TON Core's 'TON 2026.08' network update will activate collator architecture on mainnet on Aug. 17, 2026. The shift splits block assembly from verification, with collators building blocks and validators checking them. A validator vote on Aug. 21 will decide whether three configuration switches go live.
Collators Take Over Block Assembly
Under the new setup, collators handle block assembly, while validators only verify. That's a departure from the current Accelerator model, adapted for Sub-Second mode. The idea is to separate assembly and verification to push throughput. In-memory collators are expected to raise the maximum TPS on a single shardchain, though the exact gain depends on how the configuration toggles are set.
The change doesn't touch finalization. Validators still sign off on blocks, but they no longer build them. That's the core efficiency shift — one side assembles, the other checks.
The Validator Vote and Configuration Switches
On Aug. 21 at 08:00 UTC, validators vote on three toggles: dispatch queue activation, transaction executor behavior changes, and increased minimal split. These are configuration-gated, meaning the code is already in the network but needs the vote to turn on. To cast their vote, validators must update mytonctrl to commit 7e90e26 and node to commit 140320b.
The vote is separate from the Aug. 17 activation. The collator architecture goes live regardless, but the performance tweaks won't apply unless validators approve them. That's why the toggles matter — they're the difference between a structural change and a visible speed boost.
Earlier Code and Infrastructure Work
The code path didn't just appear. v2026.07 was tagged on Aug. 3, bringing QUIC improvements, metrics, and stability fixes. Infrastructure providers reported mainnet deployment around Aug. 4. Status pages referenced collator-related protocol fixes like PeerId handling, suggesting the groundwork was already in place before the mainnet activation date.
That earlier release was the foundation. The Aug. 17 update builds on it, adding the collator architecture itself. The v2026.07 tag also gave validators time to update their nodes and test the new features.
What Users Might Notice
Immediate user-visible speed depends on the configuration toggles. If the vote passes, the network could see higher TPS on a single shardchain. If not, the architecture stays but the throughput boost waits. The switch is configuration-gated, so nothing changes for users until validators flip it.
The design is meant to push throughput by splitting the workload, but the real-world effect won't be clear until the toggles are active. That's the next checkpoint: the Aug. 21 vote. Validators have until then to update their software and decide.
