Klever Blockchain Upgrade v1.7.14 Brings KVM & Smart Contracts

Klever Blockchain is gearing up for a major milestone with its v1.7.14 mainnet upgrade, slated to activate at epoch 4860 on October 28, 2025. This release introduces smart contracts via the Klever Virtual Machine (KVM), alongside Semi-Fungible Tokens (SFTs) and a suite of new features and improvements. Notably, the upgrade has been security audited by CertiK, ensuring that the new functionalities come with robust safety assurances. Validators on the Klever network are required to update their nodes before the activation time to remain in consensus – a mandatory upgrade that lays the foundation for a new era of decentralized applications on KleverChain.

Key highlights of the v1.7.14 update include:

Klever Virtual Machine (KVM) – A Rust-based execution environment enabling on-chain smart contracts on Klever for the first time.
Semi-Fungible Tokens (SFTs) – A new token standard for programmable assets that can change state or utility over time.
Developer Tools – An official Visual Studio Code extension and SDKs to streamline smart contract development and deployment.
Ethereum Bridge – A two-way bridge connecting KleverChain with Ethereum’s ERC-20 tokens for cross-chain asset transfers.
KDA Fee Pool Contract – A mechanism allowing community contributions to dApp fee pools, simplifying user experience by abstracting gas fees.
KleverScan Contracts Portal – On-chain contract visibility and verification via Klever’s explorer, enhancing transparency and trust.
Performance Optimizations – Under-the-hood improvements for faster execution and greater scalability.
CertiK Security Certification – A comprehensive third-party audit to validate the security and reliability of the new update.

Klever’s v1.7.14 update brings smart contracts (KVM), SFTs, and other enhancements to the Klever Blockchain.

Background: KleverChain’s Journey to Smart Contracts

KleverChain is a layer-1 blockchain platform designed to offer a seamless, secure, and scalable foundation for decentralized applications (dApps) and digital assets. It aims to simplify blockchain development through a low-code platform, significantly reducing the need for deep blockchain expertise and enabling developers at any level to get involved quickly. Until now, KleverChain provided fixed, built-in functionalities (like token issuance and specialized protocols) largely developed by the Klever team. The introduction of the Klever Virtual Machine (KVM) marks a turning point, transforming KleverChain from a platform of pre-defined solutions into an open developer ecosystem where anyone can create and deploy custom smart contracts. This evolution opens the door to a variety of use cases – from payments and games to DeFi platforms and marketplaces – running natively on Klever.

Klever Virtual Machine (KVM) – Rust-Powered Smart Contracts

At the heart of the upgrade is the Klever Virtual Machine (KVM), which serves as the new execution layer for smart contracts on Klever Blockchain. Built in Rust – a language renowned for its safety, speed, and efficiency – the KVM allows developers to write smart contracts that execute with fewer risks, predictable performance, and lower costs. In essence, think of the KVM as the blockchain’s new “engine room” powering on-chain applications. By leveraging Rust and WebAssembly (Wasm), Klever’s smart contracts run as compiled binaries, meaning the platform isn’t tied to a single programming language or limited to Ethereum’s design. At launch, developers will primarily use Rust (via a dedicated SDK) to build contracts, but the Wasm foundation keeps the door open for additional languages to be supported in the future.

How KVM Differs from EVM: Unlike an Ethereum Virtual Machine clone, Klever’s KVM is custom-built for the Klever ecosystem with a broader vision in mind. The design prioritizes performance and security; by isolating contract execution and using Rust’s robust compile-time checks, KVM aims to reduce vulnerabilities common in other ecosystems. This gives projects the confidence to scale with stable costs and reliable execution. For users, it means apps on Klever will become faster, smoother, and richer in features, and for developers it’s the difference between tinkering with prototypes and launching products that can handle real adoption. In the words of Klever’s team, the arrival of KVM turns KleverChain into an open environment where “anyone can build and share,” moving beyond a realm of dApps built only by the core team.

Semi-Fungible Tokens (SFTs) – Dynamic Digital Assets

Another headline feature of the v1.7.14 update is the introduction of Semi-Fungible Tokens (SFTs). SFTs are a new token standard on KleverChain designed for programmable assets that can evolve over time. In practical terms, an SFT might start as one thing and transform into another based on context or usage. For example, imagine a concert ticket token that begins as a transferable pre-event ticket, converts into a non-fungible check-in badge at the event, and later becomes a commemorative digital collectible – all as the same token changing state to serve each purpose. Or consider a game item that upgrades itself with new attributes as a player progresses through levels. This dynamic behavior is what sets SFTs apart from static NFTs or regular fungible tokens.

