With Galactica’s EVM foundations live and Hayabusa’s transformation of consensus and tokenomics complete, VeChain is ready to enter the next major phase of the Renaissance roadmap—Interstellar.
Interstellar is designed to deepen VeChainThor’s compatibility with the wider Ethereum ecosystem, expand the capabilities available to developers and prepare the network for the next generation of applications.
The first proposed upgrade in this phase, VIP-255, advances VeChainThor’s EVM from its current Shanghai-compatible implementation by adopting compatible execution-layer improvements introduced across Ethereum’s Cancun, Prague and Osaka releases.
The Ethereum Virtual Machine is the most widely adopted smart-contract execution environment in Web3. It underpins a vast ecosystem of development tools, programming languages, libraries and applications. Maintaining close alignment with evolving EVM standards makes it easier for developers to deploy existing applications on VeChainThor, use modern tooling and build new products without unnecessary compatibility barriers.
VIP-255 introduces new EVM instructions, advanced cryptographic capabilities, improved access to historical block information and additional safeguards governing transaction gas and block size.
But before Interstellar can be activated, we need your vote.
Starting 10/08/2026 at 00:00 UTC, eligible VeChain stakeholders will be invited to vote on VIP-255 through the VeVote platform.
Validators and eligible StarGate NFT holders can participate in the governance process and help determine whether VeChainThor proceeds with the proposed Interstellar EVM upgrade.
The Interstellar Upgrade: VIP-255
VIP-255 introduces a coordinated set of EVM improvements spanning three Ethereum releases. Adopting these compatible changes in one hardfork closes a significant portion of the EVM compatibility gap while reducing the number of separate consensus-breaking upgrades required.
New EVM Capabilities
EIP-1153: Transient Storage
• Introduces TLOAD and TSTORE, allowing contracts to hold temporary state that is cleared after execution rather than permanently stored on-chain.
• Transient storage enables more gas-efficient contract patterns, including reentrancy guards, temporary authorisation data and intermediate calculations.
• On VeChainThor, transient storage is scoped to an individual clause and cleared when that clause completes.
EIP-5656: MCOPY
• Introduces a dedicated instruction for copying data efficiently between memory locations.
• MCOPY simplifies common memory operations and improves compatibility with modern Solidity, Vyper and other EVM development tools.
EIP-6780: Updated SELFDESTRUCT Behaviour
• Restricts when SELFDESTRUCT can delete a contract, reducing unexpected state changes and aligning VeChainThor with modern EVM behaviour.
• Because VeChainThor supports multi-clause transactions, contract creation and destruction must occur within the same clause for deletion to take place.
EIP-7939: Count Leading Zeros
• Introduces the CLZ opcode for efficiently counting the leading zero bits of a value.
• This instruction supports more efficient mathematical operations, compression algorithms, bitmap processing and zero-knowledge applications.
Advanced Cryptographic Capabilities
EIP-2537: BLS12-381 Curve Operations
• Adds native support for BLS12-381 cryptographic operations.
•These capabilities are widely used in zero-knowledge systems, signature aggregation, bridges and interoperability protocols. Implementing them as precompiled contracts allows complex cryptographic operations to be performed far more efficiently than through smart-contract bytecode alone.
EIP-7951: secp256r1 Curve Support
• Adds native verification for secp256r1, also known as P-256, a widely adopted cryptographic curve used by secure hardware and modern authentication standards.
• This creates a foundation for applications using passkeys, FIDO2, WebAuthn, Apple Secure Enclave, Android Keystore and other forms of hardware-backed authentication.
EIP-7823 and EIP-7883: MODEXP Safeguards
• Introduces upper bounds for MODEXP inputs and updates its gas costs to reflect computational requirements more accurately.
• These changes reduce consensus risk from impractically large inputs and help ensure that users pay an appropriate amount of gas for computationally intensive operations.
Core Protocol Improvements
EIP-2935: Historical Block Information
• Enables smart contracts to retrieve recent VeChainThor block identifiers through an EIP-compatible contract interface.
• Contracts will be able to query information covering the most recent 8,191 blocks while VeChainThor continues to use its existing state architecture and block-ID structure.
EIP-7825: Transaction Gas Limit Cap
• Introduces a maximum gas limit of 16,777,216 gas for an individual transaction.
• This prevents a single transaction from demanding an excessive share of network resources and improves block-processing predictability.
