The MultiversX team announced on Friday via X that the Bernard upgrade is now underway on the mainnet. Barnard introduces a new governance model, significant DevEx improvements, and sets the stage for sub-second finality with the upcoming Supernova update.
With this upgrade, protocol changes move entirely onchain. Any holder willing to post a 500 EGLD bond can propose; staked + liquid EGLD now decides what ships. Furthermore, a redesigned fee model cuts the gas-penalty factor from 10× to 2×. Users pay closer to the true cost, dApps fit more transactions per block, and everyday interactions feel quicker and cheaper.
The upgrade also comes with millisecond-level VM hooks and a new account-iterator endpoint that allows builders to stream data, sync game states, or trigger finance logic exactly on cue, opening use cases that weren’t possible before.
MultiversX is a high-throughput public blockchain focused on providing security, efficiency, scalability, and interoperability by employing two key elements: Adaptive State Sharding and a new Secure Proof of Stake ("SPoS") consensus mechanism. EGLD is up 4.8% today and is trading at $17.89 at press time.