Solana Alpenglow Targets 40x Speed—What Could Change?

TLDR Solana Alpenglow targets transaction finality of 150 milliseconds, compared with roughly six seconds under the current voting system. The upgrade moves validator voting off-chain, potentially reducing reported transaction counts without reducing actual user activity. Validators could save approximately 60% on voting costs through a new 0.8 SOL admission fee. Developers completed a successful test migration after six network restarts and an earlier failed attempt. The mainnet transition targets October 21 at slot 459,653,000, following a 5,000-slot transition period. Solana Alpenglow approaches its planned launch on Wednesday, October 21, with changes to the blockchain’s voting system.