Cronos Reveals v1.8 Timeline and Performance Gains

Cronos Network, an open-source blockchain network, has announced version 1.8 of its software. The testnet upgrade is scheduled for September 30, 2026. The mainnet upgrade is targeted for October 22, 2026. 

According to the official announcement, the version is expected to deliver approximately 20 percent faster median block times, an application-side mempool intended to reduce latency, and up to 66 percent higher sustained throughput based on mainnet simulations. Release notes and an upgrade guide are to be published later.

Cronos v1.8 is coming.

Here is the timeline for the upgrade:

We will be upgrading testnet on 30 Sep 2026.
We are targeting the mainnet upgrade on 22 Oct 2026.

In this version, we are bringing ~20% faster median block times, an app-side mempool for lower latency and up to 66%… pic.twitter.com/idF6kVXypz

— Cronos Network (@CronosNetwork) September 25, 2026

The network plans to complete the testnet upgrade on September 30, 2026. The mainnet upgrade is set as a target date of October 22, 2026. Operators and developers are expected to follow the forthcoming upgrade guide once it is released.

Technical changes in Version 1.8

Version 1.8 includes several updates to the base layer. The networking stack has been replaced with libp2p. An application-side mempool has been added as a custom pre-verification layer. Native Block-STM, a parallel EVM execution engine, has been embedded within the Cosmos SDK layer. 

Coverage of Ethereum API methods has been expanded to more than 80 individual methods, resulting in EVM API equivalence above 90 percent. More than 40 bug fixes have been integrated. 

Framework and dependency upgrades include cosmos-sdk to version 0.54.3, ibc-go to version 11, cometbft to version 0.39, and go-ethereum to version 1.16.9, which enables the Osaka hardfork. RocksDB has been upgraded to version 10.9.1, and new tuning profiles have been introduced. 

Additional adjustments involve optimization of the Cosmos-SDK staking end-block queue through the use of pending queue slots, support for unblockable addresses, and refinements to local testing processes.

Bug fixes and protocol adjustments

Token-mapping proposals that have been validated now require contract code. Auto-mapping on denom remaps has been retired, and source denom mapping immutability is enforced. CRC21 token-mapping registrations that target the zero address or the Ethereum precompile range are rejected. 

Within the EVM and ante handlers, floor-data-gas is enforced, and EIP-1559 cost balance checks are applied even outside checkTx mode. Fixes have been applied to IBC callback responses. Non-leaf node data is ignored in the restore-versiondb CLI command. Unused precompiles have been removed, and various integration tests related to the mempool, IBC, and versiondb have been addressed.

Related governance proposal

Separately, a governance proposal titled “Revenue-Backed CRO” was posted to the Cronos POS governance discussion on September 19, 2026. The corresponding on-chain vote is recorded as Proposal #37. Voting is scheduled to close on October 3, 2026, at 02:02 UTC. 

The proposal links two elements: the commitment of product revenue to CRO burns and the allocation of tokens that were previously un-burned for payments to stakers. The document states that the two components cannot be separated.

Network context of the upgrade

The v1.8 upgrade addresses execution throughput, node communication, block construction, and system components while increasing Ethereum API compatibility. The listed dependency upgrades and bug fixes form part of the changes scheduled for the testnet and mainnet deployments.

The governance proposal on revenue allocation and staking payments remains under active voting until the stated closing time. Both the software upgrade schedule and the governance process are proceeding according to the published timelines. 

Details on the precise implementation of the performance metrics, including the measured improvements in block times and throughput, are expected to appear in the forthcoming release notes. Operators are advised to monitor official channels for the upgrade guide ahead of the September 30 testnet date and the October 22 mainnet target.

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