Polygon’s Madhugiri Upgrade Cuts Consensus Time to 1 Second, Aiming to Enhance Stablecoin and RWA Scaling

• Madhugiri upgrade achieves 33% higher throughput for faster transactions.

• Introduces support for EIP-7823, EIP-7825, and EIP-7883 to optimize gas usage and security.

• Enhances infrastructure for high-trust applications like stablecoins, with projections of over 100,000 new stablecoins in five years.

Discover how Polygon’s Madhugiri hard fork cuts consensus to 1 second and boosts throughput for RWAs and stablecoins. Explore impacts on blockchain efficiency today.

What is Polygon’s Madhugiri Hard Fork?

Polygon’s Madhugiri hard fork is a major protocol upgrade that enhances the blockchain’s performance by reducing block consensus time from two seconds to one second while increasing network throughput by 33%. This update, rolled out in 2025, supports three Fusaka Ethereum Improvement Proposals—EIP-7823, EIP-7825, and EIP-7883—to make complex mathematical operations more gas-efficient and secure. It also introduces a new transaction type for Ethereum-to-Polygon bridge traffic and built-in flexibility for future enhancements, making scalability straightforward.

Blockchain network Polygon has implemented this upgrade to address growing demands for speed and reliability in decentralized applications. By limiting gas consumption in heavy computations, the fork prevents any single transaction from overwhelming the network, ensuring smoother and more predictable operations. Polygon core developer Krishang Shah highlighted these changes in a post on X, emphasizing the fork’s role in announcing blocks faster when ready.

We are also decreasing the consensus time to 1 second, so blocks can now be announced in 1 second if ready, instead of waiting the full 2 seconds,” Shah wrote.

Source: Krishang Shah

How Does the Madhugiri Upgrade Support Stablecoins and Real-World Assets?

The Madhugiri hard fork strengthens Polygon’s infrastructure, making it ideal for high-frequency, high-trust use cases such as real-world asset (RWA) tokenization and stablecoins. By improving throughput and reducing latency, it enables more efficient handling of large-scale financial applications. Aishwary Gupta, global head of payments and RWAs at Polygon Labs, has forecasted a stablecoin supercycle, predicting at least 100,000 new stablecoins emerging over the next five years.

These stablecoins will require more than just token minting; they must deliver real utility and yield, according to Gupta. He stresses the importance of transparency and accountability in the RWA sector, noting that unauditable assets undermine trust. “When transparency and accountability are established, RWAs will reach even greater heights, unlocking trillions in institutional capital,” Gupta stated. This upgrade lays the groundwork by providing the performance needed for seamless settlement, trading, and auditing of tokenized assets.

Supporting data from Polygon indicates that the fork simplifies throughput increases, described as “flipping a few switches.” It also mitigates risks from excessive computing power in transactions, promoting network stability. Expert analyses from blockchain developers align with these improvements, confirming the fork’s alignment with Ethereum’s Fusaka roadmap for broader ecosystem compatibility.

Frequently Asked Questions

What Are the Key EIPs in Polygon’s Madhugiri Hard Fork?

The Madhugiri hard fork incorporates EIP-7823, EIP-7825, and EIP-7883 from the Fusaka proposals. These focus on optimizing gas for heavy mathematical operations, enhancing security by curbing excessive resource use, and ensuring transactions do not disrupt network flow. This results in 33% higher throughput and one-second consensus times for improved efficiency.

How Will the Madhugiri Upgrade Impact Stablecoin Adoption?

Polygon’s Madhugiri upgrade boosts performance for stablecoins by slashing consensus times and increasing throughput, making it suitable for high-volume transactions. As Aishwary Gupta predicts a surge to 100,000 stablecoins with real yield, this fork ensures the network can handle the scale, fostering trust through better transparency and auditability in tokenized ecosystems.

Key Takeaways

• Madhugiri Reduces Latency: Block consensus drops to one second, enabling faster block announcements and 33% throughput gains for real-time applications.
• Fusaka EIP Integration: Supports EIP-7823, EIP-7825, and EIP-7883 to optimize gas and prevent transaction overloads, enhancing security and predictability.
• Foundation for RWAs: Prepares Polygon for stablecoin and RWA growth, with expert forecasts of trillions in capital unlocked via transparent tokenization.

Conclusion

Polygon’s Madhugiri hard fork marks a pivotal advancement in blockchain scaling, integrating Fusaka EIPs for superior efficiency and laying robust groundwork for stablecoins and RWAs. With reduced consensus times and enhanced throughput, it positions the network to support the anticipated stablecoin supercycle and secure institutional adoption. As Polygon continues refining its protocol, developers and users can expect even more reliable, high-performance decentralized finance solutions in the evolving crypto landscape.

New Update Reinforces Polygon for Stablecoins and RWAs

With the Madhugiri upgrade now active, Polygon is bolstering its core infrastructure to deliver measurable performance gains. These enhancements are essential for demanding applications like RWA tokenization and stablecoin operations, where speed and trust are paramount. The fork’s design ensures the network can process transactions more rapidly, reducing bottlenecks that previously hindered scalability.

Aishwary Gupta’s insights underscore the potential: A “stablecoin supercycle” could introduce at least 100,000 new tokens, each backed by genuine utility and yield mechanisms. Beyond creation, Gupta emphasizes the need for verifiable assets in RWAs, arguing that only auditable, settleable, and tradable tokens will attract serious investment. This transparency could mobilize trillions from institutions, transforming how real-world value integrates with blockchain technology.

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Hard Fork Follows Major Heimdall Upgrade

The Madhugiri deployment builds on recent milestones, including the Heimdall 2.0 upgrade launched on July 10. Described by Polygon Foundation CEO Sandeep Nailwal as the network’s most technically complex hard fork to date, Heimdall 2.0 shortened transaction finality from one to two minutes down to approximately five seconds.

Despite these strides, the network faced a setback on September 10, when a bug led to finality delays of 10 to 15 minutes, impacting validator synchronization, RPC services, and external tools. The Polygon team confirmed that core block production remained uninterrupted during the incident. By September 11, a subsequent hard fork resolved the issues, restoring consensus and finality functions while ensuring nodes operated smoothly and checkpoints finalized on schedule.

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The Madhugiri hard fork represents Polygon’s commitment to iterative improvements, addressing past disruptions while aligning with Ethereum’s broader upgrades. By incorporating Fusaka EIPs, it not only optimizes current operations but also future-proofs the ecosystem for emerging demands in DeFi and tokenized assets. Blockchain analysts note that such protocol evolutions are crucial for maintaining competitiveness in a rapidly advancing field.

Overall, this upgrade exemplifies fact-based engineering in cryptocurrency infrastructure, drawing on developer expertise to deliver tangible benefits. As Polygon navigates these enhancements, it solidifies its role as a leading layer-2 solution for scalable, efficient blockchain applications.