EOS Completes Historic Hard Fork to Spring 1.0 with Savanna Consensus Algorithm
The EOS Network has upgraded to Antelope Spring 1.0, introducing the groundbreaking Savanna consensus algorithm. This monumental upgrade places EOS at the forefront of blockchain innovation, reducing transaction finality to an astonishing 1 second—a greater than 100x improvement over previous versions. By enhancing speed, security, and scalability, this upgrade not only sets new standards but also opens the door to future cryptographic innovations. Supported by a dedicated global community, Spring 1.0 represents the collective vision of EOS’s decentralized ecosystem, reaffirming its relentless pursuit of excellence.
Bart Wyatt, CTO of the EOS Network Foundation, expressed the magnitude of this achievement:
“With the Spring 1.0 upgrade and the introduction of the Savanna consensus algorithm, we’re achieving something rare in the blockchain world: changing our core consensus algorithm. Very few Layer 1 blockchains have ever done this. I can think of only a handful—Ethereum being the most well known. In doing so, we’re standing on hallowed ground. By bringing EOS to an industry-leading 1-second finality, we’ve taken a massive leap forward, placing EOS at the forefront of blockchain innovation. This isn’t just a technical achievement—it’s about the EOS community taking full ownership.”
Yves La Rose, CEO of the EOS Network Foundation, emphasized the collaborative effort behind this milestone:
“Spring 1.0 is a landmark moment for the blockchain industry, with the Savanna consensus algorithm introducing Instant Finality in just 2 blocks, or 1 second. This breakthrough delivers unparalleled transaction speed, reliability, and security, thanks to cutting-edge BLS cryptographic advancements. By offering a faster, more secure infrastructure, EOS is paving the way for next-generation decentralized applications and systems to thrive at an entirely new scale.
The upgrade wasn’t just an engineering feat—it was a massive collaborative effort from internal teams, project managers, and external operators, all pushing the limits of what’s possible in blockchain technology. Instant Finality and enhanced security mean EOS is now positioned as one of the most technically advanced platforms in the space, enabling new opportunities for growth and adoption within the ecosystem.
For those looking at the future of blockchain, Spring 1.0 represents a critical inflection point. This is a moment of transformation where EOS is positioned to unlock unprecedented value, not just for developers, but for everyone who sees the long-term potential of blockchain innovation. The infrastructure is here, the technology is proven, and the opportunities are limitless as EOS drives the industry forward.”
A Collaborative Effort: Transitioning to Spring 1.0 and Savanna
On Wednesday, September 25, 2024, EOS block producers executed a coordinated hard fork to Spring v1.0, marking the activation of the Savanna consensus algorithm. This transition represents the fourth hard fork of the network—or, in the case of EOS, a non-contentious consensus upgrade—enabling new features that are not backward compatible with earlier versions of the code.
At the start of the hard fork coordination call, the pre-approved msigs were executed. Next, BPs from all over the world registered finalizer keys, which are foundational to the new Savanna consensus algorithm. Then the third and final msig was approved and executed by the community of Block Producers to complete the transition to Savanna consensus.
The success of the hard fork was the result of extensive preparation and collaboration. Many block producers (BPs) participated in beta testing early pre-release versions of Spring 1.0, gaining valuable experience with the new system. Over 20 block producers globally participated in hard fork dry runs on several testnets to ensure readiness for the mainnet upgrade.
The multisignature proposals (msigs) to activate the hard fork and upgrade the system contracts were initiated several weeks in advance and quickly gathered the necessary approvals for the upgrade to proceed. This high level of engagement demonstrates the EOS community’s strong commitment to advancing the network’s position as a high-performance blockchain.
Brian Hazzard, Lead Product Manager for EOS Core Protocol and Node Software at the EOS Network Foundation, shared his thoughts on the achievement:
“By reaching finality in 1-second, EOS sets a new benchmark in blockchain performance, inviting developers with demanding DeFi use cases to build on the speed and reliability that only EOS can provide.”
Eric Passmore, Director of Engineering at the EOS Network Foundation, reflected on the significance of the Savanna upgrade and its impact on blockchain innovation:
“Over the years EOS has paved the way with innovative features, and bringing new thinking into the mainstream. Spring 1.0 and the move to Savanna is a similar turning point. This release demonstrates and proves a block-based consensus model can operate at one second finality. By incorporating the latest research in distributed computing the team was able to seamlessly transition to the new algorithm, while maintaining the existing block producers and finalizers. This seamless transition is proof of the thoughtfulness and completeness of EOS’s engineering implementation. For other blockchains on a block-based model this is a shining example of what is possible. The bar has been raised.”
