A network proves its strength by processing transactions efficiently.
Solana’s latest milestone reinforces this. With the Alpenglow upgrade, Solana reduced precision to 100-150ms, allowing the network to confirm transactions instantly and approach Web2-level responsiveness.
It is noteworthy that these improvements are already translating into higher network efficiency.
As the chart below shows, Solana made 1 billion voteless transactions last week; This marks the first time the network has exceeded this threshold. This milestone underscores Solana’s ability to maintain high yields at scale.
Worth comparing to put the milestone in context Solana (SOL) executive performance with other L1s.
According to Chainspect, Solana currently processes about 1,500 transactions per second (1 hour on average), which is about 41 times the throughput of Ethereum.
Precision also remains significantly low; Transactions are settled in approximately 12.8 seconds compared to 12 minutes and 48 seconds on Ethereum, representing a 98.3% reduction in confirmation time.
Against this backdrop, Solana’s latest milestone of 1 billion vote-free transactions strengthens the underlying execution power of the network and demonstrates that the Alpenglow upgrade is already translating into higher on-chain throughput.
But the fact that the market still hasn’t priced in these improvements to the network raises the question of whether Solana’s fundamentals are undervalued.
After 1 billion transactions, Solana faces next test
Solana no longer needs to prove it can scale. The next frontier is market efficiency.
As previously mentioned, Solana is already leading the L1 landscape in terms of throughput and is strengthening this in real time with its recent 1 billion out-of-vote transaction milestone. The focus now shifts to how efficiently capital moves through the network.
Projects like Jito build out the “market layer” to improve liquidity, transaction execution, and capital efficiency without changing the underlying application layer.
Jito reiterated this view in his latest post on X, arguing that Solana’s next phase of growth will come less from high production and more from a stronger market tier.
circle already printed More than $64 billion USDC is held on Solana, highlighting the network’s growing role in stablecoin exchanges. As liquidity continues to deepen, distributing this capital efficiently becomes as important as executing transactions quickly.
At the same time, the conversation shifts towards the symbolic aspects of Solana.
Despite the network’s implementation gains, SOL remains one of the most inflationary major Tier 1 assets.
According to on-chain data, Hyperliquid’s annual supply growth rate is 0.14%, while Ethereum’s is 0.83%. Meanwhile, Solana remains high at 3.76%. This puts SOL at a relative disadvantage as higher token issuance continues to put pressure on tokenomics despite improving network fundamentals.
So, while Solana’s 1 billion vote-free transaction milestone strengthens the execution power of the network, the market layer and tokenomics are still tracking its infrastructure.
How quickly these two areas mature could determine whether SOL’s valuation reflects the fundamentals of the network.
Final Summary
- Solana passed the 1 billion vote-free transaction, demonstrating strong network growth and faster execution.
- The next focus is on improving market efficiency and tokenomics to support SOL’s long-term value.
