Solana Alpenglow was implemented as the Solana network matured and the blockchain faced a sudden increase in transaction volume. This caused congestion, as evidenced by network outages on February 6, 2024, and various events in 2022.
Another key issue was the complexity and latency of the Proof of History (PoH) and Tower BFT. With the introduction of thousands of meme coins on Solana, the sudden increase in transactions caused bottlenecks.
According to the details of the Anza release, Alpenglow primarily focuses on reducing transaction finality to approximately 150 milliseconds. This makes it particularly suitable for real-time applications such as gaming platforms and DeFi.
This approach replaces the Proof of History and Tower BFT, hallmark systems of Solana, with the new Votor and Rotor systems. This also fundamentally changes how the network reaches consensus. Alpenglow is also considered as important as Ethereum's transition from Proof of Work to Proof of Stake.
The Alpenglow protocol, recently announced by Solana, and the Pectra upgrade, recently launched by Ethereum, present different approaches to addressing the blockchain scalability challenges. While both aim to improve their respective networks, they focus on different aspects of performance and user experience.
In contrast, Ethereum's Pectra upgrade, which went live on May 7, 2025, retains its Proof of Stake consensus mechanism. It also implements improvements through various Ethereum Improvement Proposals (EIPs). Pectra prioritizes broader scalability and user experience enhancements. This includes account abstraction and improved staking mechanisms, rather than pushing for ultra-fast transaction speeds.
Implementation timelines also differ. While Ethereum has already implemented Pectra on its mainnet, Solana's Alpenglow continues to be in development, with testing scheduled for late 2025.
The most interesting aspect is the price performance of Ethereum following the Pectra upgrade. While the price of ETH was around $1,900 on the day of the upgrade, the momentum from the upgrade seized it and helped Ethereum rise by 40%, to $2,500. The parabolic indicator also shows Ethereum's potential to exceed $2,700 currently.
The response to the Solana Alpenglow upgrade has been quite positive. Cryptocurrency investor Marino rated it as one of the biggest updates for Solana to date. Craig Burel, CEO of Reciprocal Ventures, called Alpenglow a significant achievement. He also mentioned that it offers a 100-fold improvement in finality time.
Analyst Aixbt said that Alpenglow is brutal for Solana and highlighted that it really seems like an improvement.
