The R&D phase has been completed — research and development of the task of speed up operations in the TON blockchain to less than 1 second while maintaining scalability, security, and decentralization.

During the work, three key areas were identified that, taken together, will allow the desired result to be achieved.

1. L1 and Node improvements

1.1. New Catchain 2.0 consensus

The current Catchain + BCP consensus stack has been replaced with a new protocol — Catchain 2.0, based on Simplex / Alpenglow algorithms adapted to the TON architecture.

The consensus protocol determines how validators share data, verify and accept blocks with transactions.

Simplex and Alpenglow are modern open consensus protocols that are characterized by high speed and relative simplicity.

Catchain 2.0 allows blocks to be finalized in 200–400 milliseconds while maintaining the same level of security. Previously, the block finalization time was about 2.5 seconds.

An additional advantage in terms of security is the widespread knowledge of these protocols, which greatly simplifies their audit.

1.2. New block broadcast protocol — "two-step" broadcast

Blocks are transferred between network nodes using the broadcast protocol. We have redesigned this network protocol, reducing the block delivery delay from approximately 700 ms to ~100 ms.

1.3. Additional optimizations

A number of additional optimizations have also been made to the C++ implementation of the TON node, including:

— block compression during transmission;

— parallelization of validation;

— the ability to exchange data between validators not only via the RLDP2 protocol, but also via TCP or QUIC. Based on the test results, it may be possible to switch to one of these protocols.

In addition to the main solutions, the internal statistics system was refined, as well as the internal tools for benchmarks and measurements for nodes, validators, and API.

2. API

2.1. Reduced API latency

The Toncenter API has been optimized, resulting in a latency of 30–100 milliseconds for obtaining the status of an operation via the Streaming API V2.

2.2. New functionality

Streaming API V2 in Toncenter now returns two statuses of operation instead of one:

confirmed — the block has appeared in the shardchain;

finalized — the block has been accepted into the masterchain.

Previously, only the finalized status was supported.

3. UX

A new UX approach has been proposed. Since an operation with the confirmed status has a rollback probability of less than 1%, applications can display it to the user at this stage. The user can then immediately perform the following operations without waiting for finalization.

At the finalized stage, the application can additionally mark in the UI that the operation is completely finalized.

This is similar to the confirmation model in other blockchains, where the operation is displayed after being included in the first block, and final finalization occurs after several block confirmations — at the same time, the user can immediately continue interacting with the blockchain.

This is a solid addition to last year's UX and kernel updates.

All of the above components have been completed separately. Component integration is underway, followed by testing on the TON test network.

Progress of Sub-Second update deployment on the TON mainnet

TON is gradually transitioning to an architecture where operation times are measured in milliseconds rather than seconds.

The Sub-Second update is one of the biggest technological improvements to the network in recent years.

New API and UX already on the main network

— Toncenter API has released a new accelerated Streaming API V2 for all users on the main and test networks.

— The first products — MyTonWallet and tonscan.org — have already switched to Streaming API V2 on the main and test networks.

This has already nearly halved the operation time in these products, even though the blockchain itself is still operating in the same mode.

— Other products and services in the ecosystem can already connect to the new API and implement the updated UX approaches.

Blockchain update

— On February 12, the main network validators were updated to the new accelerated network layer code and Catchain 2.0 consensus.

— The new functionality has not yet been enabled and will be activated after testing is complete.

Progress of Sub-Second update testing on the test network

The TON test network has been running stably for over a month since the January 23 update with the activation of Sub-Second mode:

— On average, 2-3 blocks are created per second.

— The network is operating under real organic load.

— Various validators are participating.

Load testing

During testing, tests were conducted under relatively high load. The results showed that with 1,000 transactions per second in a single shardchain, the operation time remains less than a second.

For comparison, even during periods of high load on the main network during the minting of Notcoin, DOGS, and Hamster Kombat projects, the average TPS did not exceed ~500.

Improvements and fixes

During testing, the TON Core team made a number of improvements. Of particular note:

— Disk performance has been optimized so that nodes with slower disks can synchronize stably at the new block rate.

— The stability and performance of the new consensus has been improved, and the handling of scenarios where some validators are temporarily out of service has been improved.

In addition to working on Sub-Second, two service updates have been released with fixes and improvements to the stability of the main network: TON 2026.02 (February 12) and TON 2026.02-1 (February 24).

Tolk Programming Langauge 1.3

— Type array<T> — dynamically sized arrays backed by TVM tuples.

— Type unknown — a TVM primitive with unknown contents.

— Type lisp_list<T> — nested two-element tuples (FunC-style).

— Type string — text chunks backed by snaked cells, with StringBuilder for concatenation.

— Compile-time string methods: "str".crc32(), "str".sha256(), etc.

— Null coalescing operator — ?? like in TypeScript.

— Import path mappings — import "@third_party/utils".

— Compile-time reflection via @stdlib/reflection.

— Custom serializers now support structures and generics.

— The compiler now reports multiple errors at once.

— Focused on stability — fixed dozens of minor issues found by LLM fuzzing.

— Extensive internal refactoring towards being stateless and multi-threaded.

Release »

Read more »

Sub-Second mainnet activation starts

The public bug bounty contest for the TON Sub-Second update has been completed.

We thank all participants for their work and valuable feedback. The corresponding changes have already been applied to the codebase. No major consensus changes were required.

The final contest results and reward distribution will be announced later.

This contest was the final stage of testing before mainnet activation. Prior to that, the update had already passed internal testing by TON Core and extended testing in testnet.

We are now starting the activation of the Sub-Second update in TON mainnet.

For additional reliability, activation will be performed in 3 stages:

Update plan:

March 31 (today): Upgrade validator nodes to the version supporting the latest consensus changes.

