Solana Alpenglow Upgrade Enters Public Testnet

The Solana network has launched the Alpenglow upgrade on its public testnet, aiming to reduce transaction finality from approximately 13 seconds to 150 milliseconds. The upgrade replaces the existing TowerBFT consensus system with Votor, allowing validators to confirm blocks through one or two rounds of direct voting. The migration requires Agave 4.3 and does not yet support Firedancer or Frankendancer. A potential mainnet update is tentatively scheduled for September 28, though this date remains unconfirmed.