There's a significant difference between Update 2 and how it was 1.23.  I think they did some tweaking.  You're right, it's really fast atm.  I noticed this my first game and the 5 or 6 others I played since the release.  It does slow down mid game though.  I think they may have lopsided the early game research to offset putting the wormhole tech farther down the tech tree.  The game feels weird now.  I'm in favour of the invisible wormholes but it's too far into the tree.  Most of the games I've played have been really isolated because of it.  I had to switch to Unique constellations to go back to getting some fun out of the early/mid game.  I think it would be better placed in Era 2 or 3 rather than 4.