Solana Tests $120 Breakout as Alpenglow Upgrade Hits Public Testnet

Solana developers have deployed Alpenglow to the public testnet, marking the biggest consensus upgrade in Solana's history. The upgrade aims to reduce finality time from about 13 seconds to roughly 0.15 seconds by replacing the current TowerBFT system with a new consensus protocol called Votor.

Alpenglow has been tested on a dedicated network for four months, and this public testnet phase is a real stress test to see if the wider validator set can migrate without issues. Validators need version 4.3 to participate in the upgrade.

The move coincides with Solana's price surge, which has gained about 23% over the past week. SOL now tests the $118.60 level, a former support turned resistance after the February breakdown, with the psychological $120 mark just above. The token has reclaimed its 200-day EMA near $93 for the first time in months.