Anza CEO Brennan Watt wants a common rulebook for validator software as Agave and Firedancer operate independently, potentially reducing dangerous disagreements over blockchain rules.

Solana developers are considering a new protocol rulebook designed to make independently developed validator software more reliable and easier to maintain.

The proposal, published Oct. 30, comes from Brennan Watt, CEO of Anza, the blockchain engineering company behind Agave, one of the main software programs used to operate the Solana network.

Watt wants Solana to establish a single, authoritative specification defining how its blockchain processes transactions, validates blocks and reaches consensus, rather than relying on rules scattered across existing software and separate technical proposals.

The change could address a growing challenge as Solana expands beyond its original validator software to include independently developed alternatives such as Firedancer, built by trading firm Jump Crypto.

Validators are computers that verify transactions and help secure the blockchain. Although different developers can create the software running these computers, every implementation must follow the same underlying rules to maintain agreement across the network.

Disagreements over those rules could cause validators to process identical transactions differently, potentially creating conflicting views of the blockchain and threatening network reliability.

Watt argues that Solana's existing development process makes it unnecessarily difficult for independent teams to determine exactly how the network is supposed to behave.

Under the current system, protocol changes are proposed through Solana Improvement Documents, known as SIMDs. These documents describe individual upgrades, but the network's complete operating rules are not consolidated into one authoritative reference.

Source link