Polygon is set to roll out its Giugliano hard fork on April 8, aiming to improve transaction speed and fee transparency across its network.
Key Takeaways
- Polygon will activate the Giugliano hard fork on April 8 at block 85,268,500.
- Upgrade improves transaction finality by allowing earlier block broadcasting.
- New fee data structure enhances gas price visibility for developers and users.
- Part of Polygon’s broader Gigagas roadmap for higher scalability and efficiency.
What Happened?
Polygon has confirmed the activation of its Giugliano hard fork, a targeted network upgrade focused on improving transaction finality and fee infrastructure. The upgrade is scheduled to go live at around 2:00 p.m. UTC on April 8.
The update introduces changes to how blocks are processed and how fee data is handled, aiming to deliver a smoother and more efficient experience for users and developers.
Giugliano Upgrade
— Polygon Foundation (@0xPolygonFdn) April 6, 2026
The Giugliano hardfork will be released on Polygon mainnet at block number 85,268,500, at approximately 2 PM UTC on April 8.
This upgrade: enables faster finality by letting producers announce blocks earlier, adds fee parameters directly in block headers,…
Faster Finality Through Smarter Block Handling
At the core of the Giugliano upgrade is a refinement in how transaction blocks are produced and broadcast. Validators will now be able to share blocks earlier in the validation cycle, which reduces the time required for transactions to become irreversible.
Testing on the Amoy testnet showed that this adjustment can reduce finality time by around two seconds. While this may appear small, it plays a crucial role in high activity environments such as:
- Decentralized exchanges
- Payment applications
- Real world asset transfers
In these use cases, even minor delays can impact settlement speed, liquidity, and user experience. Faster finality also reduces the risk of transaction reversals and brings blockchain performance closer to traditional financial systems.
This upgrade comes after Polygon faced performance issues in 2025, where finality times occasionally stretched to as long as 15 minutes due to a consensus related bug. The Giugliano fork directly addresses these concerns by tightening confirmation times.
Improved Fee Transparency and Developer Experience
Another major focus of the upgrade is enhancing how fee data is managed and accessed.
Polygon will now embed fee related parameters directly into block headers, similar in concept to Ethereum’s EIP-1559 model. This allows:
- More transparent gas pricing at the protocol level.
- Easier access to fee data for wallets and explorers.
- Improved reliability in gas estimation for applications.
In addition, the network is introducing new RPC endpoints that allow developers to retrieve fee data more efficiently. This change is expected to:
- Reduce failed transactions caused by inaccurate gas estimates.
- Improve overall application performance.
- Simplify backend infrastructure for developers.
While these improvements are mostly invisible to everyday users, they are critical for building scalable and reliable Web3 applications.
Part of Polygon’s Bigger Scaling Vision
The Giugliano hard fork is part of Polygon’s broader Gigagas initiative, which aims to significantly increase network throughput while maintaining security and decentralization.
The upgrade also reintroduces PIP 66, a proposal that was previously rolled back due to stability concerns. Polygon’s engineering team has since refined the implementation to ensure a smoother deployment this time.
This reflects a broader trend in blockchain development where incremental upgrades deliver long term impact, rather than relying on major system overhauls.
What Node Operators and Users Need to Know?
For the upgrade to proceed smoothly, node operators and validators must update their software before the activation block. Supported versions include:
- Bor v2.7.0
- Erigon v3.5.0
Failure to upgrade could result in nodes falling out of sync with the network after the fork.
For everyday users and token holders, no action is required. Wallets, tokens, and decentralized applications are expected to continue functioning normally without disruption.
CoinLaw’s Takeaway
In my experience, upgrades like this are where real progress in blockchain happens. It is not always about flashy features, but about fixing the small friction points that users feel every day.
I found this upgrade particularly important because it tackles two major pain points at once, speed and fee clarity. Even a two second improvement in finality can make a real difference in trading and payments. At the same time, better fee visibility removes a lot of guesswork for developers and users.
Polygon is clearly focusing on practical improvements that scale over time, and that is exactly what the ecosystem needs to compete with traditional systems. If executed smoothly, this upgrade could quietly strengthen Polygon’s position as a leading Layer 2 network.
