⚙️ What actually happens when you send a transaction on Solana?
When you press “Send” in a Solana wallet, several backend processes happen before the transaction becomes finalized.
1️⃣ Transaction is created
Your wallet creates and signs a transaction containing:
• Instructions
• Accounts involved
• Recent blockhash
• Cryptographic signature
The signed transaction is then ready to enter the Solana network.
2️⃣ Transaction enters the network
The transaction is sent to a Solana RPC node, which forwards it through the network toward the currently scheduled leader.
The RPC node is mainly the gateway between your wallet/application and the blockchain network.
3️⃣ The Leader processes it
Solana uses a scheduled Proof-of-Stake validator as the leader for a short period.
The leader receives transactions, executes their instructions and checks things such as:
✔️ Signature validity
✔️ Account state
✔️ Program instructions
✔️ Required transaction fees
✔️ Account permissions
The resulting data is then propagated to other validators.
4️⃣ Proof of History records the sequence
This is where Proof of History (PoH) becomes important.
PoH continuously generates a sequence of cryptographic hashes:
H0 → H1 → H2 → H3 → H4 → H5 → ...
Because each hash depends on the previous one, the sequence provides a verifiable record of the order in which events occurred.
A transaction can be incorporated at a specific point in this sequence.
So:
PoH = cryptographic clock + verifiable ordering
PoH itself, however, does not finalize the transaction.
5️⃣ Validators verify the data
Other Solana validators receive the leader's data.
They independently verify the transactions, execute the relevant programs and check whether the resulting account state is valid.
If the data is valid, validators can vote for that chain.
6️⃣ Tower BFT reaches consensus
This is where Tower BFT comes into play.
Tower BFT is Solana's BFT-style consensus mechanism built on Proof of Stake.
Validators vote on the chain they consider valid, and their voting power is weighted by their delegated stake.
A key part of Tower BFT is the concept of lockouts.
When a validator votes for a block, that vote creates a temporary commitment to that chain. If the validator continues voting for descendants of that block, the lockout becomes progressively longer.
In simple terms:
Validator receives block
↓
Verifies it
↓
Votes for it
↓
Vote creates a lockout
↓
Continued votes increase commitment
↓
Validators converge on one chain
This makes repeatedly switching between competing forks increasingly difficult and helps the network converge on a single history.
7️⃣ Confirmation → Finalization
As more validators vote for the chain, the transaction moves through Solana's confirmation stages.
Eventually, enough stake has voted for the relevant chain that the block reaches finalized status.
At that point, the transaction is considered finalized by the network.
🔗 The complete backend flow
Wallet
↓
Sign Transaction
↓
RPC Node
↓
Current Leader
↓
Transaction Execution
↓
PoH Ordering / Cryptographic Clock
↓
Validator Verification
↓
Tower BFT + Stake-Weighted Votes
↓
Lockouts & Supermajority Agreement
↓
🔒 Finalized on Solana
The important distinction
PoH → establishes a verifiable sequence of time and events
Proof of Stake → determines validator voting weight
Tower BFT → uses validator votes and lockouts to reach consensus
So when you simply press “Send SOL”, the backend involves much more than transferring coins from one wallet to another.
It involves transaction execution, cryptographic ordering, validator verification, stake-weighted voting and consensus before that transaction becomes finalized on the Solana blockchain.
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