Solana Appchains and Rollups: Exploring the Demand for Modular Scaling

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Solana has emerged as one of the most high-performing blockchains, processing up to 65,000 transactions per second in ideal conditions and consistently handling more throughput than all EVM chains combined. Yet, as its popularity grows, so do the challenges—especially around congestion, rising costs, and user experience. These pain points have sparked a pivotal debate: Should Solana remain a monolithic blockchain, or should it evolve into a modular ecosystem powered by appchains and Layer-2 rollups?

This article explores the growing demand for horizontal scaling solutions on Solana—from application-specific chains to SVM-based rollups—by analyzing real-world use cases, infrastructure developments, and economic incentives driving this shift.

The Congestion Challenge on Solana

Despite its impressive speed, Solana has faced repeated network congestion events. From massive airdrops like JUP to memecoin trading frenzies and ORE mining surges, spikes in activity have led to:

While Solana still processes 1,000–2,000 TPS during peak times—surpassing most competitors—the user experience can deteriorate rapidly under load. For applications like DRiP, which distributes millions of NFTs weekly from top artists, this becomes a critical issue. They don’t benefit from composability but bear the full brunt of infrastructure costs—losing an estimated $20,000 weekly due to SOL price increases and congestion.

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This highlights a key insight: not all applications need full composability. For many, predictable performance and cost control matter more than shared liquidity or cross-protocol interactions.

In response, Solana Foundation has recommended best practices such as:

Meanwhile, core teams like Anza are working on foundational upgrades:

Yet even with these vertical improvements, horizontal scaling through modular architectures is becoming increasingly necessary.

Making Solana Modular: The Road to Flexibility

Solana is transitioning toward a more modular design. Historically, its validator client and SVM (Solana Virtual Machine) were tightly coupled. But upcoming changes will decouple them—allowing SVM to run independently.

Joe C, an engineer at Anza, outlined plans to modularize SVM by separating transaction processing from consensus. This means developers can:

This shift enables two major paths forward: application-specific chains (appchains) and Layer-2 rollups (RollApps).

Solana Appchains: Purpose-Built Blockchains

Also known as SVM forks, Solana appchains are independent blockchains built using Solana’s codebase but tailored for specific applications. They offer dedicated resources, customizable logic, and immunity from mainnet congestion.

There are two broad types:

Real-World Examples

Pyth Network was the first true Solana appchain. Once consuming 10–20% of mainnet traffic for price updates, Pyth migrated to Pythnet, a proof-of-authority SVM chain. Why?

Now, it operates efficiently without competing for mainnet bandwidth.

Cube Exchange uses a sovereign SVM appchain for settlement while maintaining an off-chain order book—a hybrid CEX/DEX model that benefits from Solana’s speed without its congestion.

Other potential appchain use cases include:

Even modified SVM forks could emerge—similar to how Monad or Sei optimize EVM execution—paving the way for performance-tuned variants of Solana itself.

Interoperability: Connecting the Appchain Ecosystem

While launching an appchain may soon be simple, ensuring seamless communication between them is crucial. Inspired by:

Solana could develop native messaging protocols or middleware stacks—akin to Cosmos SDK—to streamline appchain creation with built-in oracle, RPC, and cross-chain messaging support.

Though appchains don’t directly accrue value to SOL (they don’t pay gas in SOL unless re-staking), they strengthen the SVM ecosystem effect—just as multiple EVM chains reinforce Ethereum’s developer dominance.

Solana Layer-2 Rollups: The Rise of RollApps

A Solana rollup is a logically independent chain that posts data to Solana’s data availability (DA) layer and inherits its security. When focused on a single app, it's often called a RollApp.

Unlike Ethereum’s top-down push for rollups, Solana’s movement is bottom-up, driven by real application needs—not just narrative trends.

Are Solana Rollups Like Ethereum’s?

Not quite. On Ethereum, rollups are part of a coordinated scaling roadmap. On Solana, demand comes from apps facing real bottlenecks—like DRiP or Zeta.

And no—compression isn’t the same as rollups, though it helps. True rollups batch and compress transactions off-chain, then settle proofs on L1 via fraud or validity mechanisms.

