As AI agents evolve from experimental tools into essential economic actors, the infrastructure they inhabit must be programmable, secure, and seamlessly integrated.

After reviewing 191 global submissions, our panel of judges has selected the teams that best embody the precision and utility required for the Cronos and Crypto.com ecosystems.

Main Track: x402 Applications (Broad Use Cases)

This track focused on the fundamental shift toward autonomous financial applications and broad x402 utility.

1st Place: AgentFabric Award: **$24,000 Cronos Ignition Builder Residency

AgentFabric is building the “connective tissue” of the on-chain economy. Their framework allows autonomous agents to move capital with zero friction using scoped, programmable permissions. By solving the critical security trade-off for agentic autonomy, AgentFabric positions Cronos as the premier execution layer for the machine economy.

• Watch the Demo

2nd Place: Cronos Shield ($5,000)

Security is the non-negotiable pillar of fintech. Cronos Shield delivers a sophisticated layer of protection for agent-driven transactions. It acts as an automated risk management engine, ensuring that autonomy never comes at the cost of asset safety.

• Watch the Demo

3rd Place: CroIgnite ($2,000)

Focused on the bridge between idea and execution, CroIgnite provides a streamlined onboarding path for new x402 projects. By automating the deployment and sponsorship of agentic flows, they are accelerating the growth of the entire ecosystem.

• Watch the Demo

Honorable Mentions:

• DCA402: Recognized for its elegant application of x402 in automated investment strategies, making dollar-cost averaging smarter for autonomous portfolios.

• SnowRail: A robust solution for streamlining cross-chain agent payments, expanding the reach of the Cronos ecosystem.

Best x402 AI Agentic Finance Solution

Winner: SoulForge Market ($5,000)

SoulForge Market demonstrated how AI agents can interact with complex financial markets autonomously. Their solution represents a leap forward in capital efficiency, allowing for automated market interaction that responds to real-time data with sub-second precision.

• Watch the Demo

Best Crypto.com x Cronos Ecosystem Integration

Winner: Faktory ($3,000)

The power of Cronos is amplified by its synergy with the Crypto.com ecosystem. Faktory created a seamless AI-native treasury system that manages invoices and capital yield with the polish of a premium fintech experience.

• Watch the Demo

• Honorable Mention: OneChat — For their impressive integration of social-driven financial flows within the Cronos ecosystem.

Best Dev Tooling / Virtualization Layer

Winner: x402 Intent Firewall ($3,000)

Developers need the right tools to build safely. The x402 Intent Firewall provides a critical “sanity check” for programmatic payments, filtering intents to prevent malicious execution—a vital tool for any production-ready agentic application.

• Watch the Demo

• Honorable Mention: Coset — For their contribution to the virtualization layer, simplifying the developer experience for x402.

Explore the Full Cohort

The conclusion of this hackathon is only the beginning. With 191 projects submitted, the diversity of innovation on Cronos is at an all-time high. We invite the community and developers to explore the full gallery of BUIDLs that competed.

View all submissions on DoraHacks:

https://dorahacks.io/hackathon/cronos-x402/buidl

**Note: The Cronos Ignition Builder Residency award of $24,000 will be distributed as $6,000 at the end of the hackathon, followed by $2,000 per month for nine months to support ongoing development. Continued monthly disbursements are intended for teams who maintain active progress on their project on Cronos EVM, and we welcome periodic updates so the Cronos and Crypto.com communities can spotlight and amplify their work.

The upcoming Cronos Mainnet “Smarturn” upgrade introduces major protocol improvements across the EVM, including smart accounts, new opcodes, Ethereum client updates, IBC interoperability, and several core performance enhancements.

Following our post of the Cronos Mainnet V1.5 upgrade, we are pleased to announce more upgrade details:

• Cronos Mainnet Smarturn upgrade block height is set to 38432212, expected around Thursday, October 30, 2025 at 7AM GMT (3PM HKT/SGT), depending on the progress of block production. Check here for the estimated time;

• The network downtime is anticipated to be about 60 mins, depending on the progress of the validator’s upgrade;

• All Cronos EVM services, such as Cronos EVM mainnet network, public RPCs, Explorer, and Cronos bridge, will be paused and resumed after the upgrade is completed.

What to Expect for End Users

The proposed upgrade date is Thursday, October 30, 2025, and the chain will be upgraded at a specific block height of 38432212.
The estimated time of this block can be found here.

After the upgrade block height, all node operators will upgrade their node binary to maintain sync with the chain. The chain will temporarily pause and then resume, with all the data persisted, once the majority of validators have completed their upgrades.

Actions Required for Node Operators

The Cronos chain will be upgraded at the block height of 38432212. Once we reach the upgrade block height, all node operators must follow the instruction and upgrade to the latest cronosd binary - “v1.5.1” to keep the nodes in sync with the chain.
Please DO NOT UPGRADE to the binary v1.5.* before the target upgrade block, as it will be incompatible.

If you have any questions or comments about this upgrade, please reach out to the team via the #cronos-mainnet channel on the Cronos Discord server.

We are excited to share the highlights of the upcoming Smarturn Upgrade for the Cronos mainnet, scheduled to go live on October 30, 2025.

This upgrade introduces major protocol improvements across the EVM, including smart accounts, new opcodes, Ethereum client updates, IBC interoperability, and several core performance enhancements.

A Cronos Smarturn upgrade guide for node operators, including target block height and revised estimated date of the upgrade, will be released later in this newsletter.

Smart Accounts: EIP-7702 Support

One key feature of this upgrade is support for smart accounts through EIP‑7702, an Ethereum proposal that allows a regular Externally Owned Account (EOA) to function as a smart contract account, enhancing flexibility and functionality for Dapps and users.

Traditionally, EOAs could only send simple transactions signed with a private key. Smart contract accounts, by contrast, could define custom transaction logic (such as spending limits, batched operations), while they required users to deploy a separate contract wallet.

EIP-7702 bridges this gap by letting EOAs act like smart contracts. The assigned contract code remains valid until the account issues a new authorization, which can apply to one chain or to multiple chains simultaneously.

This enhancement introduces

• Enables advanced account abstraction for programmable wallet logic.

• Supports bundling multiple transactions for single-operation execution.

• Allows application of custom permission rules.

• Provides flexible, alternative gas payment management.

all without migrating funds or changing account types.

Go‑ethereum v1.15

Cronos EVM’s VM has been upgraded to run on go-ethereum v1.15.11, aligning with Ethereum’s Cancun and Prague fork roadmap. Cancun fork introduces TSTORE, TLOAD, and MCOPY. This brings new EVM opcodes and extensive client improvements on Cronos that enhance efficiency, debugging, and developer experience.

• TSTORE and TLOAD (EIP‑1153) introduce the concept of transient storage, which allows developers to store temporary data within a transaction.
  Unlike normal storage operations that permanently write to the blockchain (thus cost more gas), transient storage disappears after execution, significantly lowering gas costs for contracts that need short-lived state (e.g., re-entrancy locks, multi-call logic, and contract-level caching).

  • TSTORE (0x5d): Stores data in transient memory, cleared after the transaction.

  • TLOAD (0x5c): Reads data from transient memory within the same transaction.

• MCOPY (EIP-5656, 0x5e) efficiently copies larger regions of memory with a single instruction, reducing gas for array and buffer operations.
  Before this opcode, even a simple 256-byte copy could cost close to 100 gas or more, depending on implementation. with MCOPY, the same operation now costs around 27 gas, dramatically improving performance for contracts that move or process in-memory data.

These opcodes collectively make contract execution more efficient for complex DeFi, gaming contracts that handle multiple operations per transaction, and other computation-heavy applications.

Go‑ethereum v1.15 also brings other key improvements. Interested parties can explore more in their release page. Together, these updates make Cronos’s EVM runtime lighter, faster, and more developer-friendly.

New RPC Endpoint: eth_getBlockReceipts

Cronos developer team also extends the RPC method for eth_getBlockReceipts. This endpoint allows fetching all transaction receipts from a block in a single query, which largely reduces RPC overhead needed for explorers, analytics dashboards, dApp backends, or monitoring tools that need complete block-level data.

New Mempool: Transaction prioritization and Replacement

Cronos v1.5.1 also upgrades its mempool with transaction replacement support.
With this enhancement, users and DApps can replace pending transactions that share the same nonce by resubmitting them with higher gas prices or priority fees.

This enables predictable “speed-up” and “cancel” functionality, a key feature for wallets, trading bots, and DeFi protocols operating under dynamic gas markets. It also improves transaction throughput and responsiveness during periods of high network traffic.

Under the hood, implementation of this PR also integrates PriorityNonceMempool and AnteCache components. These enable smarter transaction ordering, caching, and validation, ensuring high-priority transactions are confirmed faster while preserving correct nonce sequencing and fairness.

IBC Upgrade: ibc-go v10.1.1

We have upgraded to ibc-go v10.1.1, adopting the latest IBC v2 architecture for improved cross-chain performance and developer simplicity.

IBC v2 streamlines how chains communicate by removing redundant channel and connection handshakes, reducing latency, and simplifying integration for new applications, including Ethereum connectivity.

Token transfers and the callbacks middleware are also supported, which potentially enables dApps to automatically trigger logic when cross-chain transactions are completed.
These updates improve reliability and developer experience for IBC-enabled applications.

