solutions are also being advanced. There are proposals suggesting to shorten the grace period for tickers, and Solana's consensus mechanism reform Alpenglow is also expected to address this issue by introducing a skip voting feature.

This phenomenon highlights the challenge of balancing efficiency and profitability in blockchain networks. While delaying block generation may yield more profits, it can also impair network performance and user experience. In the future, the Solana community needs to work together on both technical and governance levels to find the best solution that balances efficiency and profitability.