The Protocol: Solana To Get Major Design Overhaul

May 21, 2025

Exploring the tech behind crypto

one block at a time

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Welcome to The Protocol, CoinDesk’s weekly wrap-up of the most important stories in cryptocurrency tech development. I’m Margaux Nijkerk, the Ethereum protocol reporter on CoinDesk’s Tech team.

In this issue:

Solana To Get Major Design Overhaul
Proposal For New Ethereum Nodes to Make Them Easier to Run
World Network’s $135 Million Token Sale
Solana Seeker Mobile Coming Early August

Network News

SOLANA TO GET MAJOR DESIGN OVERHAUL: Solana developers are planning what could be the blockchain’s most ambitious core upgrade to date — one that replaces its current technology stack with a redesigned consensus protocol built for near-instant finality and responsiveness. The new system, called Alpenglow, was unveiled on Monday by infrastructure firm Anza, a Solana Labs spinout. It proposes replacing Proof of History — Solana’s famously unique “pre-recorded clock” system — and Tower BFT, its existing voting mechanism for reaching consensus. — Shaurya Malwa Read more.

PROPOSAL FOR NEW ETHEREUM NODES TO MAKE THEM EASIER TO RUN: Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has proposed a new design to reduce the hardware burden for running a network node, framing it as a step toward a fully decentralized network that doesn’t require sophisticated infrastructure to help maintain. In a blog post, Buterin introduced the concept of “partially stateless nodes,” allowing users to store only a subset of Ethereum’s data, rather than the entire blockchain that clocks in at over 1.3 terabytes (TB).— Shaurya Malwa Read more.

WORLD $135M TOKEN SALE TO A16Z, BAIN CAPITAL CRYPTO: Sam Altman’s blockchain project World Network has raised $135 million in a private token sale of its WLD token. The sale was to venture capital giants a16z and Bain Capital Crypto and will be used to fund network expansion. The funding comes as the group behind the blockchain announced the project’s in-app functionalities as well as the WLD token have become available as of earlier this month to U.S. users. — Margaux Nijkerk Read more.

Solana Labs’ mobile team plans to ship its Seeker phone starting Aug. 4, in addition to sharing new information about some of its infrastructure framework as well as a new SKR token for its mobile users. The news comes as the new iteration of Solana’s mobile has been in the works for months, with over 150,000 units so far, according to a press release. Seeker was introduced after the phone’s first model, Saga, was originally having a hard time selling, creating some uncertainty for its future. But Saga did eventually sell out after crypto users realized they could collect certain token airdrops.

In Other News

Movement Labs, the scandal-plagued crypto startup backed by Donald Trump’s World Liberty Financial, quietly promised large stakes of its token to early insiders—undisclosed deals that now raise fresh questions about who really holds power behind the scenes. Even before its token launch, Movement Labs committed large portions of MOVE’s supply to a handful of early advisers — arrangements that were never disclosed to investors and only surfaced through internal documents reviewed by CoinDesk. — Sam Kessler Read more.
Bitcoin (BTC) clinched a fresh record price of $109,400, surpassing the peak in January around Donald Trump’s inauguration. According to the CoinDesk Bitcoin Index, the largest and oldest cryptocurrency hit $109,486 on Wednesday during the early U.S. session. BTC has now surged more than 46% from its April trough induced by mounting fears over global trade war and U.S. tariffs. — Kristzian Sandor Read more.

Regulatory and Policy

The U.S. Senate voted to move ahead on stablecoin legislation Monday night, removing a procedural barrier to ultimately passing the bill out of the body entirely. Senators easily cleared the 60-vote threshold for the vote, which is intended to just move the legislation to a period of further debate before a final vote series to pass it out of the Senate.— Jesse Hamilton Read more.