Solana switched on its Alpenglow upgrade on Wednesday, which aims to make transactions final in about 150 milliseconds under normal conditions, down from several seconds. Instead of recording validator votes as blockchain transactions, validators now send votes directly to each other and combine them into certificates, so a block can become final after one or two voting rounds. This could let apps such as exchanges credit deposits sooner or let shops confirm payments faster, though Anza noted that some computers receive finality information later and that 150 milliseconds is a target, not a guarantee. Wallets, fees and applications stay the same, but network dashboards may show lower transaction totals because validator votes no longer appear as transactions.
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Related tickers and likely impact
SOL/USDT
▲ Likely positiveSolana
Relevance: medium
| Market | Crypto |
|---|---|
| Exchange | Binance |
| Sector | Layer 1 |
| Market cap | $61.0B |
| Close on 10/21/2026 | 106.97 |
| Change that session | +0.40% |
Impact is scored by AI from the headline and may be wrong. It is not investment advice.
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