A transition of the Solana blockchain to a proof-of-stake consensus mechanism has been proposed through the Alpenglow fork, which is being described as the network’s most significant change to date.
A major alteration to the blockchain’s consensus system has been proposed by Anza, a spinoff of Solana Labs, involving the replacement of the existing proof-of-history (PoH) model with a proof-of-stake (PoS) framework.
Revealed during the Solana Accelerate conference held in New York last week, the Alpenglow hard fork was introduced with the goal of reducing block finality time to as little as 150 milliseconds. This improvement is expected to enable the Layer 1 blockchain to effectively compete with Layer 2 solutions in high-speed trading use cases.
In a blog post, Anza co-founders Roger Wattenhofer, Quentin Kniep, and Kobi Sliwinski stated that Alpenglow would represent a major milestone for Solana, describing it as not just a new consensus protocol but the most significant modification to Solana’s core protocol to date.
Solana’s current block finality has been recorded at 12.8 seconds, while optimistic confirmations—described by Wattenhofer during the Accelerate conference as being “somewhat certain” a block will be accepted—are achieved within approximately 500 to 600 milliseconds. Simulations have indicated that finality under the Alpenglow upgrade could be reached in roughly 150 milliseconds.
According to Wattenhofer, Kniep, and Sliwinski, it was stated that a median latency of 150 milliseconds signifies more than just speed for Solana. It was emphasized that such responsiveness allows Solana to rival traditional Web2 infrastructure, potentially enabling blockchain technology to support a broader range of real-time applications previously considered out of reach.
Yakovenko Gives Endorsement
This level of speed in Alpenglow is attained through the use of two key components. One is Votor, responsible for handling voting transactions and the finalization of blocks, while the other is Rotor, which is designed to replace Solana’s current proof-of-history consensus with a proof-of-stake model.
According to an X post shared by Solana co-founder Anatoly Yakovenko, Votor is designed to finalize blocks within a single voting round if 80% of stakers are actively participating. In cases where only 60% of stakers respond, finalization would be completed in two rounds.
It was explained by Wattenhofer, Kniep, and Sliwinski that the protocol’s unique “20+20” resilience enables it to function efficiently even in challenging network environments, withstanding up to 20% adversarial stake along with an additional 20% non-responsive stake.
Yakovenko wrote that while most aspects of consensus were misunderstood by him, the critical elements were correctly recognized: consensus must not hinder block producers from using the full bandwidth continuously, and users must be provided with deterministic finality within a single round (2-delta).
He further noted that both of these essential requirements are effectively met by Alpenglow through a design that is both straightforward and intuitively understandable.
Garzik Voices Doubts
It was stated by Bitcoin core developer Jeff Garzik—who had been contributing to Bitcoin development since the era of Satoshi Nakamoto—during a Zoom call with The Defiant, that achieving such high speeds would not be possible without making compromises to security.
The Hemi blockchain, a Bitcoin Layer 2 solution featuring compatibility with the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) and offering a 12-second finality time, is currently being developed by Garzik.
When questioned regarding blockchain security, it was remarked by him that there exists a speed threshold beyond which transmission cannot occur across fiber optic cables spanning oceans to other continents and back within a fixed number of milliseconds. He explained that exceeding this speed means decentralization is being sacrificed for performance, and as a consequence, security is also being compromised in favor of speed.
Garzik pointed to Solana’s past incidents involving network halts and blockchain restarts, stating that Solana is “not entirely failure-proof at this time,” which he cited as the reason Bitcoin and Ethereum, rather than Solana, were being chosen as the foundation for his development efforts.
Although the enthusiasm of Solana users was acknowledged and a desire to establish technological connections with them was expressed, Garzik stated that, in his view, Hemi and Bitcoin, despite being slower, are regarded as “significantly more secure.”
Solana’s Breakout Year of Growth and Gains
A strong performance has been recorded by Solana this year, surpassing other Layer 1 blockchains not only in token value but also in ecosystem revenue, which has been primarily fueled by the growing popularity of memecoins.
Holding a market capitalization of $90 billion, Solana has been ranked as the sixth-largest cryptocurrency, and a new all-time high has recently been reached for stablecoins deployed on its blockchain.
Solana has been regarded as one of the stronger candidates for potential approval as an exchange-traded fund (ETF) by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). However, action on multiple Solana ETF proposals has been postponed by the SEC, as further review is being conducted regarding issues related to market manipulation and the safeguarding of investors.
