Sei Network is getting closer to its long-awaited Giga upgrade, and developers say the final technical work has begun. While many users are watching for the launch date, the team says the most important progress is happening behind the scenes with SIP-3, a major upgrade that changes how the network works.
In his latest update, co-founder Jayendra Jog said SIP-3 aims to simplify how Sei works at its core. Instead of supporting both EVM and Cosmos transactions, the network will move to an EVM-only setup.
This means Sei will remove a lot of old, complex code linked to Cosmos and CosmWasm. By cutting this extra baggage, the network can run more efficiently and scale performance further.
Notably, the Sei community approved this upgrade last May, and it’s now being introduced in stages.
Once SIP-3 is fully in place, only EVM addresses will be able to send transactions on Sei, and Cosmos-based transactions will be phased out.
While this may seem like a small change, it’s a big shift. By focusing only on the EVM, Sei can better optimize performance, tools, and infrastructure. The team says this streamlined approach is what enables the Giga upgrade.
Sei aims to become a fully EVM-only chain by mid-2026, with most of SIP-3 finished by the end of Q1 2026.
SIP-3 will roll out through several protocol updates:
- v6.3 (Testnet – Jan–Mar): Adds full staking through the EVM and lets indexers and custodians track staking using EVM APIs.
- v6.4 (Testnet – Jan–Mar): Allows Sei to block inbound IBC transfers, stopping Cosmos-based assets from being bridged in.
Later updates will also shut down outbound IBC transfers and replace Sei’s native oracle with established providers like Chainlink, API3, and Pyth. These changes will go live on mainnet only after governance approval and are expected around the end of Q1 2026.
The SIP-3 upgrade includes important warnings for some users:
- USDC.n holders should switch to native USDC, or risk losing access once IBC transfers are turned off.
- Other IBC assets, such as ATOM, should be moved off Sei before the mainnet changes.
- DeFi users relying on IBC tokens are advised to close those positions early.
Sei Labs suggests using third-party tools like Skip:Go to manage the transition, while reminding users to do their own research.
With SIP-3 acting as the “weight reduction” phase, Sei Giga represents the next step: pushing throughput toward the 200,000 transactions-per-second range.
Community leaders describe SIP-3 as a performance reset rather than a routine upgrade. By removing complexity and focusing on a single design, Sei believes it can scale more efficiently than other high-TPS chains that still rely on layered architectures.
Beyond speed, parts of the Sei community are already looking at long-term security as the network scales. One topic gaining attention is post-quantum cryptography, which uses much larger signatures and higher verification costs—something that can strain high-throughput blockchains.
Sei contributors say the network’s design is well suited to approaches like proof batching, recursive verification, and incentive-based security. Rather than viewing quantum resistance as a simple key swap, Sei is treating it as a broader systems challenge that must work alongside extreme performance.
While no blockchain is fully quantum-resistant yet, supporters believe Sei’s performance-first approach could become an advantage in the long run.
(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});SIP-3 is a major change for Sei Network. By moving to an EVM-only model, simplifying the protocol, and preparing for Giga, Sei is betting on performance, scalability, and long-term flexibility.
With a major Giga announcement teased as “coming soon,” the focus is now on how well these upgrades are executed, and whether Sei can deliver on its goal of redefining high-performance Layer-1 blockchains.
Related: Sei Network Posts Strong Q3 Growth Amid Rising Gaming and DeFi Activity
