Marinade CEO: Solana Alpenglow upgrade may lower the threshold for validator entry

On October 26, it was reported that Michael Repetny, CEO of Marinade Labs, stated that the Solana ecosystem is preparing for an upgrade at the end of this year or early 2026. After the Alpenglow upgrade, there are plans to lower the entry threshold for validators, while also increasing bandwidth and reducing latency. Currently, operating a Solana validator costs about $5,000 per month, with $4,000 (80%) spent on voting fees. The Alpenglow upgrade will significantly reduce these voting fees, making it more affordable for more participants to operate validator nodes.