Furthermore, Cronos has been exploring the partnership with the Interchain Foundation to enable Eureka on Cronos EVM, a next-generation extension that expands IBC’s capabilities for cross-chain data and message exchange, to bring more benefits to our builders and ecosystem.

What’s Next

For those who want to explore further, check out the full Cronos v1.5.1 changelog.

The Cronos team will continue building toward faster, smarter, and more interoperable infrastructure and bringing more capabilities to the Cronos ecosystem.

Stay tuned for more updates and the upcoming Smarturn upgrade guide for node operators.

The upcoming Cronos Mainnet Pallene upgrade introduces parallel transaction processing and multiple upgrades leveraging the latest Cosmos SDK and CometBFT.

Following our announcement of the Cronos Mainnet V1.4 upgrade, we are pleased to announce more upgrade details:

• The Cronos Mainnet Pallene upgrade block height is set to 17,155,000, expected around Thursday, 12nd Dec, 2024 at 6AM GMT (2PM HKT/SGT), depending on the progress of block production. Check here for the estimated time;

• The network downtime is anticipated to be about 60 mins, depending on the progress of the validator’s upgrade;

• All Cronos services, such as Cronos mainnet network, public RPCs, Explorer, and Cronos bridge, will be paused and resumed after the upgrade is completed.

What to Expect for End-users

The proposed upgrade date is Thursday, 12nd Dec, 2024, and the chain will be upgraded at a specific block height of 17,155,000; the estimated time of this block can be found here.

After the upgrade block height, all node operators will upgrade their node binary to maintain sync with the chain. The chain will temporarily pause and then resume, with all the data persisted, once the majority of validators have completed their upgrades.

Actions Required for Node Operators

The Cronos chain will be upgraded at the block height of 17,155,000. Once we reach the upgrade block height, all node operators must follow the instructions and upgrade to the latest cronosd binary - “v1.4.1” to keep the nodes in sync with the chain.
Please DO NOT UPGRADE to the binary v1.4.0 before the target upgrade block, as it will be incompatible.

If you have any questions or comments about this upgrade, please reach out to the team via the #cronos-mainnet channel on the Cronos Discord server.

The Cronos EVM v1.4 “Pallene” upgrade proposal is now live for discussion on the Cronos EVM governance forum: https://github.com/crypto-org-chain/cronos/discussions/1707

Cronos EVM Pallene introduces the fastest transaction processing capabilities ever seen on the network, by a wide margin. With parallel transaction processing and optimistic execution, the virtual machine acquires the superpower of being able to deliver tens of thousands of transactions per second (compared with up to 100 TPS today).

Parallel transaction processing has been a major narrative among Layer 1 networks recently, and this evolution makes Cronos EVM future proof as the Web3 industry enters a new cycle of mainstream adoption.

Before hyper-fast TPS can be seen live on the blockchain explorer, more changes need to happen: first, the time between each block must be agreed to be set to a shorter interval (currently, 5 to 6 seconds); second, the volume of user transactions needs to become large enough that the cost of faster blocks becomes economically sustainable for network validators. Nevertheless, Pallene is a revolutionary step on Cronos' scalability journey.

Cronos EVM Pallene also includes multiple upgrades leveraging the latest Cosmos SDK and CometBFT (formerly "Tendermint") innovations while optimizing them at the same time.

Please read below to learn more about today's governance discussion

Block-STM: Parallel Transaction Processing

Overview of Block-STM

The introduction of block-stm ("block-level Software Transactional Memory") redefines how transactions are processed on Cronos.

Moving from sequential to concurrent processing, this approach enables multiple transactions to be processed within each block at once. Leveraging software transactional memory (STM), this framework efficiently manages concurrent transactions by automatically resolving conflicts and reducing latency.

With block-stm, Cronos achieves significantly higher transaction throughput, meeting the demands of performance-driven apps and services.

Benchmarking Results

The latest release brings a new benchmark framework that developers can configure in JSON format in order to compare the virtual machine's performance across various software versions and simulation environments such as laptops, Docker containers and Kubernetes clusters.

Naturally, this benchmarking framework was used to measure the performance improvements brought by Block-STM. The chart below shows how the introduction of Block-STM enables Cronos EVM to execute up to 60,000 transactions per second (vs up to 100 TPS today).

The lower performance of single transfers, compared with batched transfers, actually reveals a limitation of the load generator of the benchmarking framework, which struggled to feed transactions as fast as the network could execute them! This will be addressed in future versions of the benchmarking framework.

Significant Reduction of Network Overhead

This upgrade brings practical improvements to reduce network overhead by refining the EVM message format and optimizing the Ethermint ante handler.

The updated message format simplifies how transactions are encoded and decoded, making them faster to process. The redesigned ante handler cuts out redundant steps, improves caching for signature checks, and optimizes fee and gas validation.

These changes work together to handle transactions more efficiently, improving the speed and performance of the entire network.

Optimization of Cosmos SDK and CometBFT

Custom enhancements were made to the Cosmos SDK and CometBFT layers to improve efficiency and performance.

A new mechanism was introduced to store Golang objects directly rather than serialized bytes, which reduces the computational cost of encoding and decoding

The fee collection logic was refined to support parallel transaction execution which enables faster and more efficient handling of transactions under high load.

Event firing can now happen asynchronously in CometBFT, moving a significant portion of the workload out of the block commit process.

These improvements speed up block processing and enhance the network’s ability to handle transaction surges.

Cosmos SDK and IBC Upgrades

The Pallene upgrade introduces important new features by upgrading Cosmos SDK and IBC dependencies.

Optimistic Execution (SDK 0.50)

The integration of Optimistic Execution from Cosmos SDK 0.50 represents a major step forward in transaction processing.

Traditionally, a block proposal is processed only after voting concludes. With ABCI++, the application layer can start processing the proposal in advance. By executing block proposals in parallel, Optimistic Execution can significantly cut down block times, enhancing the network’s responsiveness and capacity, particularly in high-demand scenarios.

Improved Interchain Accounts Stability with IBC v8.5.2

IBC v8.5.2 introduces support for unordered interchain-accounts channels, making these channels more resilient and practical for live networks.

This improvement strengthens Cronos's cross-chain compatibility by allowing for more stable and flexible interchain accounts operations.

Bug Fixes and Others Dependency Upgrades

Various bug fixes and enhancements have been introduced to further stabilize the network and improve the developer experience.

These adjustments collectively contribute to the overall reliability of the Cronos EVM chain. For a detailed breakdown of these changes, refer to the Cronos GitHub changelog.

Looking Ahead

The Cronos EVM v1.4 Pallene upgrade lays a strong foundation for the platform’s future.

While Cronos zKEVM, newly launched in 2024, is the best blockchain network for users and developers seeking full integration with Ethereum and its Layer 2s together with the decentralized security of Ethereum, the Cronos EVM Layer 1 retains significant room to grow. It is extremely well placed to compete for use cases that require hyper-fast transaction processing (e.g., TradFi, payments, Web3 games, NFTs).

The proposed upgrade marks another step toward Cronos’ vision of building a complete, reliable, high-performance blockchain ecosystem.

For more details and updates, visit Cronos.org and subscribe to the Cronos newsletter.

RPC node provider GetBlock, a premium Web3 infrastructure platform active since 2019, has announced an addition of Cronos zkEVM RPC nodes to its services kit. JSON RPC and WebSockets endpoints are available for GetBlock customers now.

This announcement unlocks a number of new opportunities for developers building on zkEVMs.

First, they don’t have to run and maintain their own node which can be rather challenging for the majority of teams. Second, they don’t need to rely on public RPC endpoints any longer. Developers can enjoy flexible, customizable, and high-speed API connection with no need to compete for the resources with their peers.

Last but not least, all Cronos zkEVM endpoints are available in both free and paid plans. Developers can experiment with the instruments of Cronos zkEVM for free with 40,000 requests per 24 hours. In three clicks, teams can access secure and fast API endpoints to zkEVM that can be used for resource-efficient dApp development.

Setting new standards in Blockchain-as-a-Service infrastructure

As of now, Cronos zkEVM developers can use shared and dedicated nodes via GetBlock RPC endpoints. With shared nodes, customers can choose between limited (from 5M requests per month) and unlimited (3-, 6-, 9-, and 12-month) packages. All unlimited packages are available with extra discount valid for every purchase.

Also, by request, teams can order deployment of a dedicated node for Cronos zkEVM that would only be available to certain projects. This is a premium-level service of GetBlock for maximum throughput and industry-leading customizability.

Besides Cronos zkEVM, GetBlock users can experiment with RPC endpoints to testnets and mainnets of 50+ blockchains, on both L1 and L2 networks. All mainstream zkEVMs are also available.

Getting started with Cronos zkEVM on GetBlock: Three-step manual

To start using GetBlock’s Cronos zkEVM nodes, new users should follow three simple steps.

1. Sign in to GetBlock via e-mail, Google Account, MetaMask, and, most recently, GitHub. No sensitive data or credit card information is required for registration.

2. Navigate to Dashboard, select Cronos zkEVM, and retrieve the mainnet endpoint address for JSON RPC or WebSockets (WS) endpoints.

Image by GetBlock

3. Integrate the URL into dApp codebase as a private RPC endpoint.

To start using paid packages, users should top up their accounts with card or crypto.

Developers can then use this RPC address instead of public or self-hosted nodes. Additionally, it can be beneficial for regular wallet users interested in enhancing the privacy of their transactions.

