Taiko Alethia Mainnet to Undergo Major Pacaya Hardfork Upgrade

The Taiko Alethia Mainnet is preparing for a significant upgrade with the upcoming Pacaya Hardfork, scheduled to occur at Block 1,166,000, estimated around May 21, 2025. This development marks a crucial milestone for the Taiko blockchain network, focusing on enhancing user experience and transaction efficiency.

Enhancements and Changes

Currently, the Taiko Alethia protocol operates with a contestable rollup design, which has demonstrated security and cost advantages over Layer 1 solutions. However, this design has presented user experience (UX) limitations. The Pacaya Hardfork aims to address these by introducing preconfirmations, significantly reducing confirmation times and improving overall UX.

The hardfork will transition the protocol to a batch-based system where blocks are proposed in groups, making smaller, frequent blocks more cost-effective. This change is expected to maintain gas efficiency and support faster transaction confirmations.

Simplified Proving and Preconfirmations

Another key change involves the elimination of proof contestation, which aligns Taiko more closely with Stage 1 Layer 2 protocols. The new Multiproving mechanism requires multiple proofs for each batch, verified by a single verifier contract. This update aims to simplify the proving process while maintaining security.

The introduction of preconfirmations will not require additional upgrades from users or node operators. Initially, this feature will be tested using a whitelist approach, allowing Taiko to gather feedback and refine the system before full implementation. Despite the whitelist's permissioned nature, Taiko is committed to achieving full permissionlessness in future iterations.

Collaborations and Future Steps

Taiko’s initial partners for the preconfirmation phase include Nethermind, Gattaca, and Chainbound. These collaborations are vital for testing and refining the preconfirmation process, ensuring infrastructure meets necessary requirements.

As Taiko continues to innovate, the network remains dedicated to building a more efficient and user-friendly blockchain environment, paving the way for a more streamlined future in the Ethereum ecosystem.

For more detailed information, visit the official announcement on taiko.mirror.xyz.