Polygon Proof-of-Stake launches its Rio upgrade today
Polygon has officially launched its latest mainnet upgrade, the Rio upgrade, equipped with stateless block verification and more features. Here’s what it has in store.
- Polygon’s Rio hardfork introduces witness-based stateless validation and the Validator-Elected Block Producer system, boosting transaction speeds to 5,000 TPS.
- The new upgrade also brings a new economic model that fairly distributes fees among all validators, making network participation more accessible and strengthening decentralization.
According to a press release sent to crypto.news, the Rio hardfork is designed to make validation less resource-intensive while eliminating the risk of chain reorganizations on the Polygon mainnet. The upgrade is meant to increase speed and efficiency while reducing cost on the mainnet. The network claims that its latest update will enable it to process around 5,000 transactions per second, making it five times faster than previous upgrades.
With the Rio upgrade, Polygon ( POL ) becomes one of the first blockchain to run what is called the witness-based stateless block validation infrastructure. This feature enables nodes on the mainnet to verify new blocks without having to store the entire blockchain state.
Instead of storing large amounts of data on-chain, validators can now use small cryptographic proofs dubbed “witnesses” to verify whether each block is correct. This reduces storage needs, speeds up syncing, and makes it easier for people to run validator nodes.
Stateless block validation eliminates technical barriers, opening the mainnet up to a larger pool of validators from diverse background to help secure the network.
“The result is a blockchain that can handle the world’s payment rails and real-world asset transactions at scale without compromising security or user trust,” wrote Polygon in its statement, adding that is is now capable of hosting final and instant settlements for global payment providers.
In addition, Rio’s new system allows validators, even the ones not producing blocks, to earn a share of transaction fees and Maximal Extractable Value revenue. These fees are split between the block proposer and the rest of the validator group. This means even validators that run lightweight nodes can still earn rewards without needing high-end hardware.
What does the Polygon’s new upgrade entail?
The Rio upgrade introduces a new block production architecture called the Validator-Elected Block Producer or VEBloP. Instead of having many validators produce blocks in the same time span, validators on the network can elect a small pool of validators.
These chosen validators would then produce blocks for a major longer span. By delegating block production to one producer at a time, blocks can be created faster with shorter block times.
The VEBloP model essentially gives the validator community a chance to vote on which node will produce blocks. If an elected block producer falters, then the designated backups will immediately step in to maintain the flow of blocks.
In addition, stateless validation also works with the Validator-Elected Block Producer system or VEBloP to prevent chain reorganizations. This means that blocks are confirmed almost instantly and removes any chance of redoing a validated block on chain history. Therefore, users and developers can treat a verified transaction block as final.
Overall, the new upgrade includes features from three core Polygon Improvement Proposals. First is PIP-64: Validator-Elected Block Producer, which proposes to elect a single block producer per span. Thus, the structure separates block creation from validation.
The second proposal is PIP-65: Economic Model for VEBloP, which details how fees and and rewards are shared between the elected block producer and the entire validator set. This ensures non-producing validators are still financially incentivized to participate.
Lastly, PIP-72 on the mainnet’s new witness-based stateless validation system, which serves to allow nodes to validate blocks without maintaining the full state. This limits risks of storage overflowing and cuts cost for validators.
Disclaimer: The content of this article solely reflects the author's opinion and does not represent the platform in any capacity. This article is not intended to serve as a reference for making investment decisions.
You may also like
Morgan Stanley Illustrates 'Blue Wave' Impact: 20% of New Data Center Projects May Be Delayed to 2029, 40% of Shipped Chips May 'Not Be Powered On' Before 2028
Morgan Stanley believes that the US midterm elections are substantially disrupting the construction pace of AI data centers—about 5GW of capacity will be postponed from 2028 to 2029, and up to 40% of chip deployments between 2026 and 2028 risk not being powered on time. The combined pressures of power shortages, political resistance, and rising costs are accelerating the shift of capital toward overseas markets such as Southeast Asia and India, potentially extending the overall AI capital expenditure cycle.
Risk is shifting! Goldman Sachs: Chipmakers' CDS spreads surpass hyperscale cloud providers for the first time, AI default swaps hit record highs
Goldman Sachs stated that AI credit risk is shifting from cloud giants to chip suppliers. For the first time in nearly three months, the chip CDS spread has surpassed that of hyperscale cloud providers, reflecting market concerns over intensified GPU depreciation and customer financing exposure. Impacted by a supply surge, bond issuance premiums for cloud providers have risen significantly, with durations shortening. As hundreds of billions of dollars in project financing flood in by 2027, pressure in the credit market is expected to continue accumulating.
Difficult to Monetize 3.57 Billion Orders? Neutron's Maiden Flight Delayed and Iridium (IRDM.US) Faces Acquisition Funding Pressure
Rocket Lab reported Q3 revenue of $268 million and outstanding orders totaling $3.57 billion. The maiden flight of the Neutron rocket has been postponed to 2027, with clients such as ICEYE having already reserved launch windows in advance. Although operating cash flow has turned positive, the planned acquisition of Iridium will require more than $3 billion in cash, with future revenue...
Crypto prices
More
