Solana activated Firedancer on its mainnet this week, triggering a 5% rally that pushed SOL toward $140. The validator client, developed by Jump Crypto, completed more than 100 days of controlled testing.

What Happened: Client Launch

Firedancer transitioned from testing into active validation on the live network. The client uses C and C++ to handle heavy transaction loads and reduce network downtime risks.

Test environments reportedly processed over 1 million transactions per second. That figure reflects controlled conditions, not live traffic.

Solana co-founder Anatoly Yakovenko called the launch an exit from the network's extended beta period.

Adoption remains limited—Firedancer nodes control less than 1% of total staked SOL—but more than 20% of validators switched from earlier experimental clients in December.

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Why It Matters: Infrastructure Upgrade

Validators and developers stand to benefit if Firedancer maintains its performance benchmarks, with higher throughput opening capacity for transaction-heavy applications.

Solana ETFs recorded $11 million in inflows the day of the announcement, while Bitcoin saw $77.30 million in outflows and Ethereum lost $42.35 million.

Client diversity adds a safety mechanism for node operators. Real-world loads will test whether the system delivers.

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