EIP-7934: Execution Block Size Limit
• Introduces an 8 MiB limit for RLP-encoded blocks.
• This protects the network against excessively large blocks that could negatively affect propagation, execution and validation.
Built for VeChainThor
VeChainThor has architectural features that differ from Ethereum, including multi-clause transactions, a dual-token model and its own block-ID structure.
VIP-255 adopts the applicable EVM functionality while preserving these defining characteristics.
Under the proposed implementation:
• Transient storage is scoped to an individual clause.
• The updated SELFDESTRUCT rules are evaluated within the same clause.
• Historical block queries return VeChainThor block IDs.
• Blob-carrying transactions and blob-related opcodes are not introduced.
• VeChainThor’s existing precompiled-contract account convention is preserved.
• Multi-clause transactions and fee delegation remain available and unchanged.
The broader Interstellar work concerning Ethereum transaction equivalence will be specified separately and is not part of this vote.
Developers intending to port Ethereum contracts should review the complete VeChainThor-specific implementation requirements in VIP-255.
The Interstellar Timeline
Current Phase: Vote Preparation
• Review VIP-255 and its proposed technical changes.
• Understand the VeChainThor-specific implementation differences.
• Join community discussions through VeChain’s official channels.
• Confirm your eligibility to participate through VeVote.
• Infrastructure providers can begin reviewing their operational upgrade requirements.
Voting Period: 10/08/2026 at 00:00 UTC to 17/08/2026 at 00:00 UTC
• Cast your vote through the VeVote platform.
• Participate in community discussions about the upgrade.
• Help shape the next stage of VeChainThor’s technical evolution.
Post-Approval: Interstellar Implementation
If approved:
• The compatible Thor client release will be published.
• Release notes and upgrade instructions will be provided to network operators.
• The Interstellar activation block will be announced separately.
• Validators, public-node operators, exchanges, custodians and infrastructure providers operating VeChainThor nodes must upgrade before activation.
• The upgrade will activate after implementation and testing have been successfully completed.
Nodes that have not upgraded by the activation block will no longer follow the canonical VeChainThor chain.
What Interstellar Means for the Ecosystem
For Developers
Interstellar reduces the effort required to bring modern EVM applications to VeChainThor.
Support for newer opcodes and cryptographic precompiles enables developers to use more recent compiler targets, established contract libraries and advanced application patterns. It also unlocks new possibilities across passkey-enabled wallets, account security, interoperability, bridges and zero-knowledge systems.
For Users and Applications
The upgrade expands what applications can offer without requiring users to migrate assets or adopt new token contracts.
Native secp256r1 verification can support more familiar and secure authentication experiences, while improved EVM compatibility allows applications developed elsewhere in the EVM ecosystem to be brought to VeChainThor more efficiently.
For Validators and Infrastructure Providers
Validators, node operators, exchanges, custodians and other infrastructure partners operating VeChainThor nodes will need to install the compatible Thor client release before the announced activation block.
The required Thor version, release instructions and activation schedule will be communicated separately.
Exchanges may temporarily suspend deposits and withdrawals around the activation period in accordance with their standard network-upgrade procedures.
For VET and VTHO Holders
No action is required from ordinary VET or VTHO holders.
Interstellar does not change VET or VTHO tokenomics, including:
• VET or VTHO supply
• VTHO issuance or burning rules
• Staking rewards
• Validator and Delegator reward allocation
• StarGate NFTs
• Governance voting power
•Existing wallet addresses or token contracts
No token migration, asset swap or contract-address change is required.
Vote to Open VeChain’s Next Frontier
Galactica modernised VeChainThor’s EVM foundations and fee market. Hayabusa transformed its consensus and economic model. Interstellar now proposes to expand the network’s compatibility, developer capabilities and technical resilience.
VIP-255 brings VeChainThor significantly closer to the modern EVM ecosystem while preserving the architecture and functionality that distinguish the network.
It provides developers with new computational and cryptographic primitives, makes established EVM applications easier to deploy and introduces protocol-level safeguards designed for increasingly advanced workloads.
The foundation is in place. The next stage of the Renaissance is ready to begin.
Your vote can help activate the next chapter of VeChainThor.
Vote from 10/08/2026 at 00:00 UTC: All-Stakeholder Voting Proposal: Interstellar Network Upgrade
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