CryptoSlate
Solana is considering retiring durable nonces in favor of onchain signer programs that preserve offline cold-key approval after a transaction fails. The Foundation's October plan has no removal date and keeps the roughly six-month migration window conditional on an audited, mainnet-ready replacement. Anza's Programmatic Signer and Blueshift's Vector remain the competing designs.
Why it matters
Durable nonces solve a timing problem by letting an offline signer approve a transaction that can be broadcast later, instead of relying on a recent blockhash that expires quickly. The proposed architecture changes where authority sits. A program-derived address, or PDA, would control the affected accounts, while the original cold key would still authorize actions and an online relayer would submit them and pay the network fee.
That is a custody redesign, not a simple software upgrade. Exchanges, custodians and treasury operators would need to move SOL, token balances and selected authorities into accounts controlled by the signer program. Staker, withdraw, mint and freeze permissions can require separate handoffs. Applications must also accept approved actions arriving through cross-program invocation rather than as direct top-level instructions.
Market impact
The change is primarily an infrastructure and operational risk for institutional Solana users. A valid cold signature would not automatically make an application compatible with the new path. Protocols that reject PDA actions, inspect only top-level instructions or restrict CPI could require separate integration work, while Token-2022 controls add account-level compatibility questions.
The two candidates impose different execution constraints. Programmatic Signer binds the executor, nonce account and embedded execution message, while allowing a relayer to add surrounding instructions. Vector commits the full top-level instruction buffer, so surrounding instructions must be approved before signing. Both designs can preserve an approval after failed execution, but operators may need signed deadlines or separate nonce advances to limit replay risk. The migration remains contingent on audits, usable tooling and a production deployment.
Frequently asked questions
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What would replace durable nonces on Solana?
The proposal would use onchain signer programs to verify offline signatures and execute approved instructions through program-derived addresses. Anza's Programmatic Signer and Blueshift's Vector are the named candidates.
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Would cold keys still approve Solana transactions?
Yes. The cold key would continue authorizing actions, while an online relayer submits the transaction and pays the network fee. The main change is that a signer program and PDA would sit between approval and execution.
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What would institutions need to migrate?
Operators may need to move SOL, token balances and separate authorities such as staker, withdraw, mint or freeze permissions into accounts controlled by the signer program. Approving new signing software alone would not complete the migration.
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How could the proposal affect Solana applications?
Applications would need to accept approved actions arriving through cross-program invocation and recognize PDA-based authority. Protocols that require direct top-level instructions or reject CPI could need separate integration work.
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Can a failed execution still be retried under the new designs?
Yes. Both proposed architectures can leave a cold approval executable after a failed attempt when nonce changes roll back. Signed deadlines or separately authorized nonce advances can help limit replay or delayed execution risk.
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