Solana co-founder Anatoly Yakovenko announced the Alpenglow network upgrade during the Consensus Miami 2026 conference. The network expects to release this upgrade in the third quarter of 2026.
Alpenglow rebuilds the Solana consensus mechanism to reduce transaction finality times. The upgrade aims to cut finality from the current 12.8 seconds. New finality times could reach as low as 100 to 150 milliseconds. This change targets transaction speeds comparable to traditional payment platforms.
Solana (SOL) prices rose approximately 6% on May 6. The asset traded near $89 following the announcement. SOL serves as the underlying asset for the SOLZ ETF. Recent positive inflows into Solana-focused ETFs supported the price rally.