Solana schedules Alpenglow upgrade for October 21
#Solana has scheduled the Alpenglow upgrade for October 21, aiming to make transactions irreversible in about 150 milliseconds by overhauling how network validators reach consensus. Developed by #Anza , Alpenglow is designed to replace TowerBFT, Solana’s consensus mechanism since the network launched in March 2020. Validators must also prepare for the upgrade by running software based on Agave 4.3.0. Firedancer and Frankendancer clients will not support the initial migration, requiring their operators to temporarily switch to a compatible client.
With vote transactions removed, validators will no longer pay roughly 1 SOL per epoch in voting fees. Instead, they will pay a one-time admission fee of 0.8 SOL. The migration is scheduled for epoch 1064, expected to start around 15:00 UTC on October 21. Solana will retain its existing voting system for the first 5,000 slots before transitioning to Alpenglow approximately 18 minutes later.
👉 coindesk.com/tech/2026/10/14/solana-sets-oct-21-for-alpenglow-upgrade-targeting-150-millisecond-finality
#Solana has scheduled the Alpenglow upgrade for October 21, aiming to make transactions irreversible in about 150 milliseconds by overhauling how network validators reach consensus. Developed by #Anza , Alpenglow is designed to replace TowerBFT, Solana’s consensus mechanism since the network launched in March 2020. Validators must also prepare for the upgrade by running software based on Agave 4.3.0. Firedancer and Frankendancer clients will not support the initial migration, requiring their operators to temporarily switch to a compatible client.
With vote transactions removed, validators will no longer pay roughly 1 SOL per epoch in voting fees. Instead, they will pay a one-time admission fee of 0.8 SOL. The migration is scheduled for epoch 1064, expected to start around 15:00 UTC on October 21. Solana will retain its existing voting system for the first 5,000 slots before transitioning to Alpenglow approximately 18 minutes later.
👉 coindesk.com/tech/2026/10/14/solana-sets-oct-21-for-alpenglow-upgrade-targeting-150-millisecond-finality