Avalanche launches new Avalanche9000 upgrade with reduced deployment cost

Avalanche Foundation has announced its ‘largest network upgrade’ in the form of the Avalanche9000 mainnet. The new upgrade reduces distribution costs and C-Chain fees by more than 90%.

On December 17, the Avalanche9000 mainnet goes live with a major upgrade called Etna, which serves to eliminate issues faced by developers on the Avalanche (AVAX) network, including high staking requirements and high verification costs. The Etna upgrade solves these issues by enabling layer1 blockchains to operate independently of the primary network.

This means validators no longer need to verify the primary network on Avalanche, and these chains can have their own set of validators. This major change simplifies the verification process for emerging tier1 projects and significantly reduces operational and upfront fees.

🔺 Our Biggest Network Upgrade Has Arrived!

Avalanche 9000 brings Etna upgrades to the Mainnet, ushering in a new era for developers and users at Avalanche.

• 99.9% reduction in L1 distribution costs and 96% reduction in C-Chain fees
• Spin L1s quickly using Primary C Chain… pic.twitter.com/6JDUGgEb3x

— Avalanche Foundation 🔺 (@AvalancheFDN) December 16, 2024

In the legacy subnet model, every new blockchain launched on Avalanche must receive validation on the primary network. This step is accompanied by an up-front staking fee of at least 2000 AVAX tokens, or approximately $100,000, and the necessary hardware to verify these chains.

By offering this upgrade, Avalanche claims to reduce tier1 deployment costs by 99.9% and reduce C-Chain fees by 96%.

Additionally, Avalanche9000 simplifies the process of creating layer1 blockchains on the network, bringing them to market faster. Developers are given more control to customize their layers in terms of staking, economy, gas, tokens, and more.

One of the key features this upgrade highlights is Avalanche’s built-in Cross-Chain Messaging feature, which facilitates communication between the Avalanche C-chain and Avalanche layers1. This feature works for both new and existing layer1s.

Developers can use the messaging protocol to send and receive cross-chain EVM messages. Using ICM, Avalanche blockchains can send all kinds of information, including tokens, NFTs, and oracle price feed data.

As previously reported by crypto.news, the Avalanche Foundation first announced plans to release the Avalanche9000 upgrade on December 2, calling it the “largest network upgrade since the protocol was launched.” The news was accompanied by an increase in overall quarter-to-quarter metrics in Q3 2024.