GetBlock’s vision aligns with that of Cronos zkEVM, one of the most advanced technologies aimed at expanding Ethereum's capabilities. Cronos’ first ZK network offers a new level of cost-efficiency, speed, and security for all types of dApps, while exploring the untapped potential of zero-knowledge technology.

Developer announcement

In order to ensure long term consistency between Cronos zkEVM Mainnet and Testnet, the Cronos zkEVM Testnet will be reset and rebooted on October 21, as already announced in the developer channels.

This change will not impact end-users or their funds, since those are on Mainnet.

If you are a developer using the Testnet on a regular basis, please read below.

TLDR:

• The new Testnet will start from scratch, no existing state will be carried over;

• The new Testnet will have a new chain ID 240 (different from the current one: 282);

• Endpoints and services will be switched to the new Testnet on Oct 21, 2024;

• The Cronos zkEVM documentation will be updated accordingly.

Why is this happening?

• The ZKsync code base used by Cronos zkEVM has undergone several major upgrades in 2024. While Cronos zkEVM Mainnet is up to date, the Testnet is based on a slightly older version. The best way to ensure full consistency between Mainnet and Testnet is to reset the Testnet.

• This upgrade will benefit developers, who will now be able to rely on consistent release sequences starting with Testnet and then Mainnet.

What will happen and when?

On Oct 21, a brand new Testnet will be deployed with Chain ID 240, and the following services will be transitioned to the new testnet:

• Cronos zkEVM testnet public endpoints

  • Testnet JSON RPC: https://testnet.zkevm.cronos.org;

  • Testnet WebSocket: wss://ws.testnet.zkevm.cronos.org;

• Cronos zkEVM testnet Developers Portal APIs: https://explorer-api.testnet.zkevm.cronos.org/api/;

• Cronos zkEVM testnet blockchain explorer;

• GoldSky Cronos zkEVM testnet subgraph services;

• Cronos zkEVM testnet Bridge UI;

• => If you are using MetaMask with the Testnet, you will need to delete the Cronos zkEVM Testnet network and configure it again with the new Chain ID (instructions will be provided in the Cronos zkEVM docs).

• => Real-time updates will be provided in the developer channel on Discord (dev-cronos-zkevm)

During the grace period between Oct 21 and Nov 4, the "old" Testnet (Chain ID 282) will remain available at the following URLs:

• [JSON RPC] testnet.zkevm.cronos.org -> deprecated.testnet.zkevm.cronos.org

• [Websocket] ws.testnet.zkevm.cronos.org -> deprecated-ws.testnet.zkevm.cronos.org

• [Seed] seed.testnet.zkevm.cronos.org -> deprecated-seed.testnet.zkevm.cronos.org

On Nov 4, the "old" Testnet will be discontinued completely.

• testnet (Chain ID:282) and deprecated.testnet.* endpoints will be completely discontinued.

We are pleased to introduce the Cronos zkEVM Developers Portal, a comprehensive resource designed to accelerate the development of decentralized applications (dapps) on the Cronos zkEVM blockchain.

This portal provides direct access to the Developer API, offering developers the power to query blockchain data, verify smart contracts, and build sophisticated applications with ease.

Whether you're building a dapp, a game, or analysing data, the Cronos zkEVM Developers Portal is your one-stop solution for all the data you need. 

Developer API Access

At the heart of the Cronos zkEVM Developers Portal is the Developer API documentation, which offers access to the blockchain explorer's APIs. These APIs empower developers to efficiently query blockchain data using GET/POST requests. Available data includes:

• Accounts data: Balance, transaction history, internal transactions

• Blocks data: Block details

• Contracts data: ABI, source code, verification submissions, and status

• ETH proxy: Proxy for commonly used zkEVM RPC endpoints

• Logs data: Log details

• Tokens data: Account balance for tokens, total supply for tokens

• Transactions data: Transaction status

The Developer API provides real-time data, ensuring that your applications have access to the most current information. Typically updated within a few minutes, this data enhances the performance and reliability of your dapps.

Getting Started With the Cronos zkEVM Developer API

To get started with the Cronos zkEVM developer API, simply register an account on the Account Registration page in Cronos zkEVM developer portal, where you can access a pair of mainnet and testnet API keys on the user dashboard. You can then access the developer API service and use it to retrieve data from the available endpoints.

The Developer API service is well-documented with comprehensive guides and examples to help you get started quickly. The documentation provides  information on making requests, parsing responses, and using the various endpoints, as well as access to a range of data on the Cronos zkEVM, including accounts, blocks, contracts, transactions, logs, tokens, statistics, and more.

For more detailed information, refer to the Cronos zkEVM API documentation.

The Cronos zkEVM Developer API supports any programming language that can make HTTP requests, offering the flexibility to choose your preferred development environment, whether it's JavaScript, Python, Java, or any other language. To ensure fair usage and prevent abuse, the Cronos zkEVM Developer API enforces a rate limit of 50,000 calls per day.  This limit is sufficient for application development, though it may not be adequate for intensive and sustained production use.

With your API key in hand and the Developer API documentation as your guide, you’ll have all the necessary tools to create innovative solutions on the Cronos zkEVM chain.

Start exploring the possibilities today by signing up for the Cronos zkEVM Developers Portal and unlocking the full potential of blockchain development!

The upcoming Cronos Mainnet v1.3 upgrade introduces improvements to backward compatibility and RPC improvements.

Following our initial proposal of the Cronos Mainnet V1.3 upgrade, we are pleased to announce that:

• The Cronos Mainnet V1.3 upgrade block height is set to 14,920,000, expected around Thursday, 18th July, 2024 at 7AM GMT (3PM HKT/SGT), depending on the progress of block production. Check here for the estimated time;

• The network downtime is anticipated to be about 60 mins, depending on the progress of the validator’s upgrade;

• All Cronos services, such as Cronos mainnet network, public RPCs, Explorer, and Cronos bridge, will be paused and resumed after the upgrade is completed.

What to Expect for End-users

The proposed upgrade date is 18th July 2024, and the chain will be upgraded at a specific block height of 14,920,000; the estimated time of this block can be found here.

After the upgrade block height, all node operators will upgrade their node binary to maintain sync with the chain. The chain will temporarily pause and then resume, with all the data persisted, once the majority of validators have completed their upgrades.

Actions Required for Node Operators

The Cronos chain will be upgraded at the block height of 14,920,000. Once we reach the upgrade block height, all node operators must follow the instructions and upgrade to the latest cronosd binary - “v1.3.0” to keep the nodes in sync with the chain.
Please DO NOT UPGRADE to the binary v1.3 before the target upgrade block, as it will be incompatible.

If you have any questions or comments about this upgrade, please reach out to the team via the #cronos-mainnet channel on the Cronos Discord server.

Paris, 20 June 2024 - Cronos, the prominent blockchain ecosystem that interoperates with Ethereum and Cosmos, is pleased to announce its latest partnership with Exaion, a subsidiary of EDF, Europe's largest electricity group, known for providing responsible digital services. This partnership will see Exaion become part of the Cronos EVM network as a validator node, aligning with its goal to engage with the world's leading blockchain protocols.

Exaion is joining a pool of 32 validators on the open-source Cronos EVM protocol, contributing to the stability and security of the network. Nodes are crucial to the decentralized validation of transactions on the network, by producing or confirming new blocks every five to six seconds on average. As a validator, Exaion will also contribute to the governance of the blockchain and the approval of network updates. 

The addition of Exaion is consistent with Cronos’ strategy of partnering with open-source contributors and validators known for their robust technical expertise. Contributors to the Cronos ecosystem include Crypto.com, Blockdaemon, Allnodes, and a number of top-tier validators.

Ken Timsit, Managing Director of Cronos Labs, the blockchain startup accelerator focusing on decentralized finance, blockchain games, and the development of the Cronos ecosystem, commented: "The Cronos ecosystem brings crypto-native developers and communities together with mainstream users and established enterprises. The partnership with Exaion is a strategic development that enhances Cronos' brand recognition, brings new talent and expertise into the ecosystem, and strengthens Cronos' participation in the French blockchain community."

Fatih Balyeli, CEO of Exaion, added: "We have been impressed with the technical depth of Cronos developers and the enthusiasm of the Cronos user community around use cases such as decentralized finance, NFTs, and Web3 gaming. Cronos is a worthy addition to the list of select blockchain protocols that we support as validators, together with Avalanche, Bitcoin, Ethereum, EWF, Starknet, Tezos, Polkadot, Moonbeam and Polygon."

About Cronos

Cronos (cronos.org) is a leading blockchain ecosystem that has partnered with Crypto.com and more than 500 application developers and contributors representing an addressable user base of more than a hundred million people around the world. Cronos' mission is to make it easy and safe for the next billion crypto users to adopt self-custody in Web3, with a focus on Decentralized Finance and Gaming.

The Cronos universe encompasses 3 chains: Cronos EVM, the leading Ethereum-compatible blockchain built on Cosmos SDK; Cronos POS, a leading Cosmos chain for payments and NFTs; and Cronos zkEVM, a new high performance layer 2 network secured by Ethereum.

Cronos ranks among the top 15 blockchain ecosystems, encompassing more than 6 billion dollars of user assets. Since inception, it has securely settled more than 150 million transactions.

