Probably not. I understand the concern, but another issue is sending people to smaller instances which may end up disappearing. It's all run by small groups of volunteers or even by individuals, at least on the bigger servers you have, at least in theory, a lower chance of the instance vanishing (with your account).

I don't know if there are any plans to cooperate between instances for tech support/funding or if accounts can be transfered one day. Until then - a slow lemmy.world feels like the lesser evil.

I think strategic, times windows where sign ups are paused, in order to help distribute users, might be necessary. I don't think that's optimal for user experience, but I feel like if volume of sign ups stays where it is, that it's probably needed.

If there is a performance overload isn't that a natural block to more users?

yes, limiting users is one tool to encourage users to find another "home" instance that they normally use to browse and post so that the system as a whole can scale better