Benjamin Gorman, Senior Project Manager at the EOS Network Foundation, highlighted the project team achievements:
“Our team persevered and overcame challenges to develop instant finality features, product requirements, mitigate risks, resolve technical issues, incorporate user feedback, bug fixes, and BP/exchange coordinations. Through teamwork, we moved our project through milestones for prototype, production-ready, wave tests, release candidates, and stable – resulting in a successful hard fork. I am grateful to collaborate with such an amazing technical team to bring EOS Savanna consensus algorithm instant finality to the globe!”
Savanna Consensus Algorithm: A New Era for EOS
Spring 1.0 introduces Savanna (Scalable Agreement on Validated Additions with Nimble Nonrepudiating Attestation), a transformative consensus algorithm that bridges the gap between web2’s seamless experience and the decentralized power of web3. Unlike earlier iterations, Savanna represents an entirely new approach to block-based consensus, designed for the modern era of distributed systems and driven by the latest advancements in consensus algorithms. By incorporating aggregate BLS signatures and other advanced cryptographic techniques, Savanna dramatically enhances scalability while reducing finality time to just 1 second—a greater than 100x improvement over previous versions. This upgrade ensures irreversible transactions and boosts both network efficiency and security. More than just a performance enhancement, Savanna positions EOS once again at the leading edge of blockchain technology, unlocking new possibilities for cryptographic innovations and use cases that were previously unimaginable.
Areg Hayrapetian, Director of Engineering at the EOS Network Foundation and the principal architect of the Savanna consensus algorithm, shared insights into the development process:
“I remember when the original EOS consensus algorithm was conceptualized and implemented before the launch of the EOS blockchain. It was developed based on an intuition of what would work. When a critical flaw was discovered shortly before launch, a late-stage adjustment was quickly made—again relying on intuition—to avoid delaying the launch.
“The development of the Savanna consensus algorithm, created within the ENF to succeed EOS’s unnamed legacy consensus, took a very different approach. We went through multiple iterations of testing, implementing proofs of concept to validate the theory early while quickly iterating on the design as we inevitably found flaws. We used mathematical analysis to ensure the algorithm maintained the properties we aimed to achieve. Although it took longer than expected, it was developed with a rigor that gives us confidence in its critical liveness and safety properties—core elements of any blockchain: that it will be available when needed, and when a transaction is marked final, it will not be reverted.
“By doing our job well on Savanna, users can take these things for granted and not worry about them. The immediate benefit for EOS users is the drastic reduction in time-to-finality, dropping from minutes to just a single second. There are also other secondary benefits Savanna enables, which I hope to see realized in the future depending on development priorities. Savanna was designed to lay the groundwork for significant changes to the blockchain protocol. For example, while the consensus algorithm switches to Savanna, the existing DPoS mechanism remains on EOS. However, Savanna enables the opportunity—should the EOS community wish—to explore tweaks that may better align economic incentives with the health of the network. It also sets the stage for future mechanisms, such as state proofs, where light clients could quickly and cheaply validate the state of the blockchain without needing to trust the API nodes or peers that provide the results. But all of that is speculative work for the future. For now, please enjoy the blazingly-fast time-to-finality on EOS.”
Kevin Heifner, OCI Principal Software Engineer, shared his excitement about the achievement:
“I am thrilled about the release of Spring 1.0 and the activation of Savanna on the EOS Mainnet. After countless hours of detailed design meetings, numerous diagrams of blocks that challenged various intermediate designs, and all-day-and-night coding sessions, it’s incredible to witness a transaction move from my desktop into a testnet block and finalize in just one second. Savanna embodies the latest advancements in consensus algorithm design, building upon and enhancing existing HotStuff algorithms.”
Guillaume Babin-Trembley, core contributor to Savanna consensus, shared his thoughts on the broader significance of the algorithm:
“With Savanna consensus, we’re not just pushing the limits of blockchain technology—we’re pushing the boundaries of computer science itself. Byzantine Fault Tolerance has been a challenge for decades, long before blockchain or Bitcoin. In developing Savanna, we approached this challenge with fresh research, refining the consensus process in ways that are mathematically proven and free of trade-offs. The result is a consensus algorithm that advances the state of the art in classical BFT systems. This isn’t just a milestone for the crypto space—it’s a major advancement for computer science. It’s one small step for EOS, but a giant leap for consensus algorithms.”
