This week, Solana launched the voting phase for the Alpenglow proposal, marking an important step towards replacing the existing TowerBFT system with a more efficient and resilient model.
Voting Process and Key Features
The Alpenglow proposal moved to the community vote stage starting in epoch 840, with ballots closing at the end of epoch 842. Before the voting began, stake weights were recorded and published in epoch 839. Validators could claim voting tokens linked to their stake and direct them toward one of three options: Yes, No, or Abstain. For the proposal to pass, Yes votes needed to equal or exceed two-thirds of Yes plus No votes, with abstentions counting toward the quorum. The minimum quorum was set at 33% of total stake weight. Alpenglow was designed to replace Proof-of-History and TowerBFT with a focus on speed and reliability.
Rotor: New Data Propagation Method
A key part of the Alpenglow proposal was Rotor, a block propagation protocol intended to replace Solana’s existing Turbine system. Rotor used a single layer of relay nodes instead of Turbine’s tree-based structure. This design reduced the number of network hops required to move data across the network. Relay nodes were selected based on stake weight, ensuring more even sharing of available bandwidth. By distributing bandwidth responsibilities, Rotor helped avoid bottlenecks that could limit throughput. The protocol recognized that network latency, rather than computation, was the primary factor slowing communication across nodes.
Potential Impact on DApps and Market
If adopted, Alpenglow could enhance applications on Solana, making trades, games, and payments faster. Quicker confirmations could help reduce risk for decentralized finance projects during periods of high activity. Gaming and social applications could deliver smoother user experiences with less lag. The combination of lower latency and improved fault tolerance positioned Alpenglow as a step toward making blockchain use feel closer to standard internet applications. However, any changes in Solana’s price would depend on broader market conditions and the successful achievement of performance goals post-launch.
The voting process for the Alpenglow proposal is significant for the development of the Solana network, and its potential benefits could greatly influence decentralized applications and the overall market.
