Avalanche launches a network update in testnet and prepares 40 million dollars as a reward for the community

The Avalanche blockchain has just welcomed its largest software update ever hosted, with a dedicated launch on the Fuji testnet.

Avalanche9000 explores the ground for some key changes to be made soon in mainnet, such as the reduction of fees and the launch costs of a subnet.

In the meantime, to celebrate the event, 40 million dollars have been allocated in retroactive prizes for the developers of the Avalanche ecosystem.

Let’s see all the details below.

Avalanche9000: launched the update in testnet

Avalanche, the eighth largest chain in the blockchain space in terms of TVL, is undergoing a significant modification of its software.

The update, known as Avalanche9000, was officially released yesterday on the Fuji testnet, pending the launch on the mainnet.

In an effort to refine certain mechanisms of the decentralized ecosystem, some changes proposed by the community will be made, summarized in the Etna Upgrade.

In particular, the so-called “Avalanche Community Proposals” ACP-77 and ACP-125 will have a significant impact on the management of Avalanche subnets.

The startup and commission costs on the C-Chain will be significantly lowered, making the cryptographic environment more appealing for users and investors.

Among the key changes of the upgrade, there is certainly the rebranding of these support infrastructures, which will now be ambiguously defined as “layer 1s” (despite technically being layer-2).

According to the Avalanche Foundation, this update does not introduce changes in the way the main network functions. The scaling is applied horizontally, without burdening the dependencies of custom blockchains.

In the meantime, the decentralized autonomous organization is trying to encourage developers to build on its network through a rewards campaign.

Very interesting also how Avalanche is trying to improve its own interoperability with the subnets, unlocking a potential still unexplored.

It is estimated that over 500 “layer 1s” are in development on testnet and mainnet, with solutions ranging from games, payment solutions, and institutional research.

Generally speaking, Avalanche 9000 will be available on the mainnet by the end of the year.

The 2 main changes of the new upgrade 

Avalanche9000, also known as the Etna update, is composed of 7 community proposals, but the major change comes from only 2 of them.

Going in order, the ACP-77 introduces a new type of validator with which users can launch their own subnets. The new validators will be significantly cheaper to use, in order to lower the entry barrier for new players.

If until today it took as many as 2,000 AVAX tokens (about 80,000 dollars) for the entry stake, with Avalanche9000 it will be enough to pay a small recurring fee.

Furthermore, the ACP-77 also modifies the way in which the validator sets of the subnets are managed. 

Now, the responsibility shifts from the main Avalanche chain to the individual L1s themselves, using a bull smart contract ValidatorManager.

This means that from now on these entities have become permissionless, meaning they can be started by anyone.

In this regard, Luigi D’Onorio Demeo, Chief Operation Officer of Ava Labs (a company that deals with Avalanche) stated that:

“Before this update, it was not possible for a dYdX or Monad to use Avalanche to launch their own L1. And this is because all the chains were permissioned, and this was the only available feature. So after this update, we can have a chain with thousands of validators that was not possible before.”

The other major change of Avalanche9000 comes from ACP-125, which proposes to lower the base fees on the C-Chain.

The update allows for a reduction of approximately 99% in the activation costs of smart contracts, going from 25 naVAX (about $0.00000098) to 1 naVAX ($0.00000004).

For those who do not know, a naVAX is equivalent to one billionth of an AVAX.

By doing so, Avalanche places itself on the same competitive level as other networks like Arbitrum and Polygon, which offer minimal costs to their ecosystems.

Avalanche ready to distribute 40 million dollars to the community with the Retro9000 program

The Avalanche9000 update also unlocks a new grant program, called Retro9000, for the bull community of the bear cryptographic project.

A total of 40 million dollars have been allocated to distribute to the developers of layer 1s subnets with a retroactive type reward, meaning it rewards past actions.

Of the sum, 2 million are designated for business development executives, influencer investors, and the like who have contributed to the growth of Avalanche.

It is evident that the Avalanche Foundation is betting on the future of its ecosystem by incentivizing both old and new developers to deploy subnets.

The rewards will be available after these infrastructures are launched on the mainnet and are available to users.

To participate in the program, it is necessary to register on this platform, then connect your wallet, obtain the referral code, and execute the claim.

In an interview, D’Onorio Demio explained how Avalanche9000 and the Retro9000 campaign were created specifically to see an increased flow of users.

These are his words:

“We would like to see people experimenting with different types of infrastructures such as entering into contracts. We would like to see people experimenting by building their own L1. If you are more in the bull market of building a chain, this is a great way to start.”