Blockchain network Zilliqa has officially released the white paper and roadmap for its highly anticipated Zilliqa 2.0 upgrade, set to deploy on the mainnet later in 2024. This upgrade promises significant enhancements in speed, efficiency, and interoperability with other blockchain networks.

Zilliqa 2.0 introduces a pioneering sharding architecture known as x-shards. This feature enables businesses and developers to create highly customized blockchain experiences, boosting the platform’s scalability and performance. Sharding, a method used to improve blockchain networks' efficiency, divides the network into smaller parts to handle more transactions without slowing down.

The upgrade also transitions Zilliqa from a proof-of-work (PoW) to a proof-of-stake (PoS) consensus mechanism. This change not only reduces the network’s energy consumption but also enhances security and allows for ultra-fast transaction finality. The root mainnet shard will feature an average block time of just two seconds, with adjustable block times to suit various needs.

A major highlight of Zilliqa 2.0 is its cross-chain communication hub, which facilitates seamless interactions between x-shards, the Zilliqa mainnet, and other Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM)-compatible blockchains. This makes Zilliqa capable of running smart contracts written in languages like Solidity and integrates smoothly with popular wallets such as MetaMask.

Zilliqa 2.0 will continue to support its native smart contract language, Scilla, alongside EVM-compatible languages. This ensures that both contract languages can work together efficiently, offering features like EVM-compatible account abstraction for smart accounts and easy token conversions for gas fees.

In line with the upgrade, Zilliqa’s tokenomics have been updated to support the switch to PoS. This aims to provide attractive and sustainable rewards for those who stake their tokens while reducing inflation, thereby enhancing network security and stability.

The announcement of Zilliqa 2.0 follows a period of operational disruptions that impacted block production on its mainnet. In December 2023, an interruption led to a significant drop in daily transactions, from approximately 61,000 to 30,906. Despite these challenges, Zilliqa has successfully restored full network functionality and is now focused on the upcoming upgrade.

With Zilliqa 2.0 on the horizon, the blockchain community anticipates a more robust, scalable, and eco-friendly network capable of meeting the growing demands of decentralized applications and cross-chain interactions.