The Next-Generation Universal Smart Contracts Are Coming

We are thrilled to announce a significant upcoming improvement to our Universal Smart Contract (USC) Protocol. Early next year, we will launch a new USC Testnet that represents a natural evolution, taking the existing model and optimizing it for real-world deployment with faster execution, simpler integration, and lower operational overhead.

This new release includes several key performance improvements: most notably, legacy STARK proving has been replaced by a new native query verifier, which is able to verify proofs several orders of magnitude faster. Attestation gossiping has also been reworked into its own independent protocol. This has reduced the workload of Creditcoin validators and improved network stability.

Key Improvements

• Improved Scalability and Resiliency: Offline Attestation Aggregation via gossip protocol. Attestations are aggregated offline through the P2P gossip network, reducing on-chain load on the Creditcoin network.
• Improved Performance: Verification will now take only one block (15 seconds) instead of the previous 6-20 minutes with STARK proofs.
• Streamlined Architecture: New approach removes some dependencies on external components such as Cairo, STARK proof systems, and related tools, managed by prover operators.
• Reduced Costs: New approach removes the need for high-compute infrastructure (STARK), eliminates escrow payment gas costs, reduces transaction count per query, and enables batch verification savings for multiple queries.
• Improved Developer Experience: New, simpler, synchronous API with standard tools and minimal dependencies, removes the need for prover contracts, async waiting and complex data parsing.
• Improved Security: Fewer components mean fewer potential vulnerabilities.

What should USC Testnet builders expect?

• Contracts published on USC Testnet will need to be ported to USC Testnet 2.0 once it’s live.
• Contracts may require some changes to remove the dependency on the Prover.
• Massive improvement in Proving time.

The USC Testnet 2.0 is expected to be released in January 2026. We will also release a new tutorial series, including a new migration guide and documentation, ahead of the testnet launch.

We are excited to see how our builders take advantage of these performance improvements and build even better cross-chain applications.