MultiversX is preparing for a major network upgrade scheduled to activate on September 10 during epoch 2233. The Supernova upgrade is designed to make the blockchain 10 times faster by reducing block times from six seconds to 600 milliseconds, contingent on more than 5,000 nodes successfully migrating to new software.
The upgrade restructures MultiversX's consensus pipeline to allow validators to vote on blocks while execution proceeds in parallel, removing transaction execution from the critical path that previously limited block production. The changes are also intended to reduce intra-shard finality to below 250 milliseconds and cut cross-shard settlement time from approximately 18 seconds to roughly 2.4 seconds.
MultiversX will maintain its epoch length, backward compatibility for addresses, keys, and balances during the transition.
Transaction Pause Expected
During activation, mainnet will temporarily stop accepting new transactions for approximately 240 rounds under the existing six-second clock—equivalent to about 24 minutes—while clearing transactions already in flight. Transactions submitted during this period will remain queued until Supernova begins processing them.
Migration Status
Node operators were given nine days to prepare for the upgrade. As of September 1, 95.35% of MultiversX's 5,171 nodes were still running the previous software version v1.11.11.0, with no visible Supernova migration yet observed on the public network. A mainnet configuration release candidate published August 31 identified round 32157661 as the planned activation point.
Validators must upgrade to compatible software before activation, as outdated nodes could produce different transaction results and lose synchronization with the majority chain once new rules take effect.
