INJ Price Stays Quiet as Injective Pushes Major Interoperability Upgrade

The INJ price has spent much of 2026 trapped between the $3 and $5 range, leading some to assume ecosystem development has slowed and it is the cause of muted price action. The governance record tells a different story. Injective has activated its IIP-677 interoperability mainnet upgrade (v1.20.3) while another core proposal, IIP-678, is already moving through the voting process.The latest upgrade follows earlier architectural expansions, including the Vulcan (IIP-650) upgrade and MultiVM rollouts, signaling that protocol development continues despite muted price action.Interoperability Upgrade Moves Network ForwardThe approved IIP-677 proposal passed with 72% “Yes” votes after a four-day voting period. It commits the network to version v1.20.3, introducing targeted improvements aimed at strengthening network operations, protocol reliability, market infrastructure, and cross-chain interoperability.The upgrade also seeks to integrate transfers from additional blockchains, enabling smoother asset movement into the Injective ecosystem while improving operational efficiency and network security.Earlier Vulcan enhancements had already introduced native canonical USDC settlement, reduced transaction fees, expanded real-world asset markets, and deployed a next-generation oracle engine alongside refined exchange, insurance, and oracle modules supporting faster buyback and burn cycles.Another Governance Vote Remains OpenDevelopment hasn’t paused there. IIP-678 remains under active voting until July 31, focusing on recovering an expired IBC light client connected to the QUAD Core chain. The proposal replaces the expired client with an active substitute while maintaining the existing connection and channel.According to the current vote tally, Abstain holds 52.81%, while Yes accounts for 47.18%. Whether that balance changes before voting closes remains to be seen.Revenue Keeps Rising Despite Flat PriceThe INJ price may appear less interesting to many, but protocol activity paints another picture. Injective’s governance page has progressed from approximately IIP-615 earlier this year to IIP-678, reflecting more than 60 governance proposals during 2026.Meanwhile, Token Terminal reports approximately $3.0 million in protocol revenue over the past 365 days, generated through its dual-chain architecture. Revenue combines burn auctions on Injective Cosmos and EIP-1559 base fee burns on Injective EVM, highlighting continued protocol activity even while the INJ price remains range-bound.