Solana’s Alpenglow upgrade targets 150ms finality with Votor and Rotor, replacing old systems to rival Ethereum’s Pectra speed.
Alpenglow, a significant protocol enhancement that Solana announced earlier today, is intended to enhance network efficiency and transaction speed. The new protocol, which was unveiled by infrastructure firm Anza, a Solana Labs spinout, is intended to supplant Solana’s current consensus mechanisms with a redesigned system. However, the crypto community is intrigued: Will it be as successful as the ETH Pectra upgrade?
Road to Alpenglow: The Solana Upgrade
Solana Alpenglow was implemented as Solana’s network matured and the blockchain encountered a significant increase in transaction volumes. This has resulted in congestion, as evidenced by the network outages on February 6, 2024, and the numerous events in 2022.
Another significant concern was the complexity and latency of Tower BFT and Proof of History (PoH). The influx of thousands of meme currencies on Solana resulted in bottlenecks due to the increase in transaction volume.
As Anza’s post indicates, Alpenglow’s primary objective is to minimize transaction finality to approximately 150 milliseconds. This renders it especially well-suited for real-time applications, including gaming and DeFi platforms.
The new Votor and Rotor systems replace Solana’s signature Proof of History and Tower BFT in this approach. This also significantly alters the network’s consensus-building process. Alpenglow is also regarded as significant as Ethereum’s transition from proof of work to proof of stake.
Key Distinction Between Solana Alpenglow and ETH Pectra Upgrade
The Alpenglow protocol, which Solana recently announced, and the Pectra upgrade, which Ethereum recently introduced, demonstrate distinct strategies for addressing blockchain scalability challenges. Although both endeavor to enhance their respective networks, they concentrate on distinct user experience and performance aspects.
Conversely, Ethereum’s Pectra upgrade, which was implemented on May 7, 2025, preserves its current Proof of Stake consensus mechanism. Additionally, it incorporates enhancements through various Ethereum Improvement Proposals (EIPs). Petra prioritizes user experience advancements and broader scalability enhancements. This encompasses account abstraction and enhanced staking mechanisms, as opposed to prioritizing ultra-fast transaction speeds.
Additionally, the implementation timelines vary. Solana’s Alpenglow is currently in development, with testing scheduled for the conclusion of 2025, even though Ethereum has already implemented Pectra on its mainnet.
The most intriguing aspect is the performance of the Ethereum price after the Pectra upgrade. The ETH price was approximately $1,900 on the day of the upgrade; however, the momentum of the upgrade propelled Ethereum to a peak of $2,500, a 40% increase. At present, the parabolic indicator also indicates that Ethereum has the potential to surpass $2,700.
Community Responses
The Solana Alpenglow enhancement has garnered a favorable response. Marino, an investor in cryptocurrency, described the upgrade as one of the most significant on Solana. Craig Burel, General Partner at Reciprocal Ventures, described Alpenglow as an important event. Additionally, he stated that it provides a 100-fold increase in the duration to finality.
The analyst, Aixbt, stated that Alpenglow is brutal for Solana and emphasized that it does appear to be an enhancement.
The community should anticipate a potential price increase that surpasses Ethereum’s in light of the upgrade’s increasing prominence. Although the price of ETH did not increase immediately following the Pectra upgrade, it is reasonable to anticipate that Solana would do the opposite. Analysis also indicates that Solana has the potential to decline to $140, as it is currently trading at or near $169.
