Avalanche Blockchain’s Largest-Ever Upgrade Goes Live on Testnet

Avalanche9000
is
meant
to
cut
the
cost
of
sending
transactions
and
running
validators,
making
it
easier
to
build
apps
on
the
network,
crypto’s
eighth-largest.

Updated
Nov
25,
2024,
6:06 p.m.

Published
Nov
25,
2024,
5:58 p.m.

Avalanche,
the

eighth-largest
blockchain
by
total
value
locked
(TVL),
is
moving
ahead
with
a
major
technical
makeover.

The
Avalanche9000
upgrade
went
live
in
a
test
network
environment
(testnet)
Monday,
bringing
the
changes
one
step
closer
to
the
main
network
(mainnet),
the
Avalanche
Foundation
said.

Avalanche9000

will
be
the
largest
upgrade
that
Avalanche
has
seen.
It
is
designed
to
cut
the
costs
of
sending
transactions,
operating
validators
and
building
apps
on
the
network,
whose
native
token
(AVAX)
is
the
11th-largest
cryptocurrency,
with
a
$16
billion
market
cap.

The
foundation
is
trying
to
attract
developers
to
Avalanche
and
encourage
users
to
create
customized
blockchains
using
its
technology,
known
as
subnets.
Somewhat
confusingly,
subnets

are
now
officially
referred
to
in
the
Avalanche
community
as
“L1s,”
even
though
they
are
roughly
analogous
to
the
layer-2,
or
L2,
networks
that
augment
Ethereum
and
other
blockchains.
(Avalanche’s
“primary
network,”
the
equivalent
of
a
layer-1
in
other
ecosystems,
is
considered
a
subnet.)

The
team
is
hoping
to
bring
Avalanche9000
to
mainnet
by
yearend.
Also
known
as
the
Etna
Upgrade,
Avalanche9000
consists
of
seven
proposals,
but
the
two
most
significant
changes
are
ACP-77
and
ACP-125.

Roll
your
own

The
ACP-77

proposal
would
allow
for
a
new
type
of
validator
with
which
users
can
launch
their
own
subnets.
The
new
validators
will
be
significantly
cheaper
to
operate,
lowering
the
barrier
to
entry.
The
validators
will
also
be
permissionless,
meaning
anyone,
from
the
operator
of
a
decentralized
exchange
to
the
developers
of
another
blockchain,
can
spin
one
up.

“Before
this
upgrade,
it
wasn’t
possible
for
a
dYdX
or
Monad
to
use
Avalanche
to
launch
their
own
L1.
And
that
was
because
all
the
chains
were
permissioned,
and
that
was
the
only
functionality
that
was
available,”
said
Luigi
D’Onorio
Demeo,
the
chief
operation
officer
of
Ava
Labs,
the
main
developer
firm
behind
Avalanche,
in
an
interview
with
CoinDesk.
“So
after
this
upgrade,
we
can
have
a
chain
with
thousands
of
validators
that
wasn’t
possible
before.”

The
ACP-125

proposal
would
lower
the
base
fee,
or
minimum
cost
of
running
computations,
on
the
primary
Avalanche
network’s

C-chain,
the
main
chain
that
runs
smart
contracts,
from
25
nAVAX
(about
$0.00000098)
to
1
nAVAX
($0.00000004.)
One
nAVAX
equals
one-billionth
of
one
AVAX.
(Avalanche
also
has
a
P-chain
where
users
can
stake
AVAX
and
operate
validators
and
an
X-chain
which
is
used
for
sending
and
receiving
funds.)

“This
basically
puts
C-chain
fees
equivalent
to
Arbitrum
and
Polygon,”
D’Onorio
Demio
said,
referring
to
two
of
the
leading
L2s
on
the
Ethereum
chain.

Referral
grants

In
addition
to
Avalanche9000
going
live
on
testnet,
the
blockchain’s

grants
program,
Retro9000,
opened
up
Monday
for
developers
to
register
and
start
building
subnets
in
the
testing
environment.
The
foundation
will
reward
them
retroactively
when
they
launch
those
subnets
on
mainnet.

“We’d
love
to
see
people
experiment
with
different
types
of
infrastructure
like
staking
contracts.
We’d
love
to
see
people
experiment
by
building
their
own
L1s,”
D’Onorio
Demio
told
CoinDesk.
“If
you’re
more
in
the
market
for
building
a
chain,
this
is
a
great
way
to
start.”

Retro9000
has
$40
million
in
rewards
to
distribute,
with
$2
million
designated
for
business
development
executives,
influencer-investors
(“key
opinion
leaders“)
and
the
like
who
refer
others
to
build
on
Avalanche.

“For
the
referral
component:
the
idea
there
is
if
you’re
a
KOL
or
a
BD
person,
and
you
know
people
that
are
potentially
viable
to
build
this
kind
of
stuff,
they
can
list
you
as
a
referral.
And
you
will
be
eligible
to
also
receive
parts
of
the
$2
million
as
well
in
retroactive
grants,”
D’Onorio
Demio
said.

Read
more:

Avalanche
Unveils
$40M
Grant
Program
Ahead
of
‘Avalanche9000’
Upgrade