tl;dr
The Avalanche developers have launched the blockchain's "Avalanche9,000" testnet, aiming to make L1 development cheaper and easier. The upgrade includes $40 million in retroactive grants for builders on Avalanche, with $2 million for referrals. It focuses on reducing C-Chain fees and removing capita...
Avalanche developers have launched the blockchain’s “Avalanche9,000” testnet, an upgrade that aims to bring cheaper and easier L1 development to its network. The Avalanche Foundation will disburse $40 million in retroactive grants to builders on Avalanche, including $2 million for referrals, to stimulate the network’s growth and adoption. The upgrade, which includes the Etna Upgrade, ACP-77, and ACP-125, focuses on reducing C-Chain fees and removing capital requirements for L1 validators.
The Etna Upgrade includes new validator-related rules and rebranding of Avalanche subnets to Avalanche L1s, which are project-specific chains built on the same tech stack but operate independently. The ACP-77 upgrade introduces a new validator management framework, while the ACP-125 upgrade aims to reduce minimum base fees on the Avalanche C-Chain. These changes should facilitate launching L1s, reduce deployment costs by 99.9%, simplify customization, and enhance maintenance activities.
Retro9,000 grant programs are ranked on a public leaderboard, with community voting informing grant allocations. Over 500 L1s are in development on Avalanche's testnet and mainnet, and Interchain Messaging (ICM) allows builders to create cross-L1 decentralized applications (dapps).