Avalanche With an Important Network Update
The developers of Avalanche have upgraded AvalancheGo - the blockchain software implementation based on the Go programming language - to "Banff 5".
The update is crucial for the network as it introduces a communication protocol for its blockchains (called subnets) known as Avalanche Warp Messaging. The feature will allow subnetworks to share data and crypto assets with each other in an effort to make the Avalanche blockchain ecosystem more useful to developers.
Avalanche subnet interoperability
Prior to the upgrade, Avalanche already allowed developers to write code for custom blockchain networks or subnets for different use cases in the Go and Rust programming languages. However, these subnets previously could not communicate with each other without the use of complex bridging systems, meaning they largely remained isolated from each other. This is where Banff 5 comes in with Avalanche Warp Messaging to enable what is described as “seamless local communication” between subnets to transfer assets or data across different subnets.
The update removes the need for individual subnetwork projects to implement and manage their own bridges. The mechanism also has the potential to open the door to new use cases, such as token stacking between circuits, the Avalanche team said.
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“Avalanche Warp Messaging (AWM) is the catalyst that will cause a Cambrian explosion of development on Avalanche subnets”, said Patrick O’Grady, head of engineering at Ava Labs. “With this release, you can run your own blockchain network based on Go or Rust, and reward each node that pledges your own token to validate it, while interacting naturally with an ecosystem of other builders doing the same.”
Messages in the subnet use an advanced cryptographic tool called “BLS multi signatures” to verify messages and data on-chain. To use the protocol, security validators on each subnet can generate a BLS signature that verifies the request to send assets or data to another subnet.
The same message can be verified by any other subnet in the Avalanche ecosystem to initiate a local transfer of data or assets. Ava Labs said it made the first local subnet-to-subnet message on Thursday.