Solana’s Next Upgrade Could Be Networking – Here’s Why

Solana is approaching an important time in its evolution as it prepares for a network development with a high impact. After a long period of recognition for speed and low fees, the network has also faced criticism regarding stability, verification performance, and long-term scalability. This upcoming development aims to directly address those concerns which may redefine the role of SOL in blockchain ecosystem.
Critical Performance Development on the Solana Scale
Solana is gearing up for one of its most important developments with Alpenglow, a compromise overhaul that replaces both Tower BFT and Proof of History (PoH) to achieve a lower secondary finish. In X postedDelphi Digital revealed that the upgrade will introduce two parts of the protocol.
At the core of this development is Votor, which will replace Tower BFT’s increasingly complex voting cycle with a lightweight vote aggregation model. Validators can combine votes off-chain before finalizing, allowing a block to be completed in one or two validation rounds rather than multiple chained rounds. Because of this, the conclusion of the theory can be drop it down to the 100-150 millisecond range, representing about a 100-fold reduction from its original 12.8 seconds.
In addition, Votor will achieve this with two simultaneous completion methods: Quick Completion occurs when the proposed block achieves 80% or more of the total stake approval in the first round, and is completed immediately. After that, Slow Completion will kick in when the first round reaches 60 to 80%, which will require the second round to pass 60% before the block is completed. Both methods work in parallel and will ensure that the end is reached even when under part of the participating network.
Another core of this development is the Rotor, which has been redesigned to rework the diffusion layer of the SOL block. Meanwhile, the original Turbine gossip network relies on multihop broadcast with variable latency. Rotor will introduce weighted transmission methods that will prioritize the efficient distribution of bandwidth, which means that high validators with reliable bandwidth will be the key relay points.
In simulations, block propagation can occur in less than 18 milliseconds under normal bandwidth conditions. This update is expected to be rolled out gradually, with the first functionality expected early mid 2026.
How Solana Emerges as a Leading Center for Chain Trading
The Kobeissi Letter has report that the volume of the Solana on-chain area will reach $1.6 trillion by 2025, officially surpassing all off-chain exchanges except Binance. According to data from the Jupiter Exchange, SOL on-chain volumes have increased from 1% of the total volume to a whopping 12% by 2022.
By 2025, SOL has officially surpassed Bybit, Coinbase Global, and Bitget in total trading volume. Meanwhile, Binance’s share has dropped from 80% to 55% by 2022. This shows that the crypto activity is moving faster on the chain.
Featured image from iStock, chart from Tradingview.com
Planning process because bitcoinist focuses on delivering well-researched, accurate, and unbiased content. We maintain strict sourcing standards, and each page is diligently reviewed by our team of senior technical experts and experienced editors. This process ensures the integrity, relevance, and value of our content to our readers.



