The Polygon Proof-of-Stake (PoS) network is set to implement its Heimdall v2 consensus layer upgrade on July 10, marking what Polygon Foundation CEO Sandeep Nailwal calls "the most technically complex hard fork since the mainnet launch in 2020." This overhaul replaces legacy infrastructure from 2018-2019 by migrating from Tendermint + Cosmos-SDK v0.37 to CometBFT + Cosmos-SDK v0.50.
Key technical improvements include reducing block finality from 90 seconds to approximately 5 seconds and cutting block time from 5-6 seconds to about 2 seconds. The upgrade enables faster checkpoints, safer cross-chain bridging, and enhanced user experience while creating "headroom for future upgrades," according to Nailwal.
During the 30-minute mainnet migration window, Heimdall will temporarily pause, suspending cross-chain operations like deposits and withdrawals for up to three hours. Node operators must prepare with 20 GB RAM and doubled disk space. Bor will continue operating, preventing overall chain downtime.
The upgrade follows Polygon's transaction volume surpassing 81 million in May (a 20% monthly increase), outperforming Tron, and achieving $100 billion in lifetime Uniswap volume. POL surged 7% post-announcement, with trading volume jumping 39% to $144 million, boosting its market cap to $2.09 billion.