After months of speculation, Anza, Solana’s core developer, has set the 21st of October as the target date for the Alpenglow upgrade.
This consensus upgrade is one of the last significant upgrades for the network and is expected to make transactions more efficient. Alpenglow is projected to reduce transaction finality from 12.8 seconds to 150 milliseconds, an improvement of around 85x faster than the present speed.
From both institutional and on-chain perspectives, this upgrade could be a major catalyst. And the latest trading data adds to the momentum. SPCX has crossed $1.5 billion in Spot trading volume on Solana, hitting $1.58 billion between the 12th of June and the 12th of October.
As a tokenized version of SpaceX shares, SPCX’s rising volume is a sign of growing interest in tokenized stocks on the Solana blockchain.
What it truly represents, however, is SOL’s traction across both the institutional and on-chain markets.
Now, with Alpenglow approaching, the trend may well accelerate. The update promises to reduce the time needed to finalize transactions to only 150 ms, thus providing faster transactions and attracting more traders and institutions to the chain.
But the bigger question is how this could impact SOL’s technical setup.
Notably, SOL’s 60% rally in Q3 came against the backdrop of a record-breaking number of network transactions on the Solana blockchain, which rose to 29.3 billion, representing the highest quarterly number since Q3 2025.
This highlights how rising on-chain activity can support price momentum.
Now, with the Alpenglow upgrade adding fuel to the trend, could Solana’s [SOL] improving fundamentals translate into a stronger technical breakout?
Can Aplenglow fuel Solana’s rally toward $200?
From a technical perspective, the timing of the upgrade makes sense.
Market sentiment is very mixed, and SOL is having difficulty staying above the $100 psychological support level. For now, a move toward $200 looks far too ambitious, but can Alpenglow change the game?
If SOL manages to replicate the Q3-style 60%+ rally, the $200 level might become relevant again, especially if the on-chain activity continues to drive a bull run.
Add to this Solana’s liquidation heatmap. According to this data, over $625 million in long positions could face liquidation if SOL drops below $90. Meanwhile, $1.24 billion in short positions could be wiped out if it climbs above $125.
This shows the possibility of a massive short squeeze in case of a breakout above $125.
So, in the near term, all eyes are on SOL’s $125 resistance.
As for the year-end target, though, $200 is still in play. If Alpenglow delivers and on-chain activity keeps picking up, SOL could have more room to push higher. For now, all eyes are on the $125 level.
A clean break above it would suggest a new bullish wave is forming and bring a repeat of Q3’s momentum back into focus.
Final Summary
- Solana’s Alpenglow upgrade aims to make transactions much faster and boost network activity.
SOL faces key resistance at $125, but stronger momentum could put $200 back in focus.