Solana Set for Major Overhaul After 98% Votes to Approve Historic 'Alpenglow' Upgrade

The Solana community voted overwhelmingly in favor of the long-awaited Alpenglow upgrade, bringing the network one step closer to the most significant technical transformation in its history. According to Solana Status on X on Monday, 98.27% of SOL stakers that voted approved the proposal, with only 1.05% voting against and 0.36% abstaining. In total, 52% of the network’s stakers participated in the vote. The upgrade introduces a new consensus protocol designed to dramatically improve transaction finality and network efficiency. At the heart of Alpenglow are two new components, Votor and Rotor, which will replace Solana’s existing systems, Proof-of-History and TowerBFT. Read more: What Is Block Finality? Currently, Proof-of-History timestamps transactions to preserve their order without slowing the network, while TowerBFT handles the voting process among validators. Alpenglow’s enhancements will overhaul both systems. Votor will slash transaction finality times from over 12 seconds to around 150 milliseconds, delivering near-instant confirmation for users. Rotor, scheduled for a later rollout, will minimize data transfers between validators, a crucial improvement for high-demand applications such as decentralized finance (DeFi) and blockchain-based gaming. With the approval secured, Solana now prepares to implement the upgrade, a milestone expected to unlock greater speed, resilience, and scalability across its ecosystem. Read more: Solana Targets Near-Instant Finality as Alpenglow Upgrade Heads to Vote