About Exaion

Exaion, a subsidiary of the EDF Group, was co-founded in 2020 by Fatih Balyeli and Laurent Bernou-Mazars, who became respectively its CEO and CTO. Aligned with the Group's raison d’être, Exaion supports industries in their digital transformation with a responsible and sustainable approach: upgrading old supercomputers, using largely decarbonized electricity, and recovering waste heat. Its mission revolves around data: accelerating its processing, ensuring its security, and facilitating access and control for users. Its experts develop efficient, innovative and sovereign solutions and services. Exaion Inc., its subsidiary based in Montreal, Canada, serves the needs of North American stakeholders. For further information: www.exaion.com.

The upcoming Cronos Mainnet version 1.2 upgrade introduces improvements to backward compatibility and RPC improvements.

Following our initial proposal of the Cronos Mainnet V1.2 upgrade, we are pleased to announce that:

• The Cronos Mainnet V1.2 upgrade block height is set to 13520000, expected around Wednesday, 17th April 7AM UTC (3PM HKT/SGT), depending on the progress of block production. Check here for the estimated time;

• The network downtime is anticipated to be ~60 mins depending on the progress of the validator’s upgrade;

• All Cronos services, such as Cronos network, public RPCs, Explorer, and Cronos bridge, will be paused and resumed after the upgrade is completed.

What to expect if you are an end-user

The proposed upgrade date is 17th April 2024, and the chain will be upgraded at a specific block height of 13520000; the estimated time of this block can be found here.

After the upgrade block height, all node operators will upgrade their node binary so that their node can continue to sync with the chain. The chain will pause and then go back online, with all the data persisted, once most validators have completed their upgrades.

Actions Required if you are a Node Operator

The Cronos chain will be upgraded at the block height of 13520000. Once we reach the upgrade block height, all node operators must follow the instructions and upgrade to the latest cronosd binary - “v1.2.0” to keep the nodes in sync with the chain.
Please DO NOT UPGRADE to the binary v1.2.0 before the target upgrade block, as it will be incompatible.

If you have any questions or comments about this upgrade, please reach out to the team via the #cronos-mainnet channel on the Cronos Discord server.

Following the initial announcement of the Cronos Mainnet V1.1 Titan upgrade, we are pleased to announce that:

• The Cronos Mainnet V1.1 Titan upgrade block height is set to 13184000, expected around Tuesday, 26th March 7AM UTC (3PM HKT/SGT), depending on the progress of block production. Check here for the estimated time;

• The network downtime is anticipated to be ~60 mins depending on the progress of the validator’s upgrade;

• All Cronos services, such as Cronos network, public RPCs, Explorer, and Cronos bridge, will be paused and resumed after the upgrade is completed.

What to expect if you are an end-user

The proposed upgrade date is 26th March 2024, and the chain will be upgraded at a specific block height of 13184000; the estimated time of this block can be found here.

After the upgrade block height, all node operators will upgrade their node binary so that their node can continue to sync with the chain. The chain will pause and then go back online, with all the data persisted, once most validators have completed their upgrades.

Actions Required if you are a Node Operator

The Cronos chain will be upgraded at the block height of 13184000. Once we reach the upgrade block height, all node operators must follow the instructions and upgrade to the latest cronosd binary - “v1.1.0” to keep the  nodes in sync with the chain.
Please DO NOT UPGRADE to the binary v1.1.0 before the target upgrade block, as it will be incompatible.

If you have any questions or comments about this upgrade, please reach out to the team via the #cronos-mainnet channel on the Cronos Discord server.

We are excited to announce the planned highlights of the upcoming Titan Upgrade for the Cronos mainnet, scheduled to go live on March 26, 2024.

This upgrade brings significant improvements aimed at fine-tuning performance, boosting synchronization speed, and bolstering the overall robustness of the Cronos network.

The Cronos Titan upgrade guide for node operators, including block height and revised estimated date of the upgrade, will be released soon in this blog.

TL;DR

The Cronos Titan upgrade focuses on two major goals:

First, node and RPC performance improvement.

Every user knows how important it is for their experience that the blockchain network stays snappy, responsive and in sync during periods of high transaction activity. It is often during times of high traffic that DeFi traders find the best opportunities, and they want to make sure that their transactions are processed reliably and that transaction confirmations are available quickly, whether it is from the block explorer or directly from a JSON-RPC endpoint.

Titan delivers major performance improvements:

• MemIAVL - A performance boost for syncing in Cronos, offering speedy synchronisation with key benefits: local snapshot storage, dramatic snapshot time reduction (16 hours to 5 minutes), optimized block execution (over 10 times faster), and quick snapshot exports (8 minutes instead of 11 hours).

• RPC performance - Notably improved for complex requests for contract tracing, with a 78% reduction in response time.

• These improvements come in addition to the availability of VersionDB (which was already released with version 1.0.4) - Reduces database size by 63% by eliminating the IAVL tree, improving query performance.

Second, lay the foundation for upcoming user-facing features that leverage the best of Cosmos and Ethereum.

Cronos is committed to the Cosmos SDK ecosystem, which remains one of the most vibrant places in crypto today. Users expect an ever increasing level of interoperability between Cosmos SDK chains, and Titan enables Cronos to stay up to date with Cosmos innovations. 

When it comes to the EVM layer of Cronos, it also aims to leverage the best of what Ethereum has to offer, such as account abstraction.

Titan enhances interoperability with the Cosmos SDK ecosystem and prepares future user-facing use cases such as Interchain Accounts and Account Abstraction:

• Introduction of CRC21 - Enhances cross-chain interactions, allowing native Cronos token transfers, including VVS, to IBC-enabled Cosmos-SDK chains.

• Pre-Compiled and ICA in Cosmos - Enables smart contracts to access Cosmos features, bridging chain ecosystems. Interchain Accounts (ICA) standardises interchain transactions, making cross-chain communication more efficient.

• Account Abstraction (experimental stage) - Allows smart contracts to act as user accounts, broadening the range of DApps use cases and facilitating complex actions on Cronos.

Let's dive in.

Sync Speed Boost With MemIAVL

MemIAVL is a drop-in replacement for the current database implementation, unlocking substantial performance enhancements for the export and loading of chain snapshots, making for a speedier synchronization to the latest blocks. Key improvements include:

• Local Snapshot Storage: Snapshots can be stored locally and effortlessly shared with others, eliminating the need to fetch them from the network. This solves a known issue with the current Tendermint P2P design, which sometimes fails to complete snapshot fetching.

• Dramatic Snapshot Time Reduction: Snapshot restoration time shows a remarkable reduction, with tests showing snapshot restoration time reduction from 16 hours to just 5 minutes. Additionally, the snapshot size is now 35% smaller, down from 22 GB to 14 GB.

• Optimised Block Execution: The end-to-end block execution performance is significantly improved with test results showing over 10 times faster execution of Cronos mainnet blocks. The implementation of MemIAVL with VersionDB together enhances the synchronization speed of the RPC node, delivering faster synchronisation capabilities for node hosts.

• Quick Snapshot Exports: Exporting snapshots is now a breeze, taking just 8 minutes instead of the previous 10.5 hours, facilitating a more frequent and up-to-date backup and sharing of snapshots.

Improvement of JSON-RPC Performance

JSON-RPC requests have shown a significant improvement in response time, particularly for complex requests that require more state queries to the database. For example, debug_traceBlockByNumber, used to debug and trace internal contract calls, has shown a 41ms response time on average with VersionDB, compared with  194ms with RocksDB. This is a ~78% reduction in response time. The difference is even more significant for larger queries, as seen in the graphs below.

Note that for simple queries not requiring many state query calls to the database, response times remain similar.

Storage Improvements With VersionDB

While versionDB was already introduced in Cronos V1.0.4, this blog post acts as a reminder of how it contributes to the performance in the context of V1.1. VersionDB offers a substantial reduction in database size. By directly storing multiple versions of on-chain state key-value pairs, it eliminates the need for the bulky IAVL tree structure, resulting in a remarkable 63% reduction in disk size for archive nodes after migration. VersionDB enhances query performance, ensuring faster and more efficient data retrieval compared to the IAVL tree. 

Node operators should keep in mind that VersionDB has different implementations and does not support other database backends. Our current implementation, based on RocksDB v7's experimental user-defined timestamp, storing data in a standalone RocksDB instance. However, it does not currently support alternative database backends. Moreover, it lacks root hash and Merkle proof generation for historical data, necessitating the continued use of the IAVL tree for specific use cases. These considerations will help node operators make informed decisions about incorporating VersionDB into their projects, depending on their use case. Do not hesitate to contact Cronos Labs to discuss trade-offs. 

For further details, please explore our dedicated VersionDB blogpost and the official doc on VersionDB. 

Publication of CRC21 Standard

Built upon the CRC20 standard, the CRC21 standard details two key events (CronosSendToChain and CronosCancelSendToChain) essential for facilitating smooth cross-chain transfers of CRC20 tokens between Cosmos chains. 

Also, a notable function send_to_ibc has been enhanced to support cross-chain transactions, opening doors to interactions with various Cosmos chains like Osmosis.
Two new fields: channel_id (for specifying the target Cosmos chain to perform the cross transfer), and extraData (to accommodate the additional metadata, such as fee), have been added.

This upgrade allows native Cronos tokens to be transferred to other chains. ‘Bidirectional token transfer’ is enabled so that a CRC20 token (created on Cronos) can be sent to another chain natively using the CRC21 standard. This enhances interoperability and simplified use cases that rely on token transfers. 

