Solana Cuts Slot Time by 50ms in Major Network Upgrade
Solana's network has undergone its first reduction in slot time since genesis, cutting it to 350ms at epoch 1020. This marks a significant change for the blockchain, which had previously run with a 400ms target.
The reduction was implemented through SIMD-0525, a proposal authored by Brennan Watt of Anza. The new timing went live on August 21, after validators opened epoch 1020 and produced blocks every 350 milliseconds.
Shorter slots compress wall-clock time, with epochs now closing in about 42 hours instead of 48. Leader windows have also shrunk from 1.6 seconds to 1.4 seconds.
The change is part of a four-stage plan, with subsequent reductions targeting 300ms, 250ms, and finally 200ms slot times. However, critics had warned that faster blocks could lead to increased processing demand and higher vote transaction fees for non-Alpenglow validators.