Polygon Launches Madhugiri Hard Fork: Aiming for 33% Throughput Boost

Polygon, the innovative blockchain network, has successfully launched its latest protocol upgrade, termed the Madhugiri hard fork. This upgrade is designed to achieve a 33% increase in network throughput and reduce the block consensus time to just one second.

Key Takeaways

Polygon has introduced the Madhugiri hard fork, which aims to enhance network performance and increase throughput by 33%.
The upgrade implements three Fusaka Ethereum Improvement Proposals (EIPs) to streamline mathematical operations and reduce gas consumption.
The new features support real-world asset tokenization and stablecoin initiatives, reinforcing Polygon's infrastructure.
This hard fork follows the recent Heimdall upgrade, addressing network reliability issues and improving transaction finality.

Polygon deploys Madhugiri hard fork, aims for 33% throughput boost

Enhancements Through EIPs

Krishang Shah, a core developer at Polygon, shared on X that the Madhugiri update includes support for three specific Fusaka Ethereum Improvement Proposals: EIP-7823, EIP-7825, and EIP-7883. These EIPs are focused on making intensive mathematical operations more efficient and secure by minimizing their gas consumption. This change is crucial as it prevents single transactions from overusing computing resources, contributing to a smoother and more predictable network performance.

Additionally, the upgrade introduces a new transaction type for the Ethereum to Polygon bridge traffic, along with a flexible feature that allows for future upgrades. Polygon previously indicated that achieving these throughput increases was as simple as “flipping a few switches.” Shah emphasized the significant reduction in consensus time: "We are also decreasing the consensus time to 1 second, so blocks can now be announced in 1 second if ready, instead of waiting the full 2 seconds."

Source: Krishang Shah

Strengthening Infrastructure for Stablecoins and RWAs

With the Madhugiri hard fork now implemented, Polygon is focused on reinforcing its infrastructure while significantly enhancing performance. These improvements are essential for high-frequency and high-trust applications, such as the tokenization of real-world assets (RWA) and the development of stablecoins.

Aishwary Gupta, the global head of payments and RWAs at Polygon Labs, has predicted a forthcoming “stablecoin supercycle.” He anticipates a bombshell of “at least 100,000 stablecoins” to emerge over the next five years. Gupta highlighted that this surge allows for more than mere token minting; it must include a utility yield connected to each stablecoin.

He also called for increased transparency and accountability in the RWA sector, arguing that RWA figures become insignificant if the associated assets lack proper auditing, settlement, or trade mechanisms. Gupta remarked, “When transparency and accountability are established, RWAs will reach even greater heights, unlocking trillions in institutional capital.”

Madhugiri Follows Major Heimdall Upgrade

The release of Madhugiri follows closely on the heels of significant prior enhancements. On July 10, Polygon implemented Heimdall 2.0, described by Polygon Foundation CEO Sandeep Nailwal as the network’s “most technically complex” hard fork since its inception. This update dramatically reduced transaction finality times from one to two minutes down to approximately five seconds.

However, on September 10, the network faced a major setback when a bug caused finality delays of 10 to 15 minutes. This disruption affected validator sync, remote procedure calls, and third-party tools. Nevertheless, the development team reassured the community that blocks were continuing to process normally.

Then, on September 11, the Polygon Foundation revealed that they had successfully restored consensus and finality functions through a hard fork. After the update, node synchronization issues were resolved, and checkpoints and milestones began to finalize as anticipated.

Conclusion

The Madhugiri hard fork marks a significant milestone for Polygon, enhancing network efficiency and paving the way for future innovations in stablecoin and RWA applications. With continuous upgrades and enhancements, Polygon is positioning itself to cater to the ever-evolving needs of the blockchain landscape.