Solana news

Metaplex, the Solana-based protocol behind over 900 million digital assets, has launched Vantage, a customizable trading terminal for Solana traders. The tool aims to let users research, track, and trade on-chain assets from a single interface, with configurable workspaces for charts, order flows, and portfolio trackers. Vantage builds on Metaplex's expansion from NFT minting to broader digital asset tools, following the 2025 Genesis protocol for token offerings and the Metaplex App. Metaplex protocols have powered over 1 billion Solana transactions, with cumulative trading volume of $13-14 billion. The project operates under a DAO with its MPLX token, implementing buyback programs funded by protocol revenue to sustain demand. Vantage targets active and professional traders seeking granular control over their trading workflows.

Tetra Digital Group has expanded its Canadian-dollar stablecoin CADD to the Solana network, following its initial launch on Ethereum, Base, and Tempo in May 2026. The stablecoin, pegged 1:1 to Canadian dollars held in audited trust reserves, is the first regulated CAD-backed stablecoin in Canada, approved by the Alberta Treasury Board and Finance. The initiative is supported by a consortium including Wealthsimple, Shopify, National Bank of Canada, and other major firms. Tetra raised $10 million in 2025 to build the project, with Anchorage Digital providing custody for institutional clients. The expansion to Solana is aimed at improving 24/7 cross-border settlements and real-time treasury transfers, offering a non-USD alternative for domestic Canadian transactions in a blockchain-native environment.

Solana has begun rolling out Alpenglow, its planned consensus overhaul, onto testnet. The upgrade targets finality of about 150 milliseconds, down from roughly 12.8 seconds under the current TowerBFT system, without changing the Solana Virtual Machine or transactions. The first phase, Votor, replaces onchain vote transactions with direct validator votes combined into certificates, aiming to cut the wait for irreversible transactions by about 99%. SOL traded around $117, nearing its strongest level since late January, with a roughly 25% gain over the past month. Network activity is expanding, with real-world assets reaching about $4.6 billion and decentralized exchanges recording over 208 million weekly spot trades, surpassing NYSE volume. The immediate test is whether Alpenglow performs reliably enough on testnet to reach mainnet-beta without disrupting infrastructure.

Tokenized commodities trading on Solana reached $87 million in weekly volume, with Raydium, the network's largest decentralized exchange, accounting for 70% of that activity. Solana's tokenized commodity supply hit approximately $50 million by late August 2026, driven by assets like Paxos Gold (PAXG) and Dominion Market's tokenized silver token (SILV), which generated over $4 million in 24-hour volume shortly after launch. Solana's tokenized gold supply grew 689% year-over-year through August 2026, though its share of the total on-chain gold market remains at roughly 0.47% compared to Ethereum's dominance. In early September 2026, GMTrade launched 24/7 perpetual contracts for gold, silver, and WTI crude oil on Solana, while Kamino added PAXG as collateral for lending. Solana also routed over 95% of global tokenized equity volume by Q2 2026.

Solana's Alpenglow consensus upgrade is moving to public testnet, aiming to cut transaction finality from about 13 seconds to around 150 milliseconds. The upgrade replaces TowerBFT with Votor, enabling validators to finalize blocks in one or two direct voting rounds. The testnet phase will allow developers to test migration before any mainnet deployment, with Agave 4.3 required for validators; Firedancer and Frankendancer do not yet support the change. The Sept. 28 date in Anza's schedule is a tentative mainnet feature activation, not a confirmed Alpenglow launch. Solana has separately reduced slot times to 250ms under SIMD-0525, a different network change. Alpenglow follows its own path and is the largest consensus change in Solana's history.

Solana generated more user fees than Ethereum on Sept. 22, with $1.1 million in 24-hour chain fees versus Ethereum's $649,423, according to DefiLlama data. However, Ethereum burned more fees in dollar terms, reporting $226,298 in burns compared to Solana's $117,138. Solana also led over 7-day and 30-day fee aggregates, while Ethereum retained a smaller lead in reported burns. The fee destinations differ significantly. Solana burns half of base fees and sends the rest plus priority fees to validators, while Ethereum burns base and blob fees and sends priority tips to validators. This means higher total fees on Solana do not necessarily translate into proportionate burns for token holders. Analysts caution that fee and burn rankings alone cannot establish superior holder returns. The comparison requires matched-period data on token issuance, actual fee distributions after validator commissions, and market valuation. Without this, neither network's fee activity conclusively indicates better economic outcomes for passive holders or stakers.

Solana's Alpenglow upgrade, designed to slash transaction finality from roughly 13 seconds to 0.15 seconds, has moved to the public testnet. The upgrade replaces the TowerBFT consensus with Votor, a protocol where validators vote directly and can finalize blocks after one or two rounds, without changing how users send funds. The testnet migration requires Agave 4.3 and will not initially support Firedancer or Frankendancer. A Sept. 28 mainnet update is tentative and is not a confirmed Alpenglow launch date.

Solana's tokenized equity holders surpassed 900,000 wallet addresses, an all-time high, cementing its dominance in the sector with 85-95% of on-chain activity. The number jumped 88% from 424,894 on September 1 to 801,439 by September 12, then exceeded 850,000 by September 20. Popular tokens include NVDAx (NVIDIA), SPYx (S&P 500 ETF), TSLAx, and AAPLx, issued via xStocks. Total supply reached $684 million by mid-September, up 47% in three weeks, with $3.3 billion in real-world asset flows over 30 days. New listings like tokenized Nike shares and Galaxy Digital's issuer-direct option fueled growth, supported by infrastructure from Backpack Securities and Jupiter.

Derive, the onchain options platform formerly known as Lyra, dominates Delphi Digital's new Cross-Venue Options Dashboard, holding the top three Ethereum and top two Solana positions. It commands about 95% of onchain options premium volume, with $1.09 billion in ETH open interest and $36.3 million in SOL open interest, for a total of roughly $2.4 billion across all contracts. The dashboard, launched in early July 2026, aggregates options data for BTC, ETH, SOL, and HYPE across five venues. Onchain options still represent only about 4.3% of the broader $40 billion market tracked, compared to centralized exchanges. Derive's planned V3 upgrade to a zkVM architecture on Ethereum mainnet, slated for mid-2026, aims to boost throughput and attract institutional participants.

US spot Solana ETFs saw their strongest single-day performance on September 21, with net inflows of $26.1 million, pushing cumulative inflows past $1.4 billion and net assets to about $1.74 billion. Bitwise's staking-enabled BSOL led with $14.4 million, while Grayscale's GSOL added $7.8 million. BSOL, launched in October 2025, accounts for roughly 80% of cumulative category flows, exceeding $1.1 billion. Its first-mover advantage and staking mechanics, along with a temporary fee waiver, have outpaced rivals Grayscale, Fidelity, and VanEck. Market concentration favors BSOL through tighter spreads and better liquidity. The September inflows extend a multi-week positive trend, with prior single-day records of $10.19 million and $33.5 million. If the pace continues, the category may soon reach the $2 billion net asset milestone.