Why SFTs Matter: Semi-fungible tokens enable more dynamic and engaging user experiences without adding complexity. “It’s not just collectible value, it’s product value,” the Klever team explains, highlighting that SFTs carry real utility through their state changes. Developers can program lifecycles or conditional utility into assets – streamlining use cases like event ticketing, gaming rewards, memberships, or any scenario where a digital asset’s role might change over time. By supporting SFTs natively, Klever Blockchain gives builders a powerful tool to create novel dApps – from evolving game economies to time-based membership tokens – that were hard to achieve with traditional token standards.

Visual Studio Code Extension – Streamlined Developer Experience

For developers eager to build on KleverChain, the upgrade delivers an official Klever Blockchain Extension for Visual Studio Code. This VS Code plugin provides templates and guided workflows to create, test, and deploy smart contracts directly from the code editor. By integrating development tools into VS Code – an environment many blockchain developers already use – Klever significantly lowers the onboarding friction. Instead of wrestling with complex setups or unfamiliar IDEs, developers can jump straight into writing Rust smart contracts, run local tests, and deploy to KleverChain with a few clicks.

The benefit of this extension is faster development cycles: “Less time setting up. More time shipping,” as the Klever team puts it. It reflects Klever’s developer-first design philosophy by meeting programmers where they are and providing a smooth path from prototype to production. This tooling, combined with Klever’s SDKs and documentation, signals a strong push to attract builders into the ecosystem with a minimal learning curve.

Ethereum Bridge – Connecting Klever to the Wider Ecosystem

Interoperability gets a boost in v1.7.14 with the rollout of an Ethereum Bridge smart contract. This feature establishes a two-way bridge between KleverChain and Ethereum, allowing assets (initially ERC-20 tokens) to move between the two networks. In practice, a project will be able to bring an Ethereum-based token into the Klever ecosystem, use it within Klever’s faster and cheaper environment, and later transfer it back to Ethereum if needed. This flexibility means developers and users can tap into Ethereum’s vast liquidity and community without sacrificing the efficiency of KleverChain.

Benefits of the Bridge: Klever’s bridge gives projects the freedom to grow where it makes sense. Teams can leverage Ethereum’s liquidity and network effects while enjoying Klever’s low fees and high throughput for their dApp’s day-to-day operations. There’s no blockchain “lock-in” – assets are free to flow to whichever chain best suits the use case, whether that’s for cost, speed, or user base. This not only increases Klever’s utility by connecting it to Ethereum’s DeFi and NFT ecosystems, but also positions Klever as a complementary Layer-1 that works alongside established networks rather than purely competing with them.

KDA Fee Pool Deposit – Smoother Fee Management for dApps

Klever’s economic model uses KLV (the native token) for network fees, even when users interact with dApps that have their own tokens (these app-specific tokens are sometimes called KDA, or Klever Digital Assets). To make this seamless, Klever allows dApp teams to maintain a fee pool funded with KLV so that end-users can pay fees in the dApp’s native token while the network deducts the equivalent KLV behind the scenes. The new KDA Pool Deposit smart contract expands how those fee pools can be funded.

Previously, only the dApp’s token owner or admins could add KLV to a fee pool. With the KDA Pool Deposit feature, developers can deploy a special contract linked to their fee pool, enabling anyone – partners, other dApps, or even community members – to contribute KLV to support that dApp’s transaction fees. This effectively crowdsources the gas fee liquidity to keep the dApp running smoothly. Users continue to pay fees in the app’s own token (the dApp’s KDA), while the network swaps those behind the scenes into KLV, so everything “just works” without the user needing to hold KLV.

For dApp teams, this means better sustainability and user retention: they don’t have to solely bear the burden of funding network fees, and users aren’t blindsided by needing a second token for gas. It’s a quality-of-life improvement that highlights Klever’s focus on reducing friction in blockchain user experience.

KleverScan Contract Portal – Transparency and Trust

To complement the advent of smart contracts on Klever, the blockchain explorer KleverScan is getting a dedicated Contracts Area. This new section on KleverScan will provide visibility into deployed contracts, including verification of contract source code and other details. Essentially, it’s Klever’s equivalent of Etherscan’s contract verification feature: projects can publicly prove what code is running on-chain, and users can inspect that information for themselves.

