Avalanche upgrades to ‘Banff 5’ to introduce direct communication between subnets: Exclusive

The Avalanche developers have upgraded AvalancheGo — the software implementation of the blockchain in the Go programming language — to “Banff 5.”

The upgrade is critical for the Avalanche network as it introduces a communication protocol for Avalanche-based blockchains (called subnets) known as Avalanche Warp Messaging. The feature will allow subnets to share data and crypto assets with each other in an effort to make the Avalanche blockchain ecosystem more useful for developers.

Avalanche’s subnet interoperability

Before the upgrade, Avalanche already allowed developers to write custom blockchains or subnets for different use cases in the Go and Rust programming languages. However these subnets couldn’t communicate with each other until now without the use of complex bridge systems, meaning they largely remained isolated from one another. This is where Banff 5 comes in with Avalanche Warp Messaging to enable what’s described as “seamless native communication” between subnets to transfer assets or data across different subnets.

The upgrade eliminates the need for individual subnet projects to deploy and manage their own bridges. The mechanism also holds the potential to open the door for new use cases such as cross-chain staking of tokens, the Avalanche team said.

“Avalanche Warp Messaging (AWM) is the catalyst that will spark a Cambrian explosion of Avalanche subnet development,” said Patrick O’Grady, head of engineering at Ava Labs. “With this release, you can launch your own Go- or Rust-based blockchain and reward any node that stakes your own token for validating it, all while natively interoperating with an ecosystem of other builders doing the same thing.”

The subnet messaging employs the use of an advanced cryptographic tool called “BLS multi signatures” to verify messages and data across chains. To make use of the protocol, the security validators of any subnet can generate a BLS signature which attests the request to send assets or data over to another subnet. The very same message can be verified by any other subnets in the Avalanche ecosystem to initiate the native transfer of data or assets. Ava Labs said it made the first native subnet-to-subnet message on Thursday.

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