VeChain’s Hayabusa upgrade went live on December 2, 2025, initiating a seven-day transition that concluded on December 9, 2025. The upgrade replaces Proof-of-Authority with Delegated Proof-of-Stake and reworks tokenomics by tying VTHO issuance to active participation.
Transition to Delegated Proof-of-Stake and active participation
Hayabusa transitions VeChain from a 101-node Proof-of-Authority (PoA) architecture to Delegated Proof-of-Stake (DPoS). DPoS enables token holders to delegate voting power to validators who produce blocks on their behalf, redistributing validation authority from a fixed set of masternodes to a validator layer elected via delegation to expand governance participation while preserving operational efficiency. The protocol embeds economic deterrents for misbehavior through slashing penalties for validator misconduct or prolonged downtime.
The upgrade redefines VeChain’s two-token model by making VTHO issuance dynamic and contingent on active network contribution rather than passive holding. VTHO remains the network’s gas token, consumed to execute transactions; its supply will now respond to measured participation metrics. A new staking flow centers on NFT-based delegation, where VET holders mint Delegator NFTs on the StarGate platform and assign them to chosen validators, creating tradable, on-chain proofs of delegated stake and shifting rewards toward engaged actors to broaden decentralization by distributing voting influence.
Hayabusa is framed as part of a broader “VeChain Renaissance” roadmap that includes cross-chain ambitions and governance initiatives. The project highlights cross-chain work, such as partnerships to deploy bridges across multiple blockchains and a rebranding of the VeChainThor narrative, as steps in this trajectory, while engineering the upgrade with Markets-in-Crypto-Assets (MiCA) compatibility in mind to support an institutional, regulation-aware posture.
Security posture was reinforced with a $200,000 Attackathon bug bounty hosted on Immunefi covering both Hayabusa and StarGate. This open challenge is designed to surface implementation flaws prior to adversarial exploitation and to strengthen the resilience of the upgraded stack.
Hayabusa shifts VeChain’s operational model toward delegated governance and activity-driven economics. The changes increase stakeholder agency while introducing new validator incentives and attack-surface considerations that will shape how the network balances decentralization, security and enterprise readiness going forward.
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