Fuji testing continues as Avalanche’s staking value climbs to $204 million after the Helicon upgrade, signaling stronger participation ahead of a planned mainnet rollout.
Avalanche’s staking value has risen to $204 million after the Helicon upgrade went live on the Fuji Testnet on July 28, 2026, adding an early market signal to a broader technical overhaul that is still awaiting a mainnet launch date. The testnet rollout covers six community-approved changes to transaction processing, staking and fee mechanics, while Avalanche has said it will announce the production activation date and required node software version separately. Helicon’s biggest performance change is ACP-194, which lets the C-Chain accept new transactions while previously queued transactions are still being executed, rather than processing blocks strictly one after another. The package also changes staking by introducing auto-renewing periods for self-staked AVAX, raising the validator uptime threshold for rewards to 90% from 80% for qualifying new staking, cutting the minimum staking term to 48 hours from two weeks, and adjusting rewards so longer commitments remain more attractive. On fees, ACP-283 replaces the fixed minimum C-Chain transaction fee with a validator-adjusted floor that can rise during spam or congestion and fall back when conditions ease. Helicon remains limited to the Fuji Testnet, so none of the staking or fee changes apply to the main Avalanche network yet, but the increase in staking value suggests growing confidence as public testing continues.