Further details are available in the ADR Doc. 

Pre-Compile for ICA (Interchain Account)

Precompiles serve as specialized, EVM-layer operations designed to facilitate access to Cosmos SDK features through smart contracts. The key distinction is that their execution doesn't occur within a smart contract. This enables the exposure of Cosmos SDK native features at the EVM layer, bridging the gap between two powerful chain ecosystems. One notable relayer precompile is for IBC, which enables developers to trace, filter, or subscribe to IBC-related events, such as recv_packet or write_ack. 

Interchain Account (ICA) brings cross-chain communication to a new level by providing a standardized method for handling interchain transactions. It allows users to send messages and track their state changes between different appchains. With ICA, users and smart contracts can seamlessly register ICAs and submit transactions on host chains where permitted. Smart contract users receive real-time notifications via callbacks, ensuring an efficient process in managing ICA-related operations.

Cosmos SDK V0.47 and IBC Upgrades

Cronos' integration with Cosmos SDK V0.47, coupled with the latest IBC upgrades, strengthens the foundation of Cronos as a reliable blockchain platform. These upgrades, now incorporated into Cronos via the Titan Upgrade, open doors to new possibilities for developers and users alike. Notable improvements include:

• CometBFT V0.37 is now integrated into the Cosmos SDK, replacing Tendermint Core as the official state machine replication engine for the Interchain Stack. It serves as the successor to Tendermint Core and aims to become the preferred choice for robust, secure, and scalable application-specific chains.

• The Params Module is now in maintenance mode, and a new approach has been adopted, allowing parameters to be managed by individual modules for enhanced precision and adaptability across various application components. The deprecated Params Module will still be accessible so teams can make a gradual transition. A new module handling Tendermint parameters has also been introduced.

• The release includes a vital upgrade to ABCI 1.0, introducing ‘prepareProposal’ and ‘processProposal’ methods for improved application-consensus engine communication. It also adds an App-side mempool, allowing custom mempools and block construction. This enhancement facilitates the creation of specialized use cases, such as allocating a percentage of each block exclusively for IBC transactions, offering flexibility for complex fee market designs. 

For the IBC upgrade, Cronos is transitioning directly from version 5.2.1 to 7.3.1. To learn more about the various updates related to migration, please visit the IBC-go migration documentation.

Integration of IBC RPC Into the Blockchain Explorer

Cronos, an Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) compatible blockchain built with the Cosmos SDK, has embraced the Inter-Blockchain Communication Protocol (IBC) right from the start. In this upgrade, Cronos is further enhancing IBC's RPC capabilities, making it easier for different blockchain networks to communicate effectively and boosting interoperability at the core. 

The commitment of Cronos to Cosmos SDK and IBC is reflected in the development roadmap of Cronos Explorer, the new blockchain explorer. Cronos Explorer will simplify user access to Cronos data, addressing the challenge of viewing transaction details across the EVM and Cosmos layers - a frequent user need. During the coming months, Cronos Explorer will integrate Cosmos Proposals Data, Cosmos Validators Data, and Cosmos IBCs Data. This will allow users to not only access Cronos data but details on Cosmos proposals, validators, and IBCs, as well - all within a single, comprehensive interface.

Some of these enhancements are already available on the Cronos Explorer for Testnet, allowing users to easily view Cosmos layer transactions. For more details, read the Cronos Explorer blog post.

Account Abstraction on Cronos 

Account Abstraction simplifies blockchain interactions by allowing smart contracts to serve as user accounts, merging contract capabilities with account management. The Titan upgrade opens the door for Account Abstraction to become reality on Cronos mainnet.

With Account Abstraction, there are two types of accounts: Externally Owned Accounts (EOAs) and Contract Accounts. Traditionally, EOAs, controlled by private keys, have been the norm for executing transactions and managing digital assets. On the other hand, Contract Accounts, defined in the form of smart contracts, are controlled by their contract code. This code specifies which account can be accessed and the actions it can perform, enabling them to perform complex actions on the blockchain, similar to the functionality provided by smart contracts.

Key components have been developed to facilitate further development of Account Abstraction. Some of these components are still at an experimental stage:  

• User Operations, serve as a new type of transaction object containing additional data, allows for custom transaction and security configurations.

• JSON-RPC API debug_traceCall, allows for the simulation of User Operations before their actual execution on the chain. 

• Bundlers serve as crucial nodes that bundle unsigned User Operations into a single package for signing and subsequent publication on the mainnet. Bundlers estimate transaction fees. 

• Entry Point Contract, an audited and trusted singleton contract, is functional and can process the execution and validating User Operations. 

Account Abstraction opens up possibilities for numerous use cases such as multi-signature transactions, social recovery, contract whitelisting, custom gas tokens, subsidizing gas fees, and much more. It expands the use-case potential of DApps and enables a more intuitive user experience. 

Native account abstraction is still at an experimental stage on Cronos, not yet suitable for production use cases. However, there are application-level account abstraction solutions available for developers who need AA functionality now, such as Cometh. Please contact Cronos Labs if you would like to be introduced to the relevant developer tool platforms.

What’s Next

Overall, the Cronos mainnet Titan Upgrade is a significant step forward and shows Cronos' commitment to making a top-notch blockchain experience even better. 

The Cronos Titan upgrade guide for node operators will be released soon. Stay tuned for further updates. 

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We're thrilled to announce the launch of the new Cronos Explorer API service, a powerful tool that provides developers with programmatic access to a wide range of data on Cronos. Whether you're building a decentralized application (dapp) or game, or simply want to analyse data, the Cronos Explorer API service offers a range of features and benefits to help you achieve your goals.

API Service

We have developed the Cronos Developer APIs to empower developers with access to Cronos blockchain data and services via GET/POST requests. The API service requires an API key for authentication, which is provided upon registration for the membership. Available data includes:

• Accounts data: balance, transaction history, internal transactions

• Blocks data: block details, block timestamp predictions

• Contracts data: ABI, source code, verification submissions

• Transactions data: transaction status

• Logs data: log details

• ETH proxy: a proxy for commonly used EVM RPC endpoints

• Tokens data: account balance for tokens, total supply for tokens

• Statistics data: CRO statistics

Membership

The Cronos Explorer API service is expected to offer Cronos users a membership plan with a range of features and benefits. Currently, the user console includes:

1) Contract Verification Status Tracking, where members can track the status of submitted smart contract verifications so that they can expose their smart contract code to end-users who wish to do their own research.

2) API Key Creation, where members can create API keys for accessing the Cronos Explorer API service, allowing them to integrate the chain data into their own applications and services.

Getting Started

Getting started with the Cronos Explorer API service is easy. Simply register an account on the Account Registration page and sign in to your account dashboard to access API key management and features.

You can then view your API keys, including the default API key provided upon registration, and use them to access the API service and retrieve data from the provided endpoints.

The API service is well-documented with comprehensive guides and examples to help you get started quickly and easily. The API documentation includes information on making requests, parsing responses, and using the various endpoints, as well as provides access to a range of data on Cronos, including accounts, blocks, contracts, transactions, logs, tokens, statistics, and more.

Users can visit the Cronos API documentation sites below for more details: 

• Cronos Mainnet: https://explorer-api-doc.cronos.org/mainnet

• Cronos Testnet: https://explorer-api-doc.cronos.org/testnet
  
  

With your API key ready and the Cronos Explorer API documentation as your guide, you'll have all the tools needed to create innovative solutions on Cronos. Get started today and see what you can build with Cronos! And be sure to stay tuned for future updates and developments.

As Cronos continues to expand and generate blocks, managing archive nodes becomes more complex due to the growing size of the databases. The current archive node has reached the size of 2.4T. This means the ongoing size expansion of the IAVL database in archive nodes. 

In order to ensure that the Cronos blockchain can continue to grow, the Cronos development team has introduced support for the VersionDB initially from v1.0.4 and has been observing its performance. Drawing inspiration from the powerful features of the RocksDB engine, VersionDB provides a robust solution to the disk-size challenge. One of its most remarkable features is the ability to seamlessly integrate with various backend databases, including the notable pebbleDB. 

While VersionDB brings a host of benefits to the table, it's vital to recognize that its suitability depends on each user’s specific use case. In this article, we aim to provide an overview of VersionDB, its advantages, and the essential considerations to help Cronos node operators to make an informed decision on whether to incorporate it into their projects. Let's dive in and explore the key aspects of VersionDB!

Benefits and Limitations of VersionDB for node operators

VersionDB brings notable advantages worth highlighting:

• Reduced database size 

  VersionDB addresses the size issue of the IAVL database by directly storing multiple versions of on-chain state key-value pairs. This eliminates the need for a Merklized tree structure like the IAVL tree and significantly reduces the size of the database.
  After migrating to VersionDB, users can then prune the IAVL tree to reclaim disk size. We performed this migration for our Cronos public nodes and observed a reduction of approximately 63% in disk size for archive nodes.

• Improved query performance

  By storing data in a more efficient manner, VersionDB allows for faster and more efficient retrieval of information from the database, which triggers a better query performance compared to the IAVL tree. 

While VersionDB offers various advantages, it's essential to be aware of its limitations and considerations: 

• Different implementations

  VersionDB has different implementations. Our current implementation is based on RocksDB v7's experimental user-defined timestamp, which stores the data in a standalone RocksDB instance. However, it currently does not support other database backends.

