The VeChain roadmap is steadily moving forward, and the project is now stepping into the third stage of its Renaissance journey. On August 18, the community will begin voting on the Hayabusa VIP upgrades, a decision that empowers every stakeholder to influence the network’s transformation. Hayabusa is the second major phase of VeChain’s multi-stage Renaissance upgrade, following Galactica and preceding Intergalactic. It’s centered on overhauling tokenomics, decentralizing consensus, and introducing dynamic staking models. VeChain launched StarGate on July 1, allowing VET holders to stake their tokens and receive NFTs representing their stake. These NFTs can then be delegated to validator nodes without running a validator node yourself, dramatically lowering entry barriers. To kickstart staking, the VeChain Foundation injected billions of VTHO into reward pools, estimates range from 3.0 billion VTHO, valued at about $10 million, to 5.3–5.48 billion VTHO, valued at around $14–15 million. Now, Hayabusa takes things further by completely reworking how VTHO is generated. Starting August 18, all stakeholders can cast their vote. If approved, the Hayabusa testnet will go live in early September, with the mainnet launch targeted for the end of December 2025. Key changes in Hayabusa Sebastian, a VeChain ambassador, broke down in a recent X thread why Hayabusa is such a big deal. He explained that Hayabusa shifts VeChain’s consensus from Proof of Authority to Delegated Proof of Stake (DPoS). Under PoA, a small group of authority nodes handled validation, which worked well for efficiency but limited community participation. With DPoS, the system opens up and allows stakeholders to have a direct say in who validates transactions by delegating their stake. Validators receive a 2x multiplier, X-Node Delegators get 1.5x, and Economic Node Delegators earn at the standard 1x rate. Ultimately, Sebastian stressed that Hayabusa doesn’t just tweak tokenomics; it realigns the entire incentive structure. Validation will still be capped at 101 Validators, but with a key change: anyone holding 25 million VET can enter the queue to become a Validator, thanks to a first-in, first-out system. Block rewards are also being rebalanced, with 30% going to Validators and 70% to Delegators. This upgrade realigns incentives, rewarding only those who contribute to the network, while reducing excess VTHO issuance compared to the old “universal distribution” model. The more VET that’s locked into staking, the smaller the pool of VET left generating rewards, which means fewer VTHO get minted overall. Sebastian explained: Today, every VET generates VTHO, even if it just sits idle. Hayabusa changes that. Only active stakers and delegators will earn VTHO. No more value leaking into passive wallets; every reward flows back to the people actually securing the network. Now add in Galactica’s fee-burning mechanism, which permanently removes a portion of transaction fees from circulation. Every on-chain action, whether it’s deploying a contract, minting an NFT, or transferring assets, reduces the overall supply of VTHO. And the timing couldn’t be better. With MiCAR compliance now in place across 27 EU nations, institutions finally have regulatory clarity. BitGo custody and Keyrock’s validator infrastructure provide the backbone for secure, large-scale staking, while VeChain’s MiCA approval for both VET and VTHO in April lays the foundation for institutional adoption. Sebastian explained that Hayabusa creates exactly the kind of framework institutions are demanding: transparent governance, deflationary mechanics, and stakeholder-based participation. “It’s the framework ETFs, funds, and enterprises are looking for,” he said. As CNF has reported, Solana (SOL), Cardano (ADA), Ripple (XRP), and even Dogecoin (DOGE) have already seen Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) filings, but VeChain has yet to receive one. The potential launch of a VeChain ETF could serve as a major catalyst for VET’s price, with analysts projecting a rally toward $0.095, up from its current $0.02477, following a recent 3.29% daily increase.