Polygon Launches Madhugiri Hard Fork to Boost Throughput by 33%
Polygon has its latest network upgrade, the Madhugiri hard fork, introducing performance improvements aimed at making the chain quicker and more efficient. The upgrade reduces block-time delays from two seconds to one, allowing transactions to be confirmed more rapidly and lifting estimated throughput by roughly 33%.
Madhugiri incorporates several optimizations originally developed for ETH’s Fusaka update, including enhancements to gas measurement and processing operations that assist the network handle heavier computational loads. The fork also introduces a new transaction type designed to streamline activity between Polygon and ETH, strengthening the network’s cross-chain architecture.
The upgrade forms part of the blockchain’s broader effort to prepare its ecosystem for high-volume applications such as stablecoins, real-world asset tokenization, and enterprise-grade financial products. By improving block cadence and reducing latency, Polygon aims to offer developers a more predictable and scalable environment.
Krishang, a core developer, additional benefits, saying:
“We are introducing a new transaction type for ETH ↔ Polygon bridge transactions. 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.”
With Madhugiri now live, Polygon says future performance upgrades will be easier to roll out, enabling the network to adjust capacity more rapidly as demand grows.
Broader Implications for Adoption of Polygon
The timing of the Madhugiri hard fork coincides with increasing real-world usage of the blockchain across payments, stablecoins, and large‑scale enterprise deployments—suggesting the upgrade is not just about raw throughput, but readiness for mass adoption.
For example, the underscores trust in its capacity to handle high-volume, fiat-backed assets. The stablecoin’s full deployment followed a proof‑of‑concept and now supports payments, cross-border remittances, and business operations—use cases that demand reliability, speed, and low fees.
Meanwhile, the decision by —enabling verified username‑based crypto transfers—points to a broader push toward user‑friendly, mainstream‑grade crypto payments. By mapping human-readable aliases to self-custody wallets, Mastercard aims to remove a major barrier to adoption.
ETH has also , which briefly caused Block confirmer participation to drop by about 25% due to a Prysm client bug. This incident highlighted how network consensus can be vulnerable when too many nodes rely on a single client.
