The Avalanche Foundation has launched the “Avalanche9,000” testnet, a significant upgrade designed to revolutionize Layer-1 (L1) development on the Avalanche network by making it more affordable and accessible. The testnet went live on Monday, marking a crucial step towards the upgrade’s planned mainnet deployment on the C-Chain in 2025.
To incentivize development and adoption, the Foundation has announced a substantial $40 million in retroactive grants for builders on Avalanche, including a $2 million allocation specifically for referrals.
Ava Labs Chief Protocol Architect Stephen Buttolph emphasized the cost-saving focus of the upgrade, stating, “[This latest upgrade] focuses on making every component of the Avalanche tech stack cheaper. From reducing C-Chain fees to removing capital requirements for L1 validators, every user of Avalanche should experience reduced costs.”
Avalanche9,000 encompasses the Etna Upgrade, a suite of network changes that introduces new validator rules and rebrands Avalanche subnets as Avalanche L1s. These dedicated, project-specific chains leverage the same underlying technology but operate independently from the C-Chain mainnet. Existing examples of Avalanche L1s include those powering games like Off the Grid and Shrapnel, as well as platforms focused on small business payments and institutional research. Development continues across various other sectors.
The upgrade includes two key components: ACP-77 and ACP-125. ACP-77 introduces a new validator management framework, enabling the creation of low-cost, natively interoperable blockchains. ACP-125 aims to dramatically reduce minimum base fees on the Avalanche C-Chain from 25 nAVAX to 1 nAVAX. While both figures represent fractions of a cent (1 nAVAX is one-billionth of an AVAX token, currently valued around $42), the 96% reduction is expected to significantly benefit developers in the long run.
