Layer-2 startup promises AI-powered scaling while major Solana apps line up for integration
As Solana struggles with its own success, a newcomer called Solaxy has caught the attention of
investors, raising $3.5 million in its presale round for what it claims will be the blockchain’s first
dedicated Layer-2 solution.
The project arrives at a crucial moment for Solana, which experienced four major network congestion
events in Q1 2025 alone. During the worst incident—a March 12 NFT mint—the network saw
transaction failure rates exceed 60% and fees spike to $0.42, a far cry from Solana’s usual sub-penny
costs.
“The numbers don’t lie,” says Daniel Chen, a former Solana Labs engineer who jumped ship to Solaxy
in February. “What Arbitrum did for Ethereum, we’re building for Solana.”
The Technology Play
Solaxy’s pitch centers on combining ZK-rollups with AI-powered transaction bundling. While standard
Layer-2 solutions simply batch transactions, Solaxy claims its system uses machine learning to
forecast network congestion 8-12 seconds before it happens, dynamically grouping between 200-700
transactions into single ZK-proofs.
The project has released technical documentation claiming dramatic improvements over Solana’s
mainnet:
-Peak transactions per second: 12,000+ (versus Solana’s 4,000)
-Failed transaction rate: Less than 0.5% (versus Solana’s 30-60% during congestion)
-Average fee: $0.0008 (versus Solana’s $0.015-$0.42)
-Finality time: 0.8 seconds (versus Solana’s 2-5 seconds)
During its closed testnet, Solaxy says its system maintained 99.8% transaction success rates even
when simulating four times Solana’s peak load.
Ecosystem Buy-In
What’s giving Solaxy credibility beyond its technical claims is the early support from established
Solana projects. Three major dApps—Jupiter, Drift, and Marinade—have announced plans to integrate
with the Layer-2 when it launches.
The platform promises both Solana Virtual Machine (SVM) and Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM)
compatibility, with no wrapped tokens or complex bridging required. A one-click migration tool
supposedly allows existing Solana projects to deploy on Solaxy in under five minutes.
Tokenomics and Timeline
Solaxy’s native $SOLX token incorporates several mechanisms designed to create what Clara Wong,
the project’s Head of Tokenomics, calls “aligned incentives between users and validators.”
Transaction fees are split with 50% burned, 30% distributed to stakers, and 20% allocated to the DAO.
The project guarantees a 12% APY for stakers during the first year and implements quadratic voting to
prevent whale domination in governance.
The roadmap calls for a public testnet launch on May 15 with mainnet release scheduled for July.
Exchange listings on Bybit, KuCoin, and Gate.io are reportedly confirmed, with validator expansion to
25 nodes planned for Q3 2025.
Challenges Ahead
Despite promising technology, Solaxy faces substantial hurdles:
There’s no public stress test data yet validating the machine learning claims
Initial versions will rely on just 7 whitelisted validator nodes, raising centralization concerns
Competitive pressure from Neon EVM’s head start could capture developer mindshare
SEC’s recent interest in Layer-2 tokens creates regulatory uncertainty
Mason Nystrom, Senior Research Analyst at Messari, sees potential but remains cautious: “Most
Layer-2s simply port existing technology, but Solaxy’s AI-driven sequencing represents a genuine
innovation in the rollup space. If they deliver on their technical promises, this could significantly
enhance Solana’s position against Ethereum.”
With Solana’s total value locked now exceeding $14 billion, the demand for scaling solutions has never
been higher—but the project will need to quickly transition from impressive technical claims to
demonstrable performance metrics to succeed in an increasingly competitive landscape.
Disclosure: Author holds no positions in SOL, SOLX or related assets. This article is not financial
advice.
