Solana Unveils On-Chain Storage Cost-Cutting Solution 

The Layer-1 blockchain, Solana, has recently introduced a state compression solution that aims to dramatically cut down the expenses of on-chain storage. With this technology, the cost of creating 1 million non-fungible tokens (NFTs) on the network can be reduced to around $110.

Solana Foundation's tech lead, Jon Wong, announced in an April 6th blog post that compressed NFTs have now been launched on Solana's mainnet-beta, following several phases of development, adoption, and rollout. Wong further stated that compressed NFTs can power the next generation of innovative on-chain product experiences. These compressed NFTs come at a significantly lower cost as compared to their uncompressed counterparts, with the cost reduction ranging from 2,400 to 24,000 times for NFTs with identical structures.

Various teams within the Solana ecosystem are already utilizing state compression to drive seamless and user-friendly experiences on a large scale. Dialect, a blockchain-based messaging service, uses state compression for compressed NFTs to cover the minting cost of NFT stickers to thousands of users. To cover the minting expenses of NFT stickers for thousands of its users, Dialect, a messaging service based on blockchain technology, leverages state compression for compressed NFTs. Crossmint, a company specializing in NFT and API tooling, is employing state compression technology to build integrations that enable global firms to enhance customer loyalty on a deeper level.

Helium and Wordcel are also projects in the Solana ecosystem that have already incorporated state compression technology to serve various purposes, including NFT minting, business loyalty program integrations, and user experience enhancements.

State compression technology on Solana relies on Merkle trees, a data structure known for its ability to compress the verifiability of a tree of data into a hash or fingerprint of the current state of the tree, according to Solana's tech lead. Wong noted that this compression-friendly data structure enables developers to store small amounts of data on-chain and update it directly in the Solana ledger, significantly reducing data storage costs while still utilizing Solana's base layer's security and decentralization. The development of this technology is a collaborative effort between several entities, including Solana Labs and Metaplex, with support from Phantom and Solflare, powered by RPC node providers, as well as indexers Helius, Triton, and SimpleHash.

The state compression solution has been praised by users as a "game changer" and a means to make Solana a more viable option for enterprise use cases.