Solana's Alpenglow upgrade enters public testnet, targeting transaction finality reduced to 150 milliseconds
The Alpenglow upgrade for the Solana blockchain network has entered public testnet, with developers set to test reducing transaction finality from approximately 13 seconds to 0.15 seconds, or 150 milliseconds.
The upgrade will replace Solana's existing TowerBFT consensus system with Votor, allowing validators to confirm blocks through one or two rounds of direct voting, though the way users send funds will not change.
The initial testnet migration requires Agave 4.3, and Firedancer or Frankendancer are not yet supported. The September 28 mainnet update remains a tentative arrangement and is not a confirmed launch date for Alpenglow.
Solana's Alpenglow upgrade is only on public testnet, yet targets cutting finality from ~13s to ~150ms, improving network speed and L1 competitiveness; because mainnet timing is tentative, this shifts SOL performance and usage expectations rather than live fundamentals, so SOL short-term bullish (weak).