• Missing Root Hash and Merkle Proof Generation for Historical Data

  VersionDB does not perform root hash and Merkle proof generation for historical data. Therefore, we still need the IAVL tree for those specific use cases. VersionDB does not support 1) eth_getProof for the historical versions that are pruned in the IAVL tree, and 2) non-grpc /abci_query for the historical versions that are pruned in the IAVL tree. 

Migration Overview

Once you have decided to migrate to VersionDB, you need to consider the following key steps for the migration. More comprehensive details and instructions are included in the VersionDB Migration Guide.

1. Configuration: Add VersionDB to app.toml. The node will subscribe to the latest state changes in real time and save them to VersionDB. 

2. Migration: The migration process tries to parallelise the tasks as much as possible, and uses significant RAM memory. 

   The three main steps for the legacy state migration process are as follows:

   2a) Extract and Verify Change Sets: Extract change sets from the IAVL tree, replay change sets, and verify the app hash.

   2b) Build VersionDB

   2c) Restore and Catch Up With IAVL Tree: Rebuild the application.db from scratch, and then sync VersionDB with application.db or restore application.db with the correct snapshot.

Migration Considerations and Optimization Tips for VersionDB Migration

In our migration journey to VersionDB, we have successfully achieved a significant reduction of approximately 63% in disk size for an archive node on Cronos. At this stage, this solution currently is only recommended for archive and non-validator nodes to try. Future improvements are expected to expand its applicability.

Currently GRPC query service doesn't need to support proof generation, so Versiondb alone is enough to support the GRPC query service, there's already a --grpc-only flag for one to start a standalone GRPC query service. This means GRPC queries can be performed using VersionDB alone, simplifying the query process. Nevertheless, it's crucial to be aware that its specific database structure, in comparison to regular nodes, restricts the ability to pull the Merkle tree, and certain endpoints are reserved and remain unavailable.

Lastly, it's important to note that migration from scratch may take up to a few days, with the change set extraction being the most time-consuming step. Specifically, running tests on the testnet archive node can consume approximately 11 hours on an 8-core SSD machine, while verification of the change set files takes only a few minutes. To address this issue, we prepared a downloadable link for users, which enables you to access the files and locally verify their accuracy: [VersionDB Archive Snapshot] and [VersionDB Default Snapshot].

Alternatively, for the VersionDB Default snapshot, users can download it by either of the following commands:

• Using curl:

curl -LOJ https://snapshot.cronos.org/cronos/mainnet-snapshot/cronosmainnet_25-1-versiondb-default-latest.tar.lz4

• Using wget:

Wget https://snapshot.cronos.org/cronos/mainnet-snapshot/cronosmainnet_25-1-versiondb-default-latest.tar.lz4

For those opting to perform the migration themselves, planning for the required migration downtime in advance is advisable. Also, users can bulk up their RAM memory to avoid reading from disk. Additionally, increasing the concurrency level to 128 can further expedite the process, although this may require additional CPU resources like R6g.2xlarge.

By taking these considerations into account, users can ensure a smoother transition and enhanced performance with VersionDB.

What’s Next

Exciting times lie ahead as we continue to refine the VersionDB migration process. Stay tuned for upcoming updates and enhancements, which will further optimize its efficiency and accessibility. By remaining engaged and proactive, we can unlock new levels of performance and resource utilization on Cronos. Users’ involvement and feedback play a crucial role in shaping the future of VersionDB, and together, we'll usher in a more robust and rewarding experience on the Cronos chain.

Introducing explorer.cronos.org/testnet

We are thrilled to announce the launch of Cronos Explorer on the Cronos Testnet. Cronos Explorer is available at https://explorer.cronos.org/testnet and will benefit from considerable development efforts during the next 12 months in order to become the reference block explorer and cater to the specific needs of Cronos users and developers.

You can visit Cronos Explorer on Testnet now at https://explorer.cronos.org/testnet.

While Cronos Explorer introduces several new and convenient features, it does not yet offer all the functionalities of the existing block explorers. Therefore:

• For Cronos Mainnet, users will continue to use Cronoscan as usual. There is no set decision or timeframe regarding the potential migration of the mainnet explorer.

• For Cronos Testnet, the legacy block explorer, based on the Blockscout project, remains available at https://cronos.org/explorer/testnet3 until such time as the new Cronos Explorer achieves rough feature parity, in several months. You can continue to use https://cronos.org/explorer/testnet3 and the associated API.

Note that the legacy URL https://testnet.cronoscan.com now redirects to Cronos Explorer.

With Cronos Explorer, Testnet users can access wallet information, block information and transaction details, understand various types of transactions, and view real-time and historical account balances.

Besides achieving feature parity with the current block explorers, Cronos Explorer will aim to make it easier for users to access Cronos chain information from both the EVM layer and the Cosmos SDK layer. This was a known user pain point when using block explorers designed solely for Ethereum-based technology.

In this blog post, we outline the new and upcoming functionalities of Cronos Explorer. 

To provide feedback, please fill out the feedback form at this link.

What Is New? 

Monitor transaction fees of Cosmos level transactions

Legacy explorers display the transaction fees associated with EVM level transactions, not the transaction fees associated with the occasional Cosmos level transactions (such as validator operations and governance proposals). With Cronos Explorer, the total transaction fees from both EVM and Cosmos transactions are included in the “Block Rewards” field of the block details.

In the below example, under Block #6322222, you can now see the total Block Reward collected by network validators, including the transaction fees paid for Cosmos native transactions. Note that the details of each individual Cosmos transaction are not yet shown.

Filter token transactions

In the Cronos Explorer menu options, you can select and view all the recent token transactions by type of smart contract (CRC-20 for fungible tokens, CRC-721 or CRC-1155 for non-fungible tokens).

When you click on an NFT smart contract address (CRC-721 or CRC-1155) you can see all the transactions associated with this NFT collection. Additionally, if you click on a specific token ID in the list of transactions, you can now see a list of transactions filtered according to both the NFT collection and the specific token ID.

Analyze internal transactions

With Cronos Explorer, you can see and analyze the internal transactions associated with each transaction. You also have the option to show or hide the zero-value internal transfers of a transaction: This feature simplifies transaction analysis by making internal transactions easier to read. 

What’s Next?

Cronos Explorer will be upgraded regularly in the coming weeks and months, both to achieve feature parity and to deliver differentiated functionalities. The development priorities are summarized below.

Proxy Contract Verification

Contract verification is essential for users and developers as part of doing one’s own research and understanding the security assumptions of dapps. Similar to what is available on Cronoscan, Cronos Explorer supports smart contract verification, but not proxy contracts. In the near future, Cronos Explorer will support the verification of proxy contracts with delegate calls to other contracts, further enhancing risk mitigation against unverified or malicious contracts.

Expanded Chain Statistics

Cronos Explorer’s charts & stats pages will gradually include statistics from the EVM and the Cosmos layers. This will include the real-time display of account balance changes, offering users valuable insights into fund flows and asset distribution within the network.

Node Data 

The display of chain node operator data is also part of the plan. Users will be able to better understand the activity of validator nodes, who are so crucial in ensuring the stability and security of the Cronos blockchain network.

User Interface

Examples of upcoming UI improvements include: enhanced search bar with filters, allowing users to easily search for specific information using criteria like addresses, tokens, and tags; top 50 token holder details, including rank and holdings as a portion of the total supply; account transaction history export; and other improvements.

API

API access to wallet, block and transaction data will remain available on the legacy block explorers until Cronos Explorer implements its own API. 

Your Feedback is Welcome

The Cronos Explorer aims to make it easy for users to engage with DeFi and GameFi protocols and NFT collections, as well as promote transparency, security, and knowledge sharing within the Cronos community.

We are excited to see continued improvement in the user experience on Cronos! And keen to hear your thoughts and suggestions!

Please fill the form at this link to share your feedback and feature requests.

For Korean language version: Please see at the bottom of this page.

Seoul, August 2, 2023 - The inaugural edition of the Seoul Web3 Festival, hosted by Seoul City, Baobab Partners, and the Seoul Design Foundation with the support of Cronos Labs, reached a successful conclusion today after 3 days of hackathon, start-up demonstrations and NFT exhibition.

65 teams, representing 245 team members, were selected to participate in the hackathon. They received hands-on mentoring and technical support from Cronos Labs so that they could build Web3 projects on the Cronos blockchain. 10 winning projects were selected by the jury based the innovative nature of their solution, as well as their potential to drive mass adoption of Web3 and their positive impact on under-priviledged communities.

Hackathon judges included representatives from Cronos Labs, Crypto.com, Microsoft, Alibaba Cloud and Ledger.

Finalist teams delivered innovative prototypes such as: a tool that leverages AI to remove sensitive biometric data from NFT images uploaded to decentralized storage; a voice identification app based on AI and zero-knowledge proofs to warn users in case of phishing scams; and various DAO protocols which take advantage of the wisdom of the crowd to report natural disasters or safety hazards.

Ken Timsit, Managing Director of Cronos Labs, said: “I am grateful for the opportunity to accompany the City of Seoul for the inaugural edition of the Seoul Web3 Festival. Cronos Labs mobilized some of our most experienced blockchain specialists in order to provide in-person support to hackathon participants. The connections forged with the local developer community are sure to create a strong pipeline of interest for the various Cronos ecosystem development programs such as the Cronos Builders Program, the Ecosystem Grant Program and the Cronos Accelerator Program.”