Live Rollup Projects on Solana

GetCode – A payments app using a pseudo-rollup structure:

MagicBlocks’ Ephemeral Rollups – Designed for Web3 gaming:

👉 See how next-gen rollups are redefining blockchain scalability.

Upcoming Rollup Innovations

Grass – A DePIN project collecting AI training data:

Zeta – A leading perp DEX on Solana:

Other initiatives include:

Frameworks like Sovereign SDK also allow developers to convert Rust logic into optimistic or ZK rollups deployable across chains—including Solana.

Why Are Apps Moving to RollApps or Appchains?

As applications grow beyond initial traction, they seek:

✅ Value capture: Retain more revenue instead of leaking it to shared infrastructure
✅ Dedicated blockspace: Avoid bidding wars during congestion
✅ Customization: Privacy (e.g., encrypted mempools), fee market experiments, MEV control
✅ Better UX: Faster execution, lower latency, seamless onboarding

However, not every app needs its own chain—especially early-stage projects. The overhead of managing liquidity, security, and user adoption remains significant.

For mature apps like Grass or Zeta, though, RollApps offer a compelling path forward—with user experience abstracted away. Most users won’t even know they’re interacting with a rollup.

Infrastructure Enablers: Building the Modular Future

The rise of appchains and RollApps will empower new infrastructure layers:

🔹 Rollup-as-a-Service (RaaS) providers like Caldera can expand into SVM
🔹 Sovereign SDK already supports Solana rollup deployment (pre-production)
🔹 Helius, Phantom, Backpack, and Solflare are well-positioned to support L2 tooling
🔹 Shared sequencers (e.g., Rome Protocol) could enable atomic arbitrage and reduce fragmentation
🔹 Light clients like Tinydancer will be essential for verification

And crucially: SOL re-staking may emerge as a mechanism for shared security—boosting economic alignment across the ecosystem. Projects like Cambrian, Picaso, and Solayer are already exploring this frontier.

👉 Learn how re-staking and modular security are shaping the future of blockchain.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Q: What’s the difference between a Solana appchain and a rollup?
A: An appchain is a standalone SVM-based blockchain forked from Solana’s codebase. A rollup executes off-chain but settles data on Solana for security. Appchains offer full control; rollups offer tighter integration.

Q: Do appchains harm Solana’s composability?
A: Not necessarily. With proper messaging layers (like IBC or Warp), interoperability can be preserved. Many appchains still interact with mainnet assets and users.

Q: Will rollups make SOL more valuable?
A: Indirectly. If rollups use SOL for fees or re-staking, they increase demand. Even if not, stronger SVM adoption boosts ecosystem credibility—and long-term token value.

Q: Can small projects launch their own rollup?
A: Not yet economically. Launching a rollup requires significant resources. Most will rely on RaaS platforms until tooling matures.

Q: Is Firedancer enough to solve Solana’s scaling issues?
A: Firedancer improves throughput but doesn’t eliminate congestion for specialized use cases. Horizontal scaling complements vertical gains.

Q: Are there risks of liquidity fragmentation?
A: Yes—this is a major concern. Without strong bridging and messaging standards, fragmented liquidity could weaken DeFi composability.

Final Thoughts: Can Solana Handle Global Scale?

Realistically? No single chain can. Even with hardware advances (Solana is optimized for Moore’s Law), global-scale demand requires distribution.

The future likely looks like this:

High-value, composable transactions stay on Solana mainnet.
High-volume, low-criticality actions (like NFT mints or microtransactions) move to appchains or rollups.

This isn’t a failure—it’s evolution. Just as cloud computing uses both centralized data centers and edge nodes, blockchain will balance monolithic strength with modular flexibility.

Solana was built for consumers—not enterprises alone—and its potential as a global settlement layer remains unmatched. With the right modular extensions, it could become the backbone of tomorrow’s decentralized economy.

Core Keywords: Solana appchain, Solana rollup, SVM modularization, Layer-2 scaling, RollApp, data availability, blockchain interoperability