# Divi Project Completes Version 3.0 Migration and Retires Masternodes

> On October 25, 2023, the Divi Project said its migration to core version 3.0.0 was complete, after an August 23 fork that retired the network's masternodes. The team reported more than 90% adoption within seven weeks, higher staking difficulty and fewer orphaned blocks, all figures it measured itself.

Source: https://cryptomorrow.com/2023/10/25/divi-project-completes-version-3-0-migration-and-retires-masternodes/
Last checked: 2026-11-05

The [Divi Project](https://www.diviproject.org) declared its migration to blockchain core version 3.0.0 complete on October 25, 2023. In a [blog post](https://www.diviproject.org/divi-project-blog/divi-3-0-migration-is-complete), the team said the old chain running earlier software had stalled and "only the 3.0.0 version has emerged alive and healthy," closing out a transition that began with a hard fork on August 23.

*Historical news event: 2023-10-25. Retrospective report prepared November 2026.*

The upgrade changed how the network is secured and how rewards are paid. Its headline change was the retirement of masternodes, the tiered nodes Divi had been built around since its 2018 launch.

## From masternodes to validators

Divi published the 3.0.0 software on [GitHub](https://github.com/DiviProject/Divi/releases/tag/v3.0.0) on July 14, 2023, as a mandatory update. It set the fork to activate on August 23, 2023, at about 12:00 UTC, and listed "masternode deprecation" as its first new feature, along with staking vault improvements and other changes.

Masternodes were long central to the project's pitch. The team built tools to make them easy to run, and offered five tiers at different collateral levels. "That's why we started out by making it easier to set up masternodes," co-founder Geoff McCabe said in a [late-2018 interview](https://steemit.com/passiveincome/@nodesofvalue/diviprojectcryptocurrencymadeeasy-0lysvum3k2) posted on Steemit. For background on how they work, see our explainer on [what a masternode is](/2017/09/08/what-is-a-masternode/).

By 2023, the team argued the model was holding the network back. In its [Divi 3.0 introduction](https://www.diviproject.org/divi-project-blog/introducing-divi-3-0-the-next-step) in June, it described the move "from Masternodes to Validator Vaults" as an upgrade that would improve "security, efficiency, and decentralization." The October debrief added that masternodes, with their final say over blocks, had "inadvertently increased orphan rates due to debates and governance issues." The [August 23 fork and the shift of rewards to validators](/2023/08/23/divi-3-0-fork-retires-masternodes-and-moves-rewards-to-validators/) and the [staking vault design behind it](/2023/06/25/divi-3-0-explains-staking-vaults-that-separate-validator-keys-from-funds/) are covered in our related reports.

## What changed during migration

A blockchain fork is more than a version number. Nodes have to agree on which rules are valid, and those still running old software keep broadcasting their own version of history until peers stop accepting it. Divi said those out-of-date validators would eventually be isolated and stop.

According to the team, the first block under the new rules came 18 minutes after the fork: block 2,580,193, won at 12:18 UTC by a validator that had upgraded early. "The migration went perfectly," the blog post said, adding that partners updated on time and services weren't disrupted. Divi reported that more than 90% of participants had moved to the new version within seven weeks.

The team also published network readings from the [Chainz block explorer](https://chainz.cryptoid.info/divi/):

- **Rewards:** stakers now received 664 DIVI per reward, with an estimated rate of return of about 18%. Divi itself cautioned that the figure is hard to evaluate because of how inactive supply affects the calculation.
- **Difficulty:** average daily staking difficulty, which reflects how much supply is actively staking, rose from about 30,000 before the migration to about 50,000 after.
- **Orphan blocks:** orphans, valid blocks that don't end up in the final chain, fell by half to fewer than 10 a day on average.

![A block explorer table of Divi daily network data for October 15 to 24, 2023, with the difficulty column highlighted showing values between about 46,800 and 56,500](/static/up/2023/10/cm-014-divi-difficulty-chart.webp)

*Image: [Divi Project](https://www.diviproject.org)*

These are company-reported, time-specific measurements, not audited results. A quoted staking rate isn't a bank interest rate. It depends on how much of the supply is staking, token issuance and other conditions, and it changes over time.

## Governance and collectible experiments

The October update went beyond consensus. During the migration, Divi ran community contests tied to the end of masternodes, including "Immortal Voting NFTs" meant to work with a future Divi DAO. The team said it had received and validated 127 submissions and would distribute the NFTs only once the DAO was live, partly to avoid paying minting fees twice if the collection had to change.

In a related contest, the team shortlisted 10 community-submitted names, including "The Last Dance", "End of era" and "Keep_calm_and_stake", for a vote on the project's [Snapshot governance page](https://snapshot.org/#/dividao.eth) for a 40,000 DIVI prize. A community member known as Capt Nemo won a separate vote on the NFT's design.

## What came next

The debrief pointed to a new litepaper setting out milestones toward Divi 4.0 and sidechains. The June introduction had already said 3.0 "lays the groundwork for side chains, sidechain-based EVMs, Liquidity Pools" and other features.

The milestone was operational rather than promotional. The fork had happened in August. October was the team saying the transition had settled enough to measure. Independent node data, software adoption and later development remain the best ways to judge whether those improvements hold. Divi has been covered on this site since [its 2018 mainnet launch](/2018/10/05/divi-mainnet-has-already-launched/), and its DIVI token is now used for in-game rewards in titles such as [Siege Worlds](/2026/10/03/siege-worlds-adds-coffer-pets-that-collect-and-bank-loot-for-players/).

## Frequently asked questions

### When did Divi 3.0 go live?

The Divi 3.0 hard fork activated on August 23, 2023, at about 12:00 UTC. The Divi Project declared the migration complete on October 25, 2023.

### Does Divi still have masternodes?

No. Divi 3.0 deprecated masternodes. The network now relies on staking validators, with funds held in staking vaults.

### What happened to nodes that didn't upgrade to Divi 3.0?

Nodes still running pre-3.0 software stayed on the old rules, were banned by upgraded peers and stalled. Divi said only the 3.0.0 chain continued.

### What staking reward did Divi report after the migration?

Divi said stakers received 664 DIVI per reward, with an estimated rate of return of about 18% at the time. The team noted the figure is hard to evaluate and it varies with network participation.

### What are Divi Immortal Voting NFTs?

They're commemorative NFTs created during the masternode retirement, intended to be used for voting in a future Divi DAO. Divi said it would distribute them once the DAO was live.

## Sources

- [Divi Project: Divi 3.0 migration is complete! (October 25, 2023)](https://www.diviproject.org/divi-project-blog/divi-3-0-migration-is-complete)
- [Divi Project on GitHub: Divi 3.0.0 release notes (July 14, 2023)](https://github.com/DiviProject/Divi/releases/tag/v3.0.0)
- [Divi Project: Introducing Divi 3.0, the next step (June 2023)](https://www.diviproject.org/divi-project-blog/introducing-divi-3-0-the-next-step)
- [Divi Project: Divi 3.0 impact on rate of return](https://www.diviproject.org/divi-project-blog/divi-3-0-impact-on-rate-of-return)
- [Chainz: Divi block explorer](https://chainz.cryptoid.info/divi/)
- [Nodes of Value interview with Geoff McCabe on Steemit (2018)](https://steemit.com/passiveincome/@nodesofvalue/diviprojectcryptocurrencymadeeasy-0lysvum3k2)

*Featured image: [Divi Project](https://www.diviproject.org)*