Tag: testnet

  • Solana’s Alpenglow Consensus Upgrade Reaches Public Testnet With 150ms Finality Target

    Solana’s Alpenglow Consensus Upgrade Reaches Public Testnet With 150ms Finality Target

    Solana has advanced its Alpenglow consensus upgrade to the threshold of public testnet deployment, giving developers and validators a broader environment to test a major shift in transaction finality. The upgrade is designed to cut finality time from roughly 13 seconds to about 150 milliseconds.

    What Alpenglow Changes

    Solana currently relies on TowerBFT, a consensus mechanism that requires validators to record votes on-chain. Under TowerBFT, validators must accumulate enough votes across 32 slots before a block is considered final. Alpenglow replaces this with a new protocol called Votor, which lets validators exchange votes directly rather than depending on the same on-chain voting sequence.

    With Votor, agreement can be reached in one or two voting rounds. One round can finalize a block when sufficient validator stake participates; a second round offers an alternative path when participation is lower. Anza estimates median finality near 150 milliseconds, with earlier simulations reaching about 100 milliseconds under favorable conditions.

    From an application or wallet perspective, the upgrade is designed to be mostly invisible. Transactions continue through the same interfaces; the notable changes take place in validator communication and consensus.

    Expanding Testing to Public Testnet

    Alpenglow has been running for more than four months on a smaller community cluster built specifically for consensus testing. Moving to Solana’s public testnet brings more validators and infrastructure providers into the evaluation process. Because testnet tokens hold no real-world value, developers can restart the network, inspect failures, and test migration procedures without risking mainnet assets.

    Anza first moved Alpenglow into community validator testing in May, describing it as the largest consensus change in Solana’s history. Validators participating in the test are expected to run Agave 4.3, the latest branch of Anza’s validator software.

    Agave 4.3 and Mainnet Timeline

    Anza recommended Agave 4.3 for broader mainnet validator adoption on September 21. The rollout initially targeted operators representing 10% of mainnet stake, and the recommendation later expanded to 25%. By August, developers expected the 150-millisecond finality improvement to arrive through Agave 4.3.

    Anza’s schedule lists September 28 as a tentative date for resuming mainnet feature activation, though the date is subject to change. That date should not be read as confirmation that Alpenglow will activate on Solana mainnet. As of early Wednesday, Anza’s feature gate tracker still listed Alpenglow testnet activation as pending.

    Finality is a separate measure from other performance upgrades. Solana recently reduced its target slot time from 300 milliseconds to 250 milliseconds via SIMD-0525, bringing the network to four slots per second. That change also shortened each validator’s four-slot leader window from 1.2 seconds to one second. SIMD-0525 ultimately targets 200-millisecond slots, or five slots per second, but no confirmed mainnet activation date has been announced for that stage.

    Alpenglow follows a separate process through SIMD-0326. Rather than shortening slots, it replaces TowerBFT with Votor and changes how validators agree that blocks have reached finality.

  • HYPE Token Tests $51 Support as Hyperliquid Rolls Out HIP-4 on Testnet

    HYPE Token Tests $51 Support as Hyperliquid Rolls Out HIP-4 on Testnet

    HYPE slipped below $52.5 on August 1, remaining inside a descending channel despite Hyperliquid’s permissionless HIP-4 testnet rollout. The open daily candle has not confirmed a breakdown, and attention now centers on $51, where Fibonacci support meets the channel floor.

    HYPE Price Structure Keeps $51 in Focus

    HYPE briefly moved below $52.5 on July 31, then recovered before the daily close. Sellers returned during the next session and pushed the token under that level again. The decline has followed a descending channel since early July. A daily recovery above $52.5 would reverse the latest break, but it would leave the wider bearish structure intact.

    The next support sits near $51, where the 0.5 Fibonacci retracement meets the channel’s lower boundary. Can buyers defend $51 before the channel breaks? A daily close below $51 would carry greater weight than the intraday move under $52.5. That close would break both the Fibonacci level and the channel floor.

    The chart shows limited support below that point until approximately $47. HYPE traded near $47 from May 17 through May 20 before starting its advance toward the record high. This earlier consolidation could attract buyers again, although the level represents a zone rather than a fixed floor. A fall toward $47 would also erase more than 40 days of gains.

    HIP-4 Testnet Access Expands Market Development

    Hyperliquid announced the first permissionless HIP-4 deployments on testnet on July 31. The change lets developers test their own outcome markets through the platform. HIP-4 supports fully collateralized contracts that settle within fixed ranges. Developers can use the standard for prediction markets, event contracts, and products that resemble options.

    Unlike perpetual futures, these contracts avoid open-ended exposure. Hyperliquid still plans to add configurable fees and more testnet market templates as development continues. The rollout expands the platform’s available tools, but current activity remains small. Blockworks data places HIP-4 open interest near $182,000 and notional volume near $881,000.