Why this matters: Transparency is crucial in the smart contract world. By giving projects a proper showcase on the explorer and letting users verify contract details, Klever is building trust into the ecosystem. Users will be able to see which contracts are deployed on Klever, read their verified source code (if provided), and review reliable information about what those contracts do. For developers and project teams, having an official portal to list and verify their on-chain code adds credibility and helps attract users. Overall, the KleverScan contracts portal is a foundational piece for an open smart contract ecosystem – one where on-chain activity is accessible and verifiable by the community, fostering greater trust.

Under-the-Hood Optimizations – Speed and Scalability

Beyond the headline features, v1.7.14 brings deep optimizations to Klever’s execution layer to ensure the network can handle its new capabilities efficiently. The upgrade includes low-level improvements that make transaction processing and smart contract execution more stable and responsive. These changes might not be visible to end-users, but their effects will be felt as a general improvement in performance across all dApps.

The goal of these optimizations is to maintain consistent performance and predictable costs even as network usage grows with smart contracts. Klever’s developers have fine-tuned how blocks are processed and how resources are managed, so that the addition of KVM and other features doesn’t introduce lag or instability. For the community, this means that once the upgrade is live, applications should feel snappier and the network should continue to scale smoothly. It’s an important assurance that KleverChain is ready for the increased load that widespread dApp usage could bring.

Security Boost: CertiK Audited and Certified

In a bid to reinforce confidence, the Klever Blockchain’s new upgrade has been security audited and certified by CertiK, a leading blockchain security firm. CertiK is known for its use of formal verification and AI technology to secure and monitor blockchains and smart contracts, and it has worked with many well-known networks like Ethereum, BNB Chain, Polygon, Cosmos, and Solana. Klever’s engagement with CertiK means that v1.7.14’s code (including the KVM and new contracts) underwent rigorous review to identify and fix any potential vulnerabilities.

Passing a CertiK audit is a significant trust signal for the ecosystem. It demonstrates that Klever Blockchain is serious about security and reliability. Not only does this help ensure the new smart contract engine and features are robust against attacks, it also paves the way for broader adoption. (In fact, a full CertiK audit is often a prerequisite for Tier-1 exchange listings; Klever’s audit was completed in Q3 2025, aligning with the project’s broader growth strategy.) For the Klever community – from everyday KLV holders to developers building the next big dApp – the CertiK certification provides peace of mind that the chain’s new functionalities are launching on a solid, secure foundation.

Upgrade Timeline and Next Steps

The v1.7.14 upgrade is set to activate on October 28, 2025 at 1:00 PM UTC (epoch 4860), according to the official announcement. All validator nodes must upgrade to the new software before that epoch to stay in consensus with the network. Once the switch is flipped at epoch 4860, the Klever Virtual Machine and all accompanying features (SFTs, new contracts, etc.) will be live on the mainnet, ushering in a new chapter for KleverChain.

For developers, this means the door is open to start deploying smart contracts and building on Klever like never before. We can expect to see the first wave of community-driven dApps – whether DeFi protocols, NFT marketplaces, games, or novel Web3 services – now that the infrastructure supports custom on-chain logic. Klever’s team has hinted that this release “unlocks the foundation for builders” to create a whole new ecosystem of applications secured by Klever. In essence, with KVM on mainnet, Klever is evolving from an internally-developed platform into an open playground for innovation, where the community’s creativity can drive the blockchain forward.

What’s next? After the upgrade, attention will turn to the actual utilization of these features. The “next stop,” as the Klever team put it, is the full activation of KVM on mainnet and the growth of a robust dApp ecosystem to follow. In the coming weeks and months, Klever is expected to focus on developer support – publishing new tutorials, examples, and step-by-step guides – so builders can hit the ground running. With the combination of smart contracts, SFTs, interoperability bridges, and user-friendly tools now in place, KleverChain is positioning itself to attract a wider community of users and developers.

Conclusion

In summary, Klever’s mainnet upgrade v1.7.14 is a watershed moment for the network. By implementing the Rust-based Klever Virtual Machine, KleverChain joins the ranks of programmable blockchains, unlocking use cases that were previously out of reach on its platform. Features like semi-fungible tokens, expanded developer tools, cross-chain bridges, and enhanced transparency indicate a maturing ecosystem ready to compete in the broader crypto landscape. Importantly, the fact that all this comes wrapped in a security-audited package adds credibility to Klever’s ambitious push forward.

For crypto enthusiasts and KLV holders, this upgrade is an exciting development that could drive new activity and utility for the Klever token. For blockchain developers, it’s an invitation to start building on a newly capable layer-1 chain that promises speed, safety, and low costs. And for the Klever community at large, v1.7.14 represents the next big leap – transforming Klever into a fully-fledged smart contract platform with its sights set on fostering innovation in a truly klever way.