Anza Ramps Up Frankendancer, Agave Testing - One Step Closer to Firedancer?

Jump Crypto’s Firedancer validator client might launch sooner than you think.

Published: Jan 9, 2025 at 12:18

The countdown to Firedancer’s eagerly awaited launch draws closer, with Solana network participants laying critical groundwork to support the upcoming client.

Anza, a leading research and development firm spun off from Solana Labs, is encouraging testnet validators to switch to Frankendancer, a prototype client, later in January, after finishing routine testing on Agave v2.1.7.

What does widespread Frankendancer testnet adoption mean for Firedancer development and how else is Solana prioritizing speed in 2025?

Anza Unveils Updated Testnet Schedule

On January 8, an official Solana Developer Discord announcement requested testnet node operators adopt the latest version of Frankendancer, a hybrid validator client. Frankendancer combines aspects of existing solutions and Jump Crypto’s upcoming Firedancer client in preparation for the latter’s launch.

However, before the switch could be completed in earnest, Anza opted to delay the collective push toward a Frankendancer supermajority while validator operators finished routine testing on its own client, Agave 2.1.7.

client testing schedule

The push towards a Frankendancer supermajority has been rescheduled to the week of January 20. Anza has indicated that all announcements will be clearly communicated via the Solana Developer Discord server.

What Does this Mean for Firedancer?

Effective testing of the Frankendancer client is essential to Firedancer’s development and eventual deployment. Test operators are aiming for a supermajority, 2/3s of a blockchain’s validators, to run the client, suggesting developers are confident that Frankendancer can perform at scale.

This rigorous testing schedule will help uncover potential flaws and edge cases that could threaten the wider network within the safety of a low-stakes testnet. Successful Frankendancer testing lays crucial groundwork for continued Firedancer development, bringing Jump Crypto’s revolutionary client one step closer to mainnet deployment.

Firedancer’s roadmap and release schedule are left intentionally vague, but the new validator client is expected to launch on the Solana mainnet sometime in 2025.

Firedancer Spearheads Solana’s 2025 Speed Obsession

Jump Crypto’s Firedancer is arguably the biggest update coming to Solana this year. Beyond bolster Solana’s decentralization and security, Firedancer is projected to catapult Solana’s transaction throughput to 1M TPS (Transactions Per Second), making crypto’s most performant blockchain even faster.

But Firedancer isn’t the only new paradigm scaling Solana in 2025. Former Solana Foundation Head of Strategy Austin Federa recently set out to enhance the internet’s underlying infrastructure with his own project, DoubleZero.

Meanwhile, ongoing development work on zk-compression continues to reduce unnecessary network bloat and ease congestion, pushing Solana’s performance ceiling to new heights.