PIP-131: Paloma Mainnet Upgrade to v2.4.10 to add new governance vote to update the evm referenceBlock

Governance
1

Proposal: PIP-131: Paloma Mainnet Upgrade to v2.4.10 to add new governance vote to update the evm referenceBlock

Status: Proposed

Author(s): @birdlady

Type: Software Upgrade

Discussions-to: Governance - Paloma

Created: 03/21/2025

Simple Summary

On March 20, 2025, BNB chain executed a hard fork. As such, the reference hash for BNB chain changed and was not recoverable by the Paloma flock, halting all relays. This is a software upgrade proposal for Paloma to v2.4.10 Paloma’s MAINNEST tumbler network. This release includes a new governance feature to update the reference block height of evm target chains as well as additional logging for cross chain messages.

Abstract

On March 20, 2025, BNB chain executed a hard fork. As such, the reference hash for BNB chain changed and was not recoverable by the Paloma flock, halting all relays. Attempts by Paloma to recover the reference block hash failed. Paloma updates the referenceBlock data of the target chains every 10,000 blocks. If the referenceBlock data is incorrect for some reason. E.g. a chain reorg or fork of the target chain, the chain-infos for that chain becomes unreliable and all pigeons become stuck resulting in

  • message relays
  • pigeon status updates
  • reference block updates

no longer being processed. This upgrade introduces a new governance vote that allows the faulty referenceBlock data to be updated to a correct block height and corresponding hash.

Motivation

This upgrade is essential to restart relaying to evm chains if there is an incorrect referenceBlock in the evm chains-infos.

Specification Overview

The specification for this release includes

  • a new governance vote for updating the referenceBlock data for any evm target chain
  • a new Paloma log event to be emitted when a CosmWasm transaction generates an evm message.

Technical Specification

Paloma

Paloma v2.4.10 upgrades include the following:
Release PR https://github.com/palomachain/paloma/releases/tag/v2.4.10

Prior to upgrade

  1. An upgrade proposal that must be submitted by anyone running a node on the network. This proposal should have the correct block height.
  2. Please use the following tool to calculate the approximate Block Height: Huginn - PalomaChain Release Window Planner
  3. This upgrade proposal is an expedited proposal and requires 1000 GRAIN or 1000000000ugrain for deposit for voting.
  4. IMPORTANT: The upgrade height is the block height where the chain halts and requires the upgrade. Allow at least one (1) day AFTER voting end time and upgrade-height for 2/3 of the network to have downloaded the new binary and prepped for the switch over to avoid/minimize downtime of the Paloma chain.
  5. The Target block height for chain halt for this proposal is tentative 34174581 ****or approximately 03/21/2025 17:00 UTC See (Block height: 34174581)

Proposal Vote Command for CLI

palomad tx gov submit-proposal ./pip-131.json \
--gas auto \
--node=https://rpc-1.paloma.nodes.guru/ \
--chain-id tumbler \
--from <Your Paloma Address>

pip-131.json

{
    "messages": [
     {
      "@type": "/cosmos.upgrade.v1beta1.MsgSoftwareUpgrade",
      "authority": "paloma10d07y265gmmuvt4z0w9aw880jnsr700jz87xyk",
      "plan": {
       "name": "v2.4.10",
       "height": "34174581",
       "info": "",
       "upgraded_client_state": null
      }
     }
    ],
    "metadata": "ipfs://QmWgfa6dH81MJc6rJUb2rYR6BH7mHfWBS5UfJSwMPSjbPk",
    "deposit": "1000000000ugrain",
    "title": "PIP-131: Paloma  Mainnet Upgrade to Paloma v2.4.10 to add ReferenceHash Fixes",
    "summary": "This Paloma v2.4.10 release includes the upgrade to fix ReferenceHash Block issues after hard.", 
    "expedited": true
}

pip-131_metadata.json

{
 "title": "Paloma  Mainnet Upgrade to Paloma v2.4.10 to  upgrade to Cosmos v0.50.13",
 "authors": [
  "Birdlady"
 ],
 "summary": "PIP-131: Paloma  Mainnet Upgrade to v2.4.10 to  add new governance vote to update the evm referenceBlock."
 "details": "\"'{\\\"binaries\\\":{\\\"linux/amd64\\\":\\\"https://github.com/palomachain/paloma/releases/download/v2.5.0/paloma_Linux_x86_64.tar.gz\\\"}}'\"",
 "proposal_forum_url": "",
 "vote_option_context": "Vote YES to support running this binary to upgrade the Paloma Mainnest Network"
}

How to Vote on Proposal 188 with CLI

palomad tx gov vote 188 yes \
--chain-id tumbler \
--from <Your Paloma Address> \
--node <Your node> \
-y

How to Vote on Proposal 188 with Paloma LightNodes

# Mac & Linux
sh ~/Downloads/setup.sh vote-proposal 188 yes

# **Windows**
docker run --rm --pull=always -ti -v $env:USERPROFILE\\paloma-lightnode:/root/lightnode palomachain/lightnode-client:v2 vote-proposal 188 yes

How to check if 2/3 of the network is online after the vote is complete

curl -s localhost:26657/consensus_state | jq -r ".result.round_state.height_vote_set[0].prevotes_bit_array"

—> needs to return ≥ ~0.67 for the chain to start up again

To see which validators are online with the new binary, use GitHub - blockpane/pvtop: top-like tui for watching validator pre-votes on Tendermint chains

Rationale

Paloma now allows for governance vote to fix reference hashes for chain forks and upgrades from target chains that are unexpected. This will make Paloma more robust for handling multiple target chain changes during emergency forks.

About Paloma

Paloma wants to be the fastest relay chain in the world with the most decentralized network of validators that can attest to any transaction with the fastest possible execution. Paloma aims to make it easy for developers to control smart contracts on any Solana, Ethereum L1, L2, and L3 chain.

To learn more about Paloma, please visit https://palomachain.com

To follow the project on Github, please star the project GitHub - palomachain/paloma: The fast blockchain messenger protocol

To participate in the community, please join the Paloma Discord: Paloma