AvalancheGo: Banff
Amanda avatar
Written by Amanda
Updated over a week ago

Banff 5, including Avalanche® Warp Messaging, was released on December 22nd, 2022. Please read this Medium article to find out more.


Banff is the newest release of AvalancheGo, v1.9.0. It will activate on Avalanche’s Mainnet on October 18th, 2022 at 12 PM EDT (4 PM UTC). To read the full description of each new feature, please view this Medium article.

  • Elastic Subnets: Proof-Of-Stake validation and uptime-based rewards using Subnet-specific tokens. This lets anyone validate a Subnet by staking its token on the P-Chain. Subnets interested in enabling those features must undergo a one-time transformation into an Elastic Subnet, permanently locking it from future modifications.

  • Early Subnet Validator Removal: The ability to remove a validator before the conclusion of its staking period from a Subnet.

  • P2P Protobuf Messaging: Banff serializes all P2P messages through Protocol Buffers. This approach uses less memory and bandwidth and is faster than the previous implementation.

  • Custom Delegation Fee Recipients: This fee payment flexibility allows staking providers to directly compensate their partners for attracting delegations to their validators.

How do I upgrade to Banff?

The process to upgrade to AvalancheGo v1.9.0 is the same as all previous upgrades. Check out this Upgrading Your AvalancheGo Node tutorial if you are unsure how to proceed.

Do I need to upgrade my node?

Yes. If you do not upgrade your node prior to the activation on October 18th, 2022, it will be marked offline and other nodes will report your node as having a lower uptime, which could jeopardize your staking rewards.

Are there changes to the hardware requirements?

No.

Will updating my node to Banff decrease my validator’s uptime?

No.

What if I have more questions?

You can reach out to us at one of the links below or click on "Chat with Ava Labs" to join our Discord server to ask your question in a developer-specific channel.

To learn more about Subnets please read the following article.


For any additional questions, please view our other knowledge base articles or contact a support team member via the chat button. Examples are for illustrative purposes only.

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