Enjin has scheduled two mainnet runtime upgrades for November, both contingent on governance referenda that have yet to pass. The Fort Canning Relaychain runtime 1.8.0 is targeted for November 9, and the Matrixchain runtime 1.4.1 for November 16, according to a changelog entry dated October 5. The upgrades bring stricter governance deposits, OpenGov on Matrixchain, and a slate of NFT marketplace and lending features.
What Fort Canning changes on the Relaychain
The headline change is cost. Fort Canning raises the governance proposal deposit from 0.025 ENJ to 1,000 ENJ per track, a jump of roughly 40,000x. It also introduces minimum support floors measured against total issuance of 2.02 billion ENJ, which includes Matrixchain. The intent is to cut down on spam proposals and ensure only serious proposals make it to a vote.
Enjin Fellowship members can still fast-track time-sensitive proposals. Validators face a new slashing condition for losing parachain disputes, and the GRANDPA authority limit rises from 32 to 100 to accommodate a larger validator set. New XCM APIs will let wallets simulate calls and quote costs before submitting a transaction. Teleport continues to handle ENJ transfers between the Relaychain and Matrixchain.
On the Relaychain, sENJ and the Degens collection are supported. Auction bids in ENJ will go into escrow after placement, while previous bids settle under existing terms — a change that could matter to bidders who are used to the old flow.
Matrixchain gets OpenGov and 15 tracks
Matrixchain's upgrade adopts OpenGov with 15 referendum tracks and conviction voting, which increases vote weight the longer ENJ is locked. The Relaychain block target is fixed by its referendum, while the Matrixchain block is a target that could shift with block times. Enjin describes both upgrade times as estimates based on current block times, with both pointing to around 16:00 UTC.
The Matrixchain changes also loosen up NFT listing mechanics. Sellers can complete a sale in one transaction if the offer meets the asking price. Offers can be partially accepted, and expired listings will settle on-chain every block instead of relying on off-chain processes.
NFT lending with a leash
The new token lending feature introduces fixed-term NFT loans that automatically return tokens at expiration. Borrowers can use the tokens but can't transfer, burn, or list them elsewhere. Pre-upgrade tokens are non-lendable unless their collection owner opts in, and Enjin says these are intended for rental and trial use rather than collateralized lending. That's a notable limitation — the feature isn't a general-purpose NFT credit market.
Canary networks were already upgraded on September 28 for the Relaychain and September 29 for Matrixchain. The changelog doesn't include adoption metrics or post-deployment metrics for any of the new features, so it's unclear how much usage the team expects out of the gate.
The referenda are the gate
Neither upgrade goes live unless its governance referendum passes. The Relaychain block is fixed by its referendum, while the Matrixchain block remains a target. With ENJ trading at $0.033 — down 1% on the day but up 14% over the week — the token's market cap sits near $66 million, a fraction of its 2021 peak of $4.82. The next concrete checkpoint is the Fort Canning vote, which must clear before the November 9 target can hold.
