Solana Slashes Slot Time in Four-Stage Upgrade Plan

Solana has initiated a phased upgrade to reduce its slot time on its testnet from 400 milliseconds to 350 milliseconds. This is part of a four-stage plan to eventually halve the slot duration to 200 milliseconds, which would double confirmation speeds on the network.

The validators must approve each reduction by a supermajority vote, and there will be a delay of one epoch (2-3 days) before changes take effect. The mainnet rollout is expected around August 17, alongside a new consensus framework called Alpenglow to improve finality times, balancing speed and stability for the network.