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Solana’s biggest network change since 2020 is live. Here’s how users benefit
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- DeepHorus
Solana activated its Alpenglow upgrade on Wednesday, the network’s biggest change since 2020. The new voting system targets transaction finality in about 150 milliseconds under normal conditions, down from several seconds. Existing wallets, fees, and applications remain unchanged.
Previously, validators recorded votes as blockchain transactions and accumulated approvals across successive blocks. Alpenglow lets validators send votes directly to one another and combine approvals into certificates. A block can become final after one or two voting rounds.
The handover from the old system took about 900 milliseconds, according to the Solana Foundation. Votes from 446 of the network’s 654 participating validators certified the starting block. That timing measures the switch between systems.
For users, the change narrows the gap between confirmation and settlement. Many Solana apps already showed transactions as confirmed before the network finished locking them in. Alpenglow gives apps stronger assurance that payments will hold, helping exchanges credit deposits sooner and shops accept stablecoin payments without keeping customers waiting.
The 150-millisecond figure remains a target under normal conditions, not a guaranteed time for every payment. Anza, the company behind Solana’s Agave software, said some computers receive finality information later than validators voting directly. How quickly finality reaches a user’s screen also depends on the payment service.
Network dashboards may show another change. Validator votes no longer appear as blockchain transactions, so services that counted them will report lower totals. Charts could show a sharp drop even while users make just as many payments and trades.
The upgrade promises faster settlement for payments and trades, potentially shortening waits for deposits. Its practical benefits will depend on how quickly applications use the new finality signals. Observers may also need to separate user transactions from votes when comparing dashboard activity.
