2025-01-22
The issue coincided with the launch of
memecoins by former U.S. President Donald Trump and his wife Melania, which
caused a surge in activity on the Solana blockchain.
The delays began on Jan. 18, following
the launch of the "Official Trump" (TRUMP) token, and were
exacerbated on Jan. 19 with the introduction of the "Official
Melania" (MELANIA) token.
Both tokens were launched on the Solana
network ahead of Trump’s presidential inauguration on Jan. 20.
The memecoin launches brought
unprecedented traffic to the blockchain, reportedly adding over 200,000 new
on-chain users, according to Moonshot, the platform hosting the token sales.
Coinbase Addresses Delays
Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong
acknowledged the delays in a Jan. 19 statement, explaining that the exchange
had not anticipated the surge in activity.
"Lots of Solana activity the last
few days; we were not anticipating this level of surge," Armstrong wrote
on the X platform.
He assured users that Coinbase’s
infrastructure team was working to scale its Solana-related systems to address
the issue.
The exchange clarified that the delays
were linked to its own infrastructure, not the Solana blockchain itself.
Mert Mumtaz, CEO of Solana
infrastructure provider Helius, echoed this sentiment, stating that the delays
were unrelated to Solana’s network, which has maintained 100% uptime over the
past 90 days.
Users Report Frustration
Despite Coinbase’s reassurances, users
expressed frustration over extended transaction times, with some reporting
delays of up to 15 hours.
On Jan. 20, Coinbase estimated
processing times of 100 minutes for USDC transactions on Solana. However, some
users experienced much longer wait times.
Coinbase confirmed that while Solana
send-and-receive functions were affected, other services such as buying,
selling, and fiat withdrawals were operating normally.
Surge in Crypto Activity
The memecoin launches have highlighted the growing popularity of cryptocurrency trading and the challenges of scaling infrastructure to meet demand.
Searches for crypto-related terms,
including "buy Solana," spiked to peak levels on Google Trends. The
Solana blockchain, despite the increased load, remained stable, with no
reported outages.
Coinbase continues to address the
delays, with its team actively working to resolve the infrastructure issues. As
the frenzy surrounding the memecoin launches subsides, the exchange aims to
restore normal transaction times for its users.
