Avalanche Update: Elastic Subnets, AWM, and The HyperSDK

Avalanche has quietly made significant technical upgrades to its infrastructure over the last few months, including the implementation of Elastic Subnets, Avalanche Warp Messaging (AWM), and the HyperSDK. These upgrades greatly enhance Avalanche's value proposition as a toolkit for developers to build custom subnet secured blockchains, allowing it to better compete with the Cosmos SDK.

The creation of highly adopted subnets directly impacts the value proposition of the AVAX token. Thus, understanding how the tech stack competes in the market is crucial for any crypto investor.

Elastic Subnets

Elastic subnets are immutable validator sets that allow permissionless blockchains to be created using the Avalanche tech stack. The new subnet type enables Proof-of-Stake (PoS) validation and rewards using a subnet’s native token. All subnets are initially created with an owner/manager who defines parameters such as selecting a chain’s gas token and initial validator set. They can also remove validators as they see fit. Upon submitting a TransformSubnetTx, which burns the owner’s key and removes their control, the subnet becomes an immutable elastic subnet.

After a subnet makes the transition, any token holder can become a validator simply by staking the subnet’s native token to the Avalanche P-chain. There may be a minimum token requirement, but validation can be a permissionless process. The P-chain underwent a major upgrade to its low-level tech to allow these changes.

Elastic subnets pave the way for creating large decentralized community-controlled blockchains. Currently, most subnets only have single or double-digit number of validators, a point of centralization that will likely change with the new upgrade. For comparison, the Avalanche primary network has over 1,200 validators. Decentralization is at the core of crypto’s value proposition, and the recent improvements to Avalanche make it possible for projects that align with this ethos to thrive.