The Rio upgrade was deployed to Polygon’s Amoy Testnet on Thursday, September 11, with mainnet expected in October. This upgrade enables the next steps in Polygon’s GigaGas roadmap, as the network continues to evolve core architecture to meet the needs of global payments and RWAs.

Once the upgrade is deployed on mainnet in October, users won’t need to take any action. 

The Rio upgrade sets the stage for Polygon PoS to reach 5,000 TPS. By making validation lighter and nodes easier to run, it opens the door for more validators and fairer participation. Stateless block verification reduces validator costs, supports increased block space by dedicated block builders, and eliminates network reorgs, all while preserving decentralization. The result: a faster, stronger network built for long-term growth.

Included in this upgrade are the following PIPs, which ou can read about in more depth on the Polygon Forum:

PIP-64, “Validator-Elected Block Producer”:

• This proposal outlines a new block production architecture for Polygon PoS, shifting power from protocol code to validator choice by introducing a Validator-Elected Block Producer (VEBloP). This aims to increase network throughput, shorten block confirmation times, and eliminate reorgs, all while maintaining decentralized block verification.

PIP-65, “Economic Model for VEBloP”:

• This proposal defines an economic model with a fee redistribution mechanism between the active block producer and the validator set, designed to function alongside PIP-64. 

PIP-72, “Witness-Based Stateless Verification”:

• This proposable enables nodes to validate blocks without maintaining the complete blockchain state. This cuts storage bloat, speeds up sync, and lowers hardware costs.

VEBloP creates a validator economy designed for speed, reliability, and scale without compromising decentralization. This upgrade unlocks Polygon’s scaling runway by: 

• An initial release of architecture change that removes reorg issues faced by network users.
• A series of throughput milestones culminating in ~5,000 TPS, positioning Polygon as the blockchain infrastructure capable of handling the world’s payment rails.

To follow along, head to the Polygon Community Forum or join the next Polygon Protocol Governance Call. 

With Rio, Polygon evolves into a faster, fairer, and more resilient network. It lays a sustainable foundation for long-term growth: scaling to thousands of transactions per second while staying decentralized, and positioning Polygon as the universal rails for global payments and RWA transactions

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