Solana’s Ore Triumphs $50,000 Hackathon Despite Being the Congestion Culprit

On May 6, Ore was named Grand Champion at the Solana Renaissance Hackathon, co-organized by Solana and Colosseum, winning a significant $50,000 prize. The project’s goal is to incorporate a unique proof-of-work algorithm into the Solana blockchain, which is aligned with the hackathon’s aim to introduce innovative projects to the ecosystem.

However, Ore’s victory attracted attention due to its mining system, which led to significant network bottlenecks within the Solana ecosystem in April 2024.

Ore’s Impact and Controversy within the Solana Ecosystem

Ore, envisioned by its pseudonymous creator, Hardhat Chad, offers a more egalitarian mining approach than Bitcoin’s competitive reward system. Such a system allows multiple miners to earn rewards.

This approach, dubbed “Bitcoin on Solana,” initially generated excitement but didn’t last long. The surge in Ore mining contributed to the congestion issue, which saw approximately 75% of transactions on the Solana network fail in April. The high volume of mining transactions generated by Ore’s novel mechanism causes delays and failures in transaction processing.

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This led to a temporary halt in Ore’s mining activities. It also prompted a crucial network upgrade by Solana developers to alleviate the congestion.

The April issues were a pivotal learning moment for Solana and Ore. Solana’s team hastened a network upgrade to prevent future disruptions.

They scheduled a significant update, version v1.18, for release on May 27 for its mainnet beta. This update aims at addressing ongoing congestion issues and strengthening the network’s infrastructure.

Meanwhile, Chad acknowledged the need for further development and testing before mining can resume.

“When these issues have been addressed and we have rebuilt the open-source client software for users, mining will resume. I expect this process to take a few weeks as we implement, test, and audit the changes. Ore will return. Until then, we’ll yearn for the mines,” Chad promised.

Read more: What Is Solana (SOL)?

In addition to Ore, the hackathon celebrated winners across various tracks. This includes Consumer Apps, Crypto Infrastructure, Gaming, DeFi & Payments, DePIN, DAOs, & Communities, and awarded special recognitions through the University Award, Public Goods Award, and Climate Award.