Cronos Labs views Korea as a top crypto market, and views Korea's developer ecosystem as a major contributor to the global DeFi and GameFi markets. Cronos' significant participation in the Seoul Web3 Festival highlights the growing global interest in the Korean crypto and blockchain industry.

About Cronos

Cronos (cronos.org) is the leading EVM-compatible layer 1 blockchain network built on the Cosmos SDK, supported by Crypto.com, Crypto.org and more than 500 app developers and partners. The mission of Cronos is to make it easy and safe for the next billion crypto users to adopt self-custody in Web3, with a focus on DeFi and GameFi.

Cronos has skyrocketed to a top 10 position among all chains and is adopted by >1 million users. The chain is powered by the Cronos ($CRO) cryptocurrency, which supports an ecosystem of more than 80 million users worldwide. 

To build on Cronos, application developers can leverage: all the major Ethereum developer tools; Cronos Play, a suite of tools and integrations for Unity, C++ and Unreal games; IBC cross-chain connectivity to Cosmos chains; and a rich ecosystem of composable DeFi and GameFi Dapps.

Cronos Labs is the R&D, ecosystem development, and start-up accelerator arm of the Cronos chain.

크로노스 랩스, 서울시와 개최한 ‘서울 웹3.0 페스티벌 2023’ 성료

• 메인 블록체인 네트워크 파트너 및 심사위원으로 참여

• 페스티벌 메인 행사인 해커톤 성황리에 폐막

서울, 2023년 8월 4일 - 서울시, 바오밥파트너즈, 서울디자인재단이 공동주최하고 크로노스 랩스가 후원한 제1회 서울 웹 3.0 페스티벌 (Seoul Web3.0 Festival 2023, 이하 SWF2023)이 해커톤, 스타트업 데모데이, NFT 전시 등 사흘간의 일정을 마무리하고 성황리에 막을 내렸다.

해커톤 행사에는 65개 팀, 총 245명의 인원이 참가했으며, 참가자들은 크로노스 랩스의 실전 멘토링 및 기술 지원을 받아 크로노스 블록체인을 기반으로 한 웹3.0 프로젝트를 개발했다. 심사위원단은 솔루션의 혁신성, 웹3.0 대중화 기여도, 소외 계층에 미치는 긍정적 영향을 기준으로 총 10개의 우수 프로젝트를 선정했다.

해커톤 심사위원단에는 크로노스 랩스, 크립토닷컴, 마이크로소프트, 알리바바 클라우드, 레저를 비롯한 여러 기업의 관계자들이 참여했다.

결승 진출팀들은 AI를 활용하여 분산 스토리지에 업로드된 NFT 이미지에서 민감한 생체 데이터를 삭제하는 툴, AI와 영지식증명(ZKP)으로 사용자에게 보이스피싱임을 알려주는 음성식별 앱, 집단지성을 활용해 자연재해 또는 안전 위협요소를 보고하는 다양한 DAO 프로토콜 등 여러 혁신적인 프로토타입을 선보였다.

“서울시와 함께 제 1 회 서울 웹 3.0 페스티벌에 참여할 수 있어 기쁘다. 크로노스는 이번 행사에 크로노스랩스에서 가장 경험이 풍부한 블록체인 전문가들을 파견해, 해커톤 참가자들과 다양한 의견을 주고 받았다. 이렇게 현지 개발자 커뮤니티와 유대관계를 맺음으로써 앞으로 크로노스 빌더스 프로그램, 생태계 보조금, 크로노스 엑셀러레이터 프로그램 등 다양한 크로노스 생태계 개발 프로그램에 대한 관심을 크게 키울 수 있을 것으로 기대한다”고 말했다.

한편, 크로노스 랩스는 한국을 주요 가상자산 시장으로 보고 있으며 한국의 개발자 생태계가 글로벌 디파이(DeFi) 및 게임파이(GameFi) 시장에 상당한 기여를 하고 있다고 평가하고 있다. 아울러 크로노스의 서울 웹3.0 페스티벌에 참여 사실은 한국의 가상자산 및 블록체인 산업에 대한 전세계적 관심이 확대되고 있음을 증명한다.

크로노스 소개

크로노스(cronos.org)는 코스모스 SDK에 구축된 선도적인 EVM 호환 레이어 1 블록체인 네트워크로, 크립토닷컴(Crypto.com), Crypto.org, 500개 이상의 앱 개발자 및 파트너가 참여하고 있다. 가상자산 이용자들이 웹3에서 자가 수탁(self-custody)를 쉽고 안전하게 채택할 수 있는 환경을 구축하는 것을 목표로, 탈중앙화 금융(DeFi) 및 게임파이(GameFi)에 중점을 두고 있다.

크로노스는 100만명의 이용자를 가진 10대 블록체인으로 급부상하고 있으며, 전 세계 8천만명 이상의 사용자를 보유한 크로노스 ($CRO) 암호화폐를 기반으로 한다.

앱 개발자들은 크로노스를 기반으로 모든 주요 이더리움 개발자 툴은 물론, 유니티, C++,언리얼 게임을 위한 툴과 통합을 지원하는 크로노스 플레이, 코스모스 체인에 대한 IBC 크로스체인 연결성, 풍성한 컴포저블 디파이 및 게임파이 탈중앙화앱(Dapp) 생태계를 활용할 수 있다.

크로노스 랩스(Cronos Labs)는 크로노스 체인의 R&D, 생태계 구축, 스타트업 액셀러레이팅을 담당하고 있다.

As the leading EVM-compatible layer-1 blockchain built on the Cosmos SDK, Cronos benefits from open-source improvements developed by the two leading blockchain developer communities: the Ethereum community and the Cosmos community. Cronos can pick the “best of both worlds” from a broad range of  robust, peer-reviewed ideas and technologies.

In this blog post, we recap the main recent and upcoming upgrades that are contributing to the scalability and reliability of the Cronos blockchain.

Cronos has validated more than 70 million transactions without interruption since launch, and has positioned itself as a top 10 blockchain by total value locked. The protocol roadmap aims to ensure that the chain continues to deliver world-class reliability while at the same time remaining fully competitive with other top chains.

TL;DR

During the first half of 2023, Cronos has implemented major improvements:

• VersionDB database, leading to 62% smaller node storage requirements.

• Fast node mode, enabling 50% faster node response time.

• Address recovery caching, resulting in 30% increase of transaction execution speed.

• More reliable public JSON-RPC endpoints, delivering more consistent data between 20% and 50% faster.

• General availability of optimistic rollups on top of Cronos Mainnet, enabling the Cronos ecosystem to support hundreds or even thousands of transactions per second thanks to a mesh of layer-2’s sharing Cronos as the layer-1 settlement layer.

The following upgrades are being evaluated, for deployment to Mainnet in the coming few months:

• Increase of block speed and capacity, enabling up to 2X increase of transaction per second (TPS) throughput.

• MemIAVL blockchain data structure, making it  >95% faster to load and export node snapshots.

Additionally, the protocol team continues to experiment with layer-2 technologies and data availability protocols to determine how they can further strengthen the Cronos ecosystem.

Please read below for important details.

Improvements already deployed to Cronos mainnet

VersionDB database

Cronos nodes can now utilize VersionDB as a database instead of RocksDB. Already 50% of the public endpoint infrastructure has been upgraded accordingly.

This improvement delivers a significant improvement in node storage, particularly for archive nodes. VersionDB can deliver up to  62% reduction in node storage requirements. In our experiments, archive node storage was reduced from 2.9TB to just 1.1TB, making it more efficient and cost-effective.

Fast node mode

An IAVL-fast node implementation has been used to revamp the key-value pair structure design of Cronos nodes. Nodes can enable the fast node option to deliver faster block execution and JSON-RPC response times, particularly if they are exposed to high query volume. 

During testing, this enhancement has resulted in a remarkable 50% reduction in the response time of the JSON-RPC endpoints of pruned nodes, significantly enhancing the speed and quality of user and developer experience.

Address recovery caching

Cronos has adopted a new approach for signature verification, which reduces the number of times that the verification happens during transaction execution.

We had noticed scenarios where the recovery of the sender address was done multiple times during transaction execution (details here). This led to inefficient resource utilization and degraded performance.

The new approach makes it possible to perform the verification only once, resulting in a significant acceleration of transaction execution. During testing, we observed that transaction execution speed was increased by approximately 30%.

More reliable public JSON-RPC endpoints

A version 2.0 of the public JSON-RPC endpoint infrastructure was deployed. Thanks to its reverse proxy implementation, the updated infrastructure delivers:

• More reliable data servicing. The upgrade solves the issue where various nodes, having synced at different block heights, return inconsistent smart contract call results from one call to the next.

• Faster response time. With intelligent caching, response time has been improved by 50% for historical data, and 20% for current data.

This is a major win for end-users and developers alike.

Optimistic rollups on top of Cronos mainnet

Effective immediately, optimistic layer-2 rollups are commercially available on Cronos Mainnet to developers who wish to deploy high-throughput networks on top of the Cronos layer-1. The Cronos partnership with Caldera, announced recently, provides developers with technology and support for this.

Application-specific layer-2 chains are particularly relevant for Web3 games that have scaled up enough to achieve significant transaction volumes of hundreds of thousands of monthly active users. Other relevant high-volume use cases include social media platforms, NFT-enabled event ticketing, as well as a broad range of enterprise applications.