    Sports contracts account for most open positions. Open interest has fallen since the 2026 FIFA World Cup ended earlier in July, reducing activity across early event markets. Permissionless access could support markets tied to economic data, elections, and other measurable events. Platform rules and applicable regulations would still govern those products.

    Resistance and Oracle Risks Shape the Outlook

    A rebound above $52.5 would face stronger resistance between $56 and $57. The zone includes the channel ceiling, the 0.382 Fibonacci level, and the 100-day simple moving average. An intraday move into that area would not change the trend. HYPE would need a daily close above the cluster and continued strength to weaken the descending channel.

    Price remained inside that channel after Hyperliquid announced the HIP-4 milestone. The reaction showed no immediate increase in HYPE demand from the testnet update. Operational risks also remain relevant as Hyperliquid opens deployments to more developers. A separate HIP-3 market recently showed how external pricing can affect leveraged contracts.

    Crypto.news reported that the xyz:SKHX contract briefly fell about 17.9% after a low South Korean pre-market trade affected its oracle price. Trade.xyz deployed and operated that market, which tracks SK Hynix shares and offers leverage up to 10 times. The company continues investigating and plans an update after its review.

    Conclusion

    HYPE remains inside its descending channel after losing $52.5 during the August 1 session. The $51 area now combines Fibonacci support with the channel floor, while HIP-4 testnet access expands development. Daily closes around $51 and $56 to $57 will define the next structural move.

  • Pi Network Completes Slice Token Distribution as PI Price Struggles Near Record Lows

    Pi Network Completes Slice Token Distribution as PI Price Struggles Near Record Lows

    Pi Network has finalized the distribution of Slice, its second testnet token, while PI continues to trade under pressure near its July record low. The team announced the completion earlier today via X, allowing Pioneers to check allocations, token prices, liquidity access, and price movements inside the Launchpad application. At the time of reporting, PI was trading around $0.083 after another sharp decline.

    Slice Distribution Expands Launchpad Testing

    Pi Network launched its Launchpad testnet token program on PiDay 2026 (March 14). Nearly 480,000 users participated in the first testing phase, providing feedback that led the team to simplify participation, revise mechanics, and improve the user experience. The project introduced Slice in June to extend the testing process.

    Testing opened on June 12 and ran until Pi2Day on June 28. After weeks without updates, the team confirmed distribution completion. The Launchpad application now displays each user’s allocation, launch price, and effective token price, along with direct access to the SLICE liquidity pool. A new chart tracks Slice against test-Pi, enabling users to examine post-launch activity and observe how liquidity pools affect testnet pricing.

    PI Price Struggles Below $0.10

    PI fell 3.80% over 24 hours to $0.0829, extending a monthly decline of nearly 30%. The token remained about 17% above its July 14 low of $0.07072. Earlier, PI lost the $0.10 support level and reached a new record low near $0.07. A 20% daily rebound briefly pushed the token toward $0.10, but resistance halted that recovery. PI then dropped more than 10% to $0.082 after earlier signals pointed toward another rejection.

    The broader crypto market also declined 0.94% to $2.19 trillion. Coinglass recorded 83,203 liquidations worth $301.33 million during the same period. SoSoValue data showed $225.2 million in Bitcoin ETF outflows and $26.3 million in Ethereum ETF outflows. Bitcoin traded near $64,000, while Ethereum stayed above $1,850.

    Can PI Hold Above Its Record Low?

    A token unlock tracker listed 127.50 million PI for release over 30 days, based on data updated June 15. That amount represented 2.06% of 6.19 billion tracked locked tokens. At the listed valuation, the scheduled releases carried an estimated value of $10.65 million. The tracker projected an average daily release of 4.25 million PI, with the largest release scheduled for June 25 involving about 7.45 million PI (valued near $622,276).

    Unlocked tokens do not automatically reach exchanges, so scheduled releases do not create immediate selling pressure. However, they expand the amount holders can access during the tracking period.

    At reporting time, PI traded at $0.08348 after gaining 0.82% over four hours. Its Relative Strength Index stood at 34.46, close to oversold territory. The MACD line remained below its signal line, while the histogram stayed negative. Resistance sat near $0.090, followed by $0.095 and the major $0.10 level.

    Further weakness could send PI toward $0.078 or $0.075. A break below that range would expose the horizontal support area near $0.070. Separately, some users reported missing tokens and repeated failed wallet transactions involving unknown addresses. The supplied information did not include a formal team response to those complaints.

    Conclusion

    Pi Network completed the Slice testnet token distribution and added tools for tracking allocations, prices, and liquidity pools. However, PI remains under pressure near record lows as resistance and scheduled token unlocks affect market sentiment. Users should monitor support levels and official network updates closely.