SIMD 0228 Proposal Not Passed: Major Progress in Solana Governance?

Recently, an important decision affecting Solana ecosystem participants—the SIMD 0228 proposal—failed to pass. The voter turnout for this vote set a new record in Solana's history, nearing 50% of the total token supply, but the final percentage of supporting votes did not reach the required supermajority threshold of 66.67% for approval.

The background of this proposal is that Solana's trading volume has dropped from nearly $10 billion at the beginning of the year to less than $1 billion after experiencing the Memecoin frenzy, a decline of 90%, which is below the level at the initial stage of the Memecoin rise. As one of the most successful public chains in this bull market, Solana is facing challenges of transformation and repositioning.

The SIMD 0228 proposal aims to maintain a 50% staking rate by dynamically adjusting the inflation rate and to reduce the issuance speed of SOL in the long term. If approved, staking rewards will decrease in the short term, and the long-term inflation rate will approach 1.5%. This mandatory proposal has sparked intense discussions within the community, with various parties debating on social media until the voting concludes.

Supporters believe that the proposal can reduce unnecessary token issuance, lower inflation costs, release capital to promote the development of the DeFi ecosystem, and reduce the "leaky bucket effect." Opponents, however, are concerned that hasty implementation may affect network security and decentralization, and have a negative impact on institutional adoption.

Although the proposal was not approved, the widespread discussion and high participation it generated are seen as a reflection of Solana's decentralized governance capabilities. The entire process demonstrated the openness and efficiency of the community, providing valuable references for the governance of other public blockchains.

This proposal reflects the strategic choices faced by Solana after experiencing rapid growth, as well as the competition of interests among various parties within the ecosystem. In the future, Solana needs to seek a balance between promoting innovation and maintaining stability to achieve sustainable development.