Cronos Upgrades to Version 1.8 with Improved Performance and Compatibility

Cronos, an Ethereum-compatible blockchain network, is upgrading to version 1.8. The upgrade aims to reduce block generation times by approximately 20% and improve network latency. According to a simulation, the sustainable throughput of the network could increase by up to 66%. To achieve this, several key changes are being implemented, including the introduction of an app-side mempool for transaction pre-validation and the replacement of the network foundation with libp2p. The upgrade also includes the integration of the Native Block-STM engine into the Cosmos SDK layer, allowing for higher parallel execution of smart contracts. Additionally, API compatibility with Ethereum is being improved by expanding corresponding API methods and increasing EVM API compatibility to over 90%. Important bug fixes are also included in the update. However, users are advised not to immediately upgrade to the new binaries, as they are currently in a pre-release phase.