Solana activated its Alpenglow consensus protocol on mainnet on October 21, changing how validators reach finality. The Solana Foundation says activation occurred in epoch 1064, which began around 13:36 UTC.
Alpenglow targets about 150 milliseconds of finality, compared with roughly 12.8 seconds under the prior design. That figure is a target, not a guarantee for each transaction, and activation does not mean every app or wallet becomes faster by the same amount. Its performance under real operating conditions and any effect on adoption or markets still need evidence.
