Mainnet v2.0 · epoch 2233

IntroducingSupernova

Capital at machine speed. 600 milliseconds changes what money can be.

01 - Before · execute, then agree

Execution bounded the round.

Block proposal required the proposer to execute every transaction first; validators re-executed the full block before casting a vote. Under heavy smart-contract load execution consumed up to 4.5 seconds of the 6-second round, so time to finality was dominated by computation rather than by agreement.

One round · execute → propose → re-execute → vote6.0 s

EXECUTE · up to 4.5 s

RE-EXECUTE

VOTE

6 sblock time

2×executions per transaction

~18 scross-shard settlement

02 - Supernova · propose, vote, then execute

From 6 sto 600 ms

The proposer selects transactions and broadcasts the block header and body without executing them. Validators verify the proposal against protocol rules and vote at once. Execution proceeds asynchronously on a parallel path, and its state root and receipts are committed in a subsequent block. With execution removed from the consensus-critical path, the round shrinks by an order of magnitude.

Consensus

PROPOSE

VOTE

✓

FINAL · buffer for the global network

Execution

EXECUTE BLOCK n-1 · async, parallel

RESULTS REFERENCED IN BLOCK n+1

Same 6 seconds10 × 600 ms

600

03 - One round · ×40 slower

One round,
40× slower.

Slowed forty times, one 600 ms round shows its structure: proposal fixes the transaction ordering before any execution result exists, consensus produces the aggregated proof, execution reconciles state afterwards. Then the clock returns to real time for a few rounds.

0 → 250 ms · block final→ 600 ms · settle buffer

000 ms Propose proposer selects txs · ordering locked · no execution

042 ms Verify 400 validators check protocol rules · vote immediately

120 ms Aggregate > ⅔ votes → one consensus proof (267 / 400)

238 ms Final block final · proof available to any node · ≤ 250 ms

250 ms Execute async, parallel · results referenced in block n+1

480 ms Buffer network settles · next proposal at 600 ms

Consensus group · shard 0×40 slower

400 validators verify. 267 signatures reach quorum. One aggregated proof finalises the block.

Equivalent Consensus Proofs, introduced with Andromeda, allow any node to finalise the block from the aggregated proof alone, with zero equivocation risk.

04 - Cross-shard · three shards, one metachain

From ~18 sto ~2.4 s

A cross-shard transaction is finalised on the source shard, notarised by the metachain, then executed on the destination shard. Andromeda compressed this path from six coordination steps to three; at 600 ms rounds the same three steps settle in roughly 2.4 seconds.

Before · 6 s rounds~18 s

Supernova · 600 ms rounds~2.4 s

SOURCE FINAL

METACHAIN NOTARISES

DESTINATION EXECUTES

Both bars run on the wall clock. Intra-shard transactions finalise within the round in which they are proposed.

05 - Safety under load

Bounded
execution lag.

Mempool with virtual stateMaintains pending nonces, projected balance consumption and the set of transactions proposed but not yet executed, so a proposer only selects transactions that remain executable.

Automatic backpressureWhen execution lag exceeds a threshold, block capacity is reduced protocol-wide until execution catches up, then restored. The execution backlog per shard stays bounded without operator intervention.

Ordering locked at proposalThe proposer commits to the sequence before any execution result exists, which eliminates outcome-dependent reordering as a manipulation surface.

Deterministic finalityOne aggregated consensus proof per block. Execution results are committed on chain in subsequent blocks; the agreed ordering is immutable once the proof exists.

06 - Three releases, one decoupling

Andromeda. Barnard. Supernova.

v1.9.6 · MIP-25AndromedaConfirmation blocks removed. Consensus group expanded from 63 to 400 validators. Equivalent Consensus Proofs. Cross-shard coordination reduced from six steps to three. Time to finality halved.

v1.10BarnardMillisecond timestamps for smart contracts. Protocol-level governance. Gas penalty 10× → 2×. Go 1.23 toolchain.

v2.0 · epoch 2233SupernovaConsensus decoupled from execution. 600 ms rounds. Intra-shard finality in 100-250 ms. Cross-shard settlement in ~2.4 s. Scheduled execution and partial mini-blocks retired.

1B+transactions processed in Battle of Nodes, a shadow fork of mainnet state

~24 minactivation cleanup: 240 legacy rounds drain all pending partial and scheduled execution before the first 600 ms round

0changes to addresses, keys, balances, epoch length, the economic model or validator hardware requirements

07 - What changes for builders

Building against a 600 ms round.

Finality is a consensus proofA transaction is final once the aggregated consensus proof for its block exists, typically within 100-250 ms. Confirmation depth is no longer a concept in the protocol.

Execution results follow inclusionInclusion and execution are separate events. Receipts and resulting state are read from the subsequent block that commits the execution results.

Millisecond timestampsSince Barnard, contracts read block timestamps in milliseconds. Time-dependent logic should be expressed in rounds of 600 ms.

Tight feedback loopsOn-chain order books, real-time games, reactive contracts and agent-to-agent payments can operate directly on sub-second finality.

Documentation Builders Hub Developer Discord

08 - All of that is one thing. A computer.