The team behind the Layer 1 blockchain network Avalanche launched its major upgrade on the testnet on Monday, named 'Avalanche9000', which includes multiple technical improvements aimed at reducing the deployment cost of the blockchain by 99.9%. These improvements include community proposals ACP-77 (to make Avalanche Layer 1 validators more flexible) and ACP-125 (aimed at reducing Avalanche's base fees by 96%). The press release stated that alongside this upgrade, Retro9000 was also launched, which is a $40 million grant program to reward builders developing Layer 1 blockchains and other tools on the Avalanche9000 testnet.