Zilliqa (ZIL) Prepares for Game-Changing Upgrade: All the Details

The Zilliqa network is in the proceeds of a major network upgrade poised to improve the network’s performance while enhancing the overall experience for Zilliqa developers.

On the 30th of June, Zilliqa took to Twitter to announce that the network was gearing up for a mainnet upgrade to version 9.2.0, which brings enhanced performance and builds out EVM compatibility.

The upgrade kicked off on the 5th of July. As disclosed by a pool operator, the transactions on the network were halted at block 2,994,670. The network upgrade takes off immediately, from block number 2,994,688 onwards.

Mining on the Zilliqa mainnet was also disabled as the upgrade was being carried out. As the upgrade continued, withdrawal and deposit functionalities were also halted.

In a follow-up tweet, Zilliqa revealed that the Upgrade v9.2.0 has been successfully deployed to the Zilliqa mainnet. Users can expect enhanced interoperability between EVM and Scilla, while network developers can expect a more improved network performance, along with new developer tools.

Notably, Zilliqa mining on the regular port and payouts have also been restored completely. While ZIL rewards are currently low, as a result of low difficulty, rewards difficulty is expected to recover tomorrow.

Zilliqa revealed in an official blogspot announcement;

Key among the improvements is enhanced interoperability between Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) and Scilla, making it simpler to create, test, and launch fungible tokens using ERC-20 and ZRC-2 smart contracts. This is a pivotal step towards facilitating seamless cross-chain interactions.

Zilliqa v9.2 upgrade introduces a new user experience for network developers

In alignment with its commitment to creating robust security and functionality, the upgrade will make it possible for extended testing coverage for third-party EVM contracts and full backward compatibility with all existing Scilla contracts in the Scilla release 0.13.3.

The upgrade also aims to ensure that the network is faster, more efficient, and a lot more secure for all network users and participants. As such, the upgrade will tackle and fix existing bugs, while improving on the server-side resilience.

Meanwhile, for Zilliqa network developers, v9.2 will introduce an improved interface and more advanced search and trace capabilities. Development platform support will also be expanded. The upgrade is also ushering in the launch of a new Developer Network, which is granting early access to new features and products.

Regarding future upgrades, Zilliqa intends to focus on tackling miner-related issues. As shared in the blog post :

Future upgrades will continue to enhance the capabilities of Zilliqa’s EVM compatibility and overall network efficiency. These upgrades will also include improvements to the rejoin process and reward structure with the aim of relaxing constraints on miners’ locations, subject to the network’s governance .