This referendum proposes updating Astar's XCM version settings so cross-chain messages keep working after XCM v3 is removed from the Polkadot SDK (release stable2612, 17 December 2026; first chains expected to drop v3 in early 2027). Once a chain drops v3, it can no longer decode v3 messages, and any XCM sent to it in v3 fails.
Astar currently records XCM v3 for Polkadot Asset Hub and Hydration, and uses v3 as its default for destinations without a record.
Changes (one utility.batchAll):
| Setting | Today | After |
|---|---|---|
polkadotXcm.forceXcmVersion: Asset Hub (paraID 1000) |
3 | 5 |
polkadotXcm.forceXcmVersion: Hydration (paraID 2034) |
3 | 5 |
polkadotXcm.forceDefaultXcmVersion (SafeXcmVersion) |
3 | 4 |
The relay chain, Coretime and Acala are already on v5; Bifrost is on v4, which is not being removed. Astar runtime 2500 supports v5.
Impact: no user action. Transfers with Asset Hub and Hydration keep working when those chains upgrade. Off-chain tools that build XCM v3 types directly need their own update.
On-chain artifacts:
0x37ec43d3a9214c37956b11d68919696c4ece5d937ab4ad6f627bc1a132a925170x0b020c3304010100a10f050000003304010100c91f0500000033050104000000Reference: https://forum.polkadot.network/t/xcmv3-to-be-removed-in-stable2612/19205
Vote AYE to approve, NAY to reject.