April 2: Vote to activate the new consensus on the basechain and enable a moderate block rate increase.

April 7: Vote to fully activate fast consensus on both the basechain and masterchain and then upgrade validator nodes.

The Sub-Second update is a major protocol upgrade comprising a substantial number of changes.

Despite comprehensive testing, validators are advised to maintain heightened operational readiness during the next two weeks, from March 31 to April 12.

The TON Core team will remain available throughout the deployment and is prepared to respond promptly to any situations.

Sub-Second for the TON Ecosystem

As part of the Sub-Second mainnet rollout, ecosystem participants should review the following guidance.

For Validators and Node owners

Follow @tonstatus.

For API developers

Please update your own nodes as described in the corresponding post.

APIs will continue functioning after the network upgrade. No additional compatibility changes are required.

If you were previously using low-end hardware, you may need to upgrade it due to the increased block rate

To deliver near-instant UX, we recommend adopting the latest API practices:

— Enable WebSockets support.
— Optimize general API latency.
— Support Pending and Confirmed operation statuses.

You can refer to the changes in the Toncenter API.

For exchanges and payment services

If you are running your own node, please update it as described in the corresponding post.
If you are using an API, whether external or self-hosted, no action is required.

No additional changes are needed. Transaction finality should continue to be determined based on masterchain finalization, as before.

For products and dApps

If you are running your own node, please update it as described in the corresponding post.
If you are using an API, whether external or self-hosted, no action is required.

Products and APIs will continue functioning after the network upgrade. No additional compatibility changes are required.

To deliver near-instant UX, we recommend adopting the latest UX practices:
— Use Toncenter Streaming API V2.
— Display an operation in the UI once it reaches Pending status.
— Mark an operation as completed once it reaches Confirmed status.

You can refer to the changes in mytonwallet.io and tonscan.org.

Sub-Second is Live

The vote to enable Sub-Second has passed, and the blockchain has switched to the new high-speed mode.

The blockchain is currently running stably.

About 7% of validators have not yet updated, so the block production rate is still slightly below the target

We ask validators who have not yet updated to do so.

API developers and product developers — please make sure everything is working properly in your services.

Scheduled Closure of the Token Bridge V3

Effective April 27 at 12:00 UTC, token transfers from Ethereum to TON through the bridge-v3.ton.org will be permanently discontinued.

Claims for previously completed transfers will remain available.

Transfers from TON to Ethereum will remain available. The token-amount-based fee for such transfers will be removed.

This is a planned closure of the Token Bridge V3, following the earlier discontinuation of jUSDT and Toncoin transfers. All user funds remain safe.

The Token Bridge played an important role in the early development of the TON ecosystem.

The ecosystem is transitioning to newer cross-chain solutions:
https://ton.org/bridges

Blockchain Fee Reduction

The TON Core team has prepared a blockchain update (TON 2026.04, TON 2026.04-1) to reduce fees by 6x, in line with Pavel Durov’s MTONGA plan.

This update includes:

1) Performance improvements

The previous Sub-Second update improved not only operation speed but also overall blockchain performance, making a fee reduction possible. Since then, additional optimizations and performance improvements have also been implemented, including a new mempool based on a persistent Cartesian tree.

2) Fixes

In addition to performance improvements, this update will include fixes for issues identified on mainnet after the Sub-Second release. In particular, it addresses loss of synchronization on some liteservers and rare block rate instability.

Planned Schedule:

April 28, 2026 12:00 UTC — Validator software update.
April 30, 2026 13:00 UTC — Vote to lower gas prices in the blockchain configuration.

Lower fees are important for the next stages of the MTONGA plan. Since fees do not constitute a significant portion of validator rewards, validator rewards are expected to decrease by less than 0.4%.

Mainnet validator operators are asked to be prepared to update their software on 28 April and to participate in the vote on 30 April.

Voting by validators on reducing network fees has begun

Validators, please participate in the vote.

Follow the voting progress here.

UPD: All proposals were accepted, fees on the mainnet have been reduced, thank you!

Tolk 1.4 Programming Language

Introducing source maps, debugger support, ABI export, and auto-generated TypeScript wrappers.

— ABI export for toolchains, explorers, SDKs, and UI integrations.

— Auto-generated TypeScript wrappers for Tolk smart contracts.

— Source maps that connect TVM execution back to Tolk source code, variables, stack layout, and call frames.

— Debugger marks that enable step-by-step debugging of fully optimized production contracts.

— Language enhancements continuing Tolk’s evolution toward a general-purpose smart contract language.

Release »

Introducing Acton — a new, modern toolchain for developing smart contracts on TON

Acton covers the full development lifecycle: project creation, testing, debugging, dApp integration, deployment, and verification.

CLI-first by design, it works naturally for both developers and AI agents.

1. One toolchain, not a bunch of utilities
Create, build, test, lint, format, deploy, and verify TON contracts in a single coherent environment around Tolk.

2. A tighter build-test-debug loop
Write tests directly in Tolk programming language, run them fast, debug failed transactions, and inspect what actually happened on-chain.

3. Security built in
Coverage, fuzzing, mutation testing, gas profiling, and CI help catch regressions early.

4. A native debugger
Step in, step over, step out, watch variables, and inspect the call stack. A smooth Web2-style developer experience, now inside a blockchain language.

5. Friendly for AI agents
A modern CLI tool that becomes an agent's runtime, with skills and manuals bundled.

6. IDE integtation
Use it with VS Code, JetBrains, Cursor, Zed, and other LSP‑based editors.

Read more »

Docs »

Author's notes »

One of Acton’s key features is its advanced support for developing TON smart contracts using AI.