Solana (SOL) has booked a 2.5% gain in the past 24 hours ahead of the launch of the Alpenglow upgrade on the blockchain’s mainnet environment today.
This major technical overhaul will change the network’s consensus protocol to reduce transaction settlement times from 12.8 seconds to 150ms.
The new version of the blockchain will go live on Epoch 1064. According to data from Solana Explorer, the upgrade should go live in less than 2 hours.
Alpenglow will make Solana transactions nearly as fast as the internet. In addition, apart from the fast processing, finalization will also improve dramatically, allowing Solana-based protocols to offer expedited settlement of deposits and withdrawals to users.
This could result in increased adoption of the blockchain by developers, as Solana will not just be fast, but also highly reliable and cheap in terms of transaction costs.
In addition, existing decentralized apps like Pump.fun and Kamino will see a significant improvement in user experience as a result.
Solana Validators Flee the Network
Experts indicate that Solana transaction volumes will be dramatically reduced, as votes will no longer be posted as transactions. Instead, they will be exchanged between validators through a separate mechanism to alleviate the network’s workload.
Despite the upgrade, the number of validators on the Solana blockchain has been steadily dropping in the past year, as rewards are becoming less appealing for the hassle of running a node.
On-chain data from Token Terminal shows that the network is currently supported by 668 validators, representing a 65% drop compared to the size of the pool a year ago.
Keeping the network safe and efficient is a critical task for the Solana Foundation. Alpenglow could help, as it also reduces the necessary investment that validators have to make to participate in the consensus from 2 SOL to 0.8 SOL.
Wall Street does not seem to be too excited about Solana’s Alpenglow upgrade yet, as net inflows to exchange-traded funds (ETFs) linked to SOL have been negative for 12 days in a row.
At a point when sentiment continues to be bearish, the price action needs to show stronger signs of a recovery to attract investors once again, and Alpenglow could be what fuels that move.
Solana Price Forecast
Every new Solana analysis as it publishes, today's technical signal and key levels, live price — on one page.
See all Solana forecastsSOL Could Rise to $150 If It Breaks Past This Key Resistance
Turning to the daily chart, the price action has bounced off the $100 level, and it has booked mild gains for four days in a row afterward.
The Relative Strength Index (RSI) just rose past the signal line, which could be interpreted as an early signal that momentum is shifting.
SOL needs to rise past $116 to confirm a trend reversal, in which case our mid-term target of $150 would be on the table. That supposes a 42% upside potential for the token.
However, if the price dips below its 200-day exponential moving average (EMA), that would invalidate this bullish scenario and may result in a more pronounced correction to the $76 area.