Celestia’s Lemongrass Upgrade: A Comprehensive Overview

A
significant
milestone
is
on
the
horizon
for
Celestia,
as
the
blockchain
platform
prepares
for
its
first
major
upgrade,
dubbed ‘Lemongrass’.
According
to
the
Celestia
Blog,
this
upgrade
brings
numerous
consensus
layer
changes
aimed
at
enhancing
the
platform’s
functionality
and
performance.

Key
Features
of
the
Lemongrass
Upgrade

The
Lemongrass
upgrade
introduces
several
critical
changes,
including
Interchain
Accounts,
Packet
Forward
Middleware,
and
CIP-10,
a
mechanism
designed
to
streamline
future
upgrades.
The
release
of
version
2.0.0
of
the
celestia-app
will
trigger
the
activation
of
Lemongrass
on
the
Arabica
Devnet
in
August
2024.
Following
successful
testing,
the
Mocha
Testnet
is
also
expected
to
be
upgraded
later
in
August,
with
the
Celestia
Mainnet
Beta
set
to
receive
the
upgrade
by
early
to
mid-September.

Changes
to
the
Data
Availability
Layer

The
Data
Availability
(DA)
layer
will
also
undergo
significant
technical
changes
in
coordination
with
the
community.
These
include
pruning
blob
data
(CIP-4)
and
the
introduction
of
Shwap
(CIP-19),
a
new
messaging
framework
for
DA
and
sampling.
Detailed
information
on
these
changes
can
be
found
in
the
respective
CIPs.

Detailed
Breakdown
of
Core
Improvement
Proposals
(CIPs)

The
Lemongrass
hardfork
encompasses
several
Core
Improvement
Proposals
(CIPs)
as
outlined
in
CIP-17.
These
include:

• 
  CIP-6:
  Price
  enforcement.
• 
  CIP-9:
  Packet
  Forward
  Middleware.
• 
  CIP-10:
  Coordinated
  Upgrades.
• 
  CIP-14:
  Interchain
  Accounts.
• 
  CIP-20:
  Disable
  Blobstream
  module.

CIP-6:
Price
Enforcement

CIP-6
introduces
a
mechanism
to
enforce
a
minimum
gas
price
for
transactions
on
the
network,
aimed
at
minimizing
spam
and
ensuring
efficient
network
operation.

CIP-9:
Packet
Forward
Middleware

CIP-9
brings
Packet
Forward
Middleware
(PFM)
to
the
network,
enabling
IBC
multi-hop
and
facilitating
the
forwarding
of
data
packets.
This
is
designed
to
reduce
latency
and
overhead
in
bridging
operations.

CIP-10:
Coordinated
Upgrades

CIP-10
introduces
an
in-protocol
signaling
mechanism
for
validators
to
signal
readiness
for
a
hardfork
upgrade.
When
a
quorum
of
5/6
of
network
stake
is
reached,
the
network
migrates
to
the
new
version,
ensuring
faster
and
simpler
upgrade
processes.

CIP-14:
Interchain
Accounts

CIP-14
introduces
Interchain
Accounts
(ICA),
allowing
accounts
on
the
Celestia
network
to
be
controlled
by
accounts
on
another
chain
via
IBC,
enhancing
interoperability
between
Celestia
and
IBC-enabled
chains.

CIP-20:
Disable
Blobstream
Module

CIP-20
disables
the
Blobstream
module
in
Celestia’s
consensus
layer,
simplifying
the
network
architecture
and
improving
performance.
The
module
is
deprecated
in
favor
of
zk-light
clients
being
developed
by
the
core
developer
community.

This
upgrade
marks
a
pivotal
moment
for
Celestia,
setting
the
stage
for
enhanced
interoperability,
efficiency,
and
future
scalability
of
the
network.

For
more
detailed
information,
visit
the

Celestia
Blog.

Image
source:
Shutterstock