Arweave 2.8: A Major Upgrade For The PermaWeb

2.8 Update Cuts Costs for Miners while Enhancing Energy Efficiency

Arweave 2.8: A Major Upgrade For The PermaWeb

Arweave, the world's first truly permanent storage network, today announced the release of its 2.8 protocol upgrade. This significant update introduces a new packing format, enhancing network efficiency, scalability, and energy efficiency.

Technical Highlights of Arweave 2.8

Composite Packing: This new packing format allows miners to leverage slower storage devices while maintaining network performance. By enabling miners to use larger hard drives, Arweave 2.8 significantly reduces the hardware requirements for node operators, making it more cost-effective for miners and reducing the overall energy consumption of the network.
Improved ASIC Resistance: The 2.8 protocol further strengthens the network's security by implementing enhanced ASIC resistance measures.
Optimized Blockchain Syncing: The upgrade includes optimizations to the blockchain syncing process, reducing the time required to sync a full node.

Arweave’s Unstoppable Growth: 10 Billion Transactions and Beyond

Arweave has already made significant strides, surpassing 10 billion transactions this October, and establishing itself as the leading decentralized permanent storage solution. This milestone underscores the growing demand for reliable, immutable, and secure on-chain data storage.

By combining Arweave’s permanent storage with the power of AO, a hyper-parallel computer native to the network, the Arweave ecosystem is expected to see accelerated user growth into 2025. AO, launched in February, has already processed over 800 million messages and is revolutionizing on-chain AI. By enabling LLMs to run within smart contracts, AO empowers the development of autonomous agents capable of complex tasks like trading digital assets based on real-time market analysis.

“Arweave 2.8 marks a significant milestone in our mission to build a truly permanent web,” said Sam Williams, founder of Arweave and Forward Research. “By increasing efficiency and reducing energy consumption, we are making the network more accessible to a wider range of miners and developers. With the addition of AO, we're also unlocking the full potential of decentralized computing, paving the way for a future where all platforms and services on the internet can be used without trust in third-parties.”

Follow @ArweaveEco and @aoTheComputer on X for more.

About Forward Research

Forward Research, Inc. is a protocol studio dedicated to growing the Arweave ecosystem. Founded and led by Sam Williams, the founder of the Arweave Protocol, Forward Research looks to incubate projects that expand Arweave adoption and use cases.