This means that the Cronos ecosystem can now support hundreds or even thousands of transactions per second (10x to 30x the current TPS of Cronos), with an ecosystem of layer-2 chains sharing Cronos as the layer-1 settlement layer.

Improvements coming soon

Increase of block speed and capacity

Blockchains produce blocks. In the case of Cronos, one new block is produced every 5 to 6 seconds. Each block contains 40 million gas, where gas is a unit of compute capacity. Each transaction requires 220,000 gas on average, but this varies a lot depending on whether the transaction is a simple transfer or a complex DeFi trade. Therefore, the theoretical capacity of Cronos layer-1 is around 35 transactions per second.

On Cronos testnet, block time was recently reduced from 5-6 seconds to 2 seconds, which mechanically increases transaction throughput (or TPS) by a factor of 2.75x.

It is unlikely that we will reduce block time to 2 seconds on mainnet right away, as it could potentially be challenging for all validators to keep up with such a rapid pace of synchronization. Hence, an aspirational target would be to aim for a block time of 3-4 seconds, which would increase TPS by a factor of 1.5x at layer 1.

We can potentially achieve bigger TPS increase by exploring an increase of block capacity from 40 million gas to, say, 80 million gas in the coming months.

Overall, when we consider both layer 1 and layer 2, the Cronos ecosystem can now support hundreds or even thousands of transactions per second, with an ecosystem of rollup chains sharing Cronos as the layer-1 settlement layer.

MemIAVL blockchain data structure

The protocol engineering team has been actively working on MemIAVL implementation, a drop-in replacement for the current IAVL implementation. IAVL is the data structure used to organize blockchain data and calculate hashes efficiently.

MemIAVL brings substantial performance improvements to the way that nodes export and load blockchain snapshots in order to synchronize faster to the latest block:

• Snapshots can be stored locally and easily shared with others, eliminating the need to fetch them from the network. This addresses a known issue with the current Tendermint P2P design, where the fetching of snapshots sometimes fails to complete.

• Snapshot restoration time has been shortened dramatically. Tests resulted in snapshot restoration time reduction from 16 hours to just 5 minutes. Additionally, snapshot size was reduced by 35%, from 22 GB to 14 GB.

• Block execution performance can be improved significantly. Test resulted in over 10 times faster transaction execution speed by nodes.

• Together with VersionDB, MemIAVL enhances the synchronization speed of nodes, leading to more up-to-date JSON-RPC endpoints.

• Lastly, snapshot export time has been reduced from 10.5 hours to just 8 minutes, facilitating more frequent and up-to-date backup and sharing of snapshots.

These major improvements will benefit all node operators.

Looking ahead

The protocol team will continue to experiment with layer-2 technologies and data availability protocols to determine how they can further strengthen the Cronos ecosystem.

The Crypto.org chain’s governance recently voted for a proposal to reduce CRO inflation by burning approximately 100 million CRO per year. As a result, various Cronos protocol engineering contributors are looking into what are the possible technical options that could result in the burning of some share of the transaction fees paid by users on Cronos. They will publish updates and governance discussions in due course.

Additionally, there are a number of R&D efforts currently underway on topics such as account abstraction, MEV optimization, integration of new or updated Cosmos SDK modules, integration of additional IBC functionalities. These work streams will be incorporated into the protocol roadmap as soon as there is more clarity regarding their readiness and implementation timeframe.

We are thrilled to announce the launch of the Cronos Builders Program, a program that aims to empower Cronos dApp developers to explore and leverage a wide range of tools and services offered by infrastructure and service partners within the Cronos ecosystem.

Participants in the program will receive comprehensive support from our ecosystem partners, including technical assistance, credits, and exclusive service discounts to kickstart and accelerate product development. By joining the program, dApp teams gain access to valuable resources and opportunities, fueling their growth and success within the Cronos blockchain ecosystem.

Cronos Builders Program Launch Partners

Analytics Toolings

• Bubblemaps (Free listings)

• Footprint Analytics (API discounts)

• NFTScan (API discounts)

• Sentio (Credits & API discounts)

APIs & Indexers

• Bitquery (API discounts)

• Moralis (Credits & API discounts)

• Covalent (API discounts)

Node Providers

• Blockdaemon (Node & API discounts)

• Chainstack (Node & API discounts)

• RockX (Node & API discounts)

Name Services

• Cronos ID (Integration support)

Oracles

• Witnet (Oracle integration grants)

Security Auditors

• Blocksec (Audit discounts)

• Hacken (Audit discounts)

SDK and Toolings

• Cronos Play (Integration support)

• Tenderly (Discounts and technical support)

Liquidity Services

• Versa Games (Liquidity LP services)

Find out more: Cronos Builders Program Notion

Program Requirements & Application

To be eligible for the Cronos Builders Program, projects must have been building an application on the Cronos blockchain for at least 3 months.

Apply Now: Project Application Form

The Cronos Labs team will be performing the application assessment. Once the project’s application is approved, the project will be introduced to the infrastructure and service partners of interest.

Join Cronos Builders Program as a Partner

Service providers that are interested to integrate Cronos and would like to join as a Partner in the Cronos Builders Program, reach out to the Cronos Labs team through the Partnership Form.

About Cronos

Cronos (cronos.org) is the leading EVM-compatible layer 1 blockchain built on the Cosmos SDK, adopted by 1 million users. A top 10 blockchain network, Cronos is supported by Crypto.com, Crypto.org, and more than 500 app developers and partners. The mission of Cronos is to make it easy and safe for the next billion crypto users to adopt self-custody in Web3, with a focus on DeFi and GameFi applications. Cronos Labs is the ecosystem development arm and start-up accelerator of the Cronos blockchain.

For more information, please email Cronos Labs at contact@cronoslabs.org. For real-time updates, follow Cronos on Twitter at @cronos_chain.

Cronos Play for Unreal Engine Plugin is an immensely powerful tool for game developers creating blockchain-powered games. We're excited to announce the release of Cronos Play for Unreal Engine Plugin: play-unreal-plugin v0.0.12-alpha, along with a new version of its compatible demo: play-unreal-demo v0.0.10-alpha. Both releases are available for free on the Unreal Engine Marketplace.

Let’s take a closer look at the exciting new features and improvements.

Play-Unreal-Plugin v0.0.12-alpha

MetaMask and Crypto.com DeFi Wallet Support

Players can now send transactions using either MetaMask or the Crypto.com DeFi Wallet. This update enables users to seamlessly connect their wallets and send transactions directly from within the game, significantly streamlining the transaction process and enhancing overall functionality. To enable this capability, the SendEip155Transaction method has been added to support both wallets. We've also included missing ERC bindings, such as Erc721SetApprovalForAll and Erc20Transfer, which call the eth_sendTransaction RPC method inside, ensuring compatibility with both MetaMask and Crypto.com DeFi Wallet.

Play C++ SDK v0.0.19

The plugin’s release leverages an upgrade of the underlying play-cpp-sdk, from v0.0.14-alpha to v0.0.19-alpha. 

Key updates in play-cpp-sdk v0.0.19-alpha include:

1. In addition to the refactored ERC20/721/1155 contract functions to general functions for WalletConnect 1.0 and the inclusion of general EIP1559 functions, this release also includes a draft version of WalletConnect 2.0.

2. The ethers library has been upgraded to version 2.0.

3. New security storage functionality for users to securely save their private keys in the security enclave of their Android devices, providing an extra layer of protection for the private keys of crypto wallets.

4. Updates to the Android NDK, which has been upgraded to version r23. 

Enhancements and Bug Fixes

The latest releases also feature various bug fixes and improvements, such as the merging of CI workflows and fixes for various crashes.

One of the major issues addressed is the global pointer problem, which could lead to plugin crashes. To resolve this issue, we removed the global pointer and implemented a lambda function for sendEvent, while also passing the PlayCppSdk pointer to UserWalletConnectCallback during initialisation. These changes have significantly reduced the likelihood of crashes, allowing for a more stable and reliable experience when working with decentralised transaction capabilities in the games.

Another key change is the replacement of rust::cxxbridge1:: with std::exception. Since std::exception may not be caught with the rust::cxxbridge1:: error, adopting this feature makes it possible to detect and mitigate additional potential errors.

Furthermore, we've streamlined the CI workflow to enable better support for new Unreal Engines in the future.

These updates should make the plugin more dependable and user-friendly, giving game developers a better building experience for their games on Cronos.

Play-Unreal-Demo v0.0.10-alpha

The new version of the Play-Unreal-Demo v0.0.10-alpha adds support for the latest version of the Cronos Play for Unreal Engine Plugin, as well as several other improvements. 

The improved Android build script simplifies the process of building and deploying the demo on Android devices. The demo also features several new NPC assets, such as SendEip155Transaction, Erc20Transfer, Disconnect, and CallDynamicContract, giving developers more flexibility when building blockchain functionality into their games. We have formatted the demo code using code formatter clang-format, resulting in improved readability to save time during code review. 

These latest versions of Cronos Play for Unreal Engine Plugin and Demo offer game developers powerful resources for building their games on Cronos. We are dedicated to making the platform as seamless and user-friendly as possible and look forward to seeing what our community will create using these new tools as we continue to push the boundaries of decentralised gaming with Cronos Play.