IOTA Network Initiates Rebased Upgrade, New Mainnet for Builders

On May 5, 2025, the IOTA network officially initiated its long-awaited rebased upgrade, marking a historic moment for its ecosystem. This milestone transitions IOTA from the Stardust framework to a new and more developer-focused Mainnet. Equipping the space for smart contracts, robust tokenization, and advanced scalability.

IOTA Rebased begins Today, here and now: the transition to a powerful new Mainnet. From a network pause to the Genesis Ceremony and the Mainnet's rebirth, we’ll share each step.
Stay tuned as #IOTA relaunches: ready for builders to deploy, test, and create pic.twitter.com/rh3tjQGbj0

— IOTA (@iota) May 5, 2025

IOTA Rebased, beginning today, marking the live transition to a powerful new Mainnet. From the network pause to the Genesis Ceremony and the mainnet’s rebirth, each step of the journey will be shared with the community. This was mentioned in a post by the official account of IOTA on X today. The post further added that the network is ready for builders to deploy, test, and create.

Seamless Upgrade for Users

For IOTA token holders, the upgrade is frictionless. No token migration is needed. Users only need to load their existing wallet credentials, which are mnemonic phrases, private keys, or Firefly/Bloom strongholds. This needs to be done in the newly launched browser-based IOTA Wallet. The older Firefly wallet will be phased out. Ledger hardware wallet support will continue, though a manual install of the new IOTA Ledger app is needed due to the change in Ledger Live compatibility. To offer the users a richer experience, the IOTA Wallet Dashboard Web app will be launched soon. Giving users greater control and insight into their token holdings and Assembly to IOTA vesting details.

Network Pause and Genesis Ceremony

At around 9:00 am CEST, both the Stardust Mainnet and the IOTA EVM were paused together. This began the multi-step Genesis Ceremony overseen by the IOTA Foundation. Along with twelve other trusted validators, including Nansen, Blockscope, Kiln, and others. The process includes full snapshot creation, validator metadata submission, address mapping, and final consensus. Each validator verified and signed the genesis data, contributing to the finalized genesis.blob. Genesis.blob is a signed snapshot used to bootstrap validator nodes. Once consensus was achieved, the IOTA Foundation deployed new node software and reactivated infrastructure components. The components are APIs, RRC endpoints, wallet apps, and network explorer.

New Explorer Tools and Wallets

Users can now be able to monitor activity across the IOTA network using the two blockchain explorers that are the official IOTA Explorer and the community explorer IOTAscan. These tools offer real-time insights into transaction flows, validator operations, and smart contract interactions. Additionally, third-party wallet options like the Night Wallet (available via mobile and web). Offering alternative access points to manage digital assets.

IOTA EVM Resumes Today

Other than the mainnet reboot, the IOTA EVM (Ethereum Virtual Machine) will resume service later today. Users can continue interacting through MetaMask. A newly introduced IOTA EVM Bridge Web App will allow a smoother and easier token transfer between Layer 1 and the EVM Note. The rebirth of IOTA includes an expanded validator ecosystem, starting with 13 validators. The network will grow approximately 50 within a few days and scale to 150 over the coming months. Token holders on the platform are encouraged to delegate their stake to contribute to the decentralization and security of the network. Delegation instructions are made available by the platform on the new wallet dashboard.

What Comes Next

Exchange services, including IOTA token deposits and withdrawals, are temporarily halted during the transition but will resume shortly. dApp releases, integrations, and ecosystem expansion will occur quickly following the upgrade. The IOTA Foundation collaborates extensively with partners and developers to ensure infrastructure availability and ecosystem continuity. With today’s successful launch of the IOTA Rebased Mainnet, the future is open for creativity. Builders, developers, and consumers may now explore a more powerful, transparent, and decentralized IOTA network that is optimized for real-world applications.

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