Lin Huang, Senior Engineer at the EOS Network Foundation, reflected on the technical challenges and achievements leading up to the successful activation of Spring 1.0:
“In addition to solving the liveness/safety problems facing any state machine replica system and achieving finality in one second, our other goals were to perform a live transition from the Legacy consensus to Savanna, support replay from Genesis, support Legacy snapshots, provide core contracts for finalizer key management, and update CDT for new host functions. All of these must be done without breaking the existing code base.
As a small team from three companies, we had biweekly 2-hour long meetings, but they often extended beyond that (the longest was over 5 hours). We performed rigorous code reviews, constantly challenging each other in using the best algorithms, data structures, coding styles, and C++20 features.
I am happy to say that all of our goals have been achieved and I thoroughly enjoyed the journey.”
Gregory Popovitch, Senior Engineer at the EOS Network Foundation, shared his reflections:
“This last week of September, after a year of intense development, we saw the EOS network transition to the Savanna consensus and its near-instant finality. That’s something to be proud of. But beyond Savanna, I’m proudest that the code is even better than it was before—built on a rigorous and elegant design that will enable further features, like instant IBC between chains running Spring. Exciting days ahead.”
Discover Spring 1.0’s Power: Instant Finality and Advanced Cryptography
The Spring 1.0 hard fork doesn’t just deliver instant finality through Savanna—it also introduces aggregate BLS signatures, verified in an impressive 1.1 milliseconds*, fundamentally enhancing the security, scalability, and overall user experience of the EOS network. While BLS host functions were initially implemented in Leap 5, their full potential is unlocked with the activation of Spring 1.0. This upgrade opens the door to advanced cryptographic capabilities, enabling innovations such as Zero-Knowledge (ZK) proofs and confidential transactions. By laying the groundwork for privacy-driven solutions, Spring 1.0 is transforming EOS into a robust platform for next-generation blockchain applications.
These cryptographic advancements also pave the way for enhanced privacy measures, including confidential transaction models and private address usage. Through custom BLS operations, EOS positions itself at the forefront of blockchain privacy and security. These innovations establish a foundation for a more secure and private ecosystem, setting new benchmarks in the industry.
*As benchmarked with an I9-13900 CPU.
Reshaping the Network with New Roles for Greater Flexibility
Spring 1.0 also redefines the structural dynamics of the EOS blockchain, offering the possibility of decoupling roles within the network. A significant evolution, this upgrade introduces the option for the community to separate the traditional Block Producer role into two distinct functions: Block Proposers and Block Finalizers.
Block Proposers would focus on collating transactions into proposed blocks and working with Block Finalizers, who endorse block proposals by providing signatures. This collaboration results in the creation of Quorum Certificates, marking a finalized block. By separating these responsibilities, the network gains a more secure and efficient process for block validation and finalization.
This decoupling does not occur with Spring 1.0, but Savanna offers the community the flexibility to pursue this transformation which further enhances decentralization.
In short, Spring 1.0 sets the stage for a more modular and decentralized future, where the network’s performance and governance can evolve in a more secure and scalable manner.
A Strategic Shift: Business Source License (BSL) for Spring 1.0
With the release of Spring 1.0, the project has transitioned to the Business Source License (BSL). This move allows the source code of Spring 1.0 to remain available while safeguarding its unique technology for four years before automatically transitioning to a permissive MIT license.
BSL permits broad community use with minimal restrictions, ensuring that non-commercial and community-driven initiatives continue to thrive. However, for commercial uses, BSL ensures that entities benefiting from Spring 1.0 contribute back to the ecosystem. This balanced approach allows the EOS Network to protect its innovations during critical stages of development while maintaining its long-term commitment to openness.
Read More: Transition to Business Source Licensing (BSL) with Spring 1.0
Looking Ahead
With Spring 1.0 now live, EOS has once again demonstrated its technological leadership, providing a foundation for future innovations while empowering the community to build on this new era of blazing-fast performance and decentralization. This milestone reaffirms EOS’s commitment to innovation, security, and community-driven growth.
Stay tuned for more insights from the engineers and contributors as EOS continues to push the boundaries of blockchain technology.
