Prior to the Alpenglow upgrade scheduled for October 21, 2026, Solana validators submit voting approvals as transactions recorded directly on the blockchain

How blockchain protocols make collective decisions about upgrades, funding, and rules, whether through on-chain voting, off-chain social consensus, or foundation stewardship.

Rules by which distributed networks agree on a shared ledger, from proof of work mining to proof of stake validation, trading off security, energy use, and decentralization.