Solana is about to get the biggest upgrade in its history. The Solana Alpenglow upgrade activates on mainnet on October 21 at around 14:50 UTC, which is 16:50 in Central Europe. It replaces TowerBFT, the system Solana has used to agree on transactions since its launch in March 2020.
Anza, the team behind the upgrade, first revealed Alpenglow in May 2025. Since then, it has passed rehearsal migrations on a community cluster, testnet and devnet.
At a glance
What Alpenglow Changes
The core of the upgrade is a new voting system called Votor. Instead of voting on-chain, validators now vote off-chain, so votes no longer take up block space. As a result, transactions become final in about 150 milliseconds instead of 12.8 seconds.
Before
ConsensusTowerBFT
FinalityAbout 12.8 seconds
Validator votingOn-chain, about 1.1 SOL a day
Fault tolerance33%
After Alpenglow
ConsensusVotor
FinalityAbout 150 ms
Validator votingOff-chain, 0.8 SOL per epoch
Fault tolerance40%
Validators also save money, since they pay a flat fee per epoch instead of a fee for every vote. Before the switch, they need an Agave-based client on version 4.3, so Firedancer-based nodes have to switch over for the migration.
What SOL Holders Need to Do
Nothing. Your SOL stays where it is, and wallets and apps keep working. There’s no new coin, no swap and no migration.
The network may pause briefly during the handover. Some exchanges could also stop SOL deposits and withdrawals for a short time, so check announcements if you plan to move coins on October 21.
ImportantNobody needs you to sign a transaction or connect your wallet for Alpenglow. Any message asking you to do that is a scam.
What Comes Next for Solana
Alpenglow is only the first step. Next, Anza plans Rotor, a faster way to send blocks across the network, and changes that let validators start new blocks before the last one is final. There’s no date for these yet.
Meanwhile, SOL trades at around $104, well below its 2025 high of about $294. For the basics, read our guide on what Solana is and how SOL works.
Getting SOL on Binance
If you want some SOL before or after the upgrade, a Binance Gift Card SOL loads it straight into your Binance account, with no bank card needed. Smaller amounts work well if you just want to try it.
Solana on Binance
Binance Gift Card SOL
Redeem the code in the Binance app and the SOL lands in your Funding wallet. Small amounts available.
Buy Binance Gift Card SOLThis article explains the upgrade and isn’t financial advice. Crypto prices can move fast, so always do your own research.
