diff --git a/.github/workflows/sims-047.yml b/.github/workflows/sims-047.yml
index bd2b0ab61b..1bd456cf6c 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/sims-047.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/sims-047.yml
@@ -100,31 +100,6 @@ jobs:
         run: |
           make test-sim-multi-seed-short
 
-  sims-notify-success:
-    needs:
-      [test-sim-multi-seed-short, test-sim-after-import, test-sim-import-export]
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
-    if: ${{ success() }}
-    steps:
-      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
-      - name: Get previous workflow status
-        uses: ./.github/actions/last-workflow-status
-        id: last_status
-        with:
-          github_token: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
-
-      - name: Notify Slack on success
-        if: ${{ steps.last_status.outputs.last_status == 'failure' }}
-        uses: rtCamp/action-slack-notify@v2.3.3
-        env:
-          SLACK_WEBHOOK: ${{ secrets.SLACK_WEBHOOK }}
-          SLACK_CHANNEL: sdk-sims
-          SLACK_USERNAME: Sim Tests release/0.47.x
-          SLACK_ICON_EMOJI: ":white_check_mark:"
-          SLACK_COLOR: good
-          SLACK_MESSAGE: 0.47.x Sims are passing
-          SLACK_FOOTER: ""
-
   sims-notify-failure:
     permissions:
       contents: none
diff --git a/.github/workflows/sims-050.yml b/.github/workflows/sims-050.yml
index 716f6999e3..fe45b25043 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/sims-050.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/sims-050.yml
@@ -2,8 +2,6 @@ name: Sims release/0.50.x
 # Sims workflow runs multiple types of simulations (nondeterminism, import-export, after-import, multi-seed-short)
 # This workflow will run on all Pull Requests, if a .go, .mod or .sum file have been changed
 
-# TODO - update to 53 once we have cut release
-
 on:
   schedule:
     - cron: "0 0,12 * * *"
@@ -103,31 +101,6 @@ jobs:
         run: |
           make test-sim-multi-seed-short
 
-  sims-notify-success:
-    needs:
-      [test-sim-multi-seed-short, test-sim-after-import, test-sim-import-export]
-    runs-on: depot-ubuntu-22.04-4
-    if: ${{ success() }}
-    steps:
-      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
-      - name: Get previous workflow status
-        uses: ./.github/actions/last-workflow-status
-        id: last_status
-        with:
-          github_token: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
-
-      - name: Notify Slack on success
-        if: ${{ steps.last_status.outputs.last_status == 'failure' }}
-        uses: rtCamp/action-slack-notify@v2.3.3
-        env:
-          SLACK_WEBHOOK: ${{ secrets.SLACK_WEBHOOK }}
-          SLACK_CHANNEL: sdk-sims
-          SLACK_USERNAME: Sim Tests release/0.50.x
-          SLACK_ICON_EMOJI: ":white_check_mark:"
-          SLACK_COLOR: good
-          SLACK_MESSAGE: 0.50.x Sims are passing
-          SLACK_FOOTER: ""
-
   sims-notify-failure:
     permissions:
       contents: none
diff --git a/.github/workflows/sims-053.yml b/.github/workflows/sims-053.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..815ce1b979
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/sims-053.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,121 @@
+name: Sims release/0.53.x
+# Sims workflow runs multiple types of simulations (nondeterminism, import-export, after-import, multi-seed-short)
+# This workflow will run on all Pull Requests, if a .go, .mod or .sum file have been changed
+
+on:
+  schedule:
+    - cron: "0 0,12 * * *"
+  release:
+    types: [published]
+
+concurrency:
+  group: ci-${{ github.ref }}-sims-050
+  cancel-in-progress: true
+
+jobs:
+  build:
+    runs-on: depot-ubuntu-22.04-4
+    if: "!contains(github.event.head_commit.message, 'skip-sims')"
+    steps:
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
+        with:
+          ref: "release/v0.53.x"
+      - uses: actions/setup-go@v5
+        with:
+          go-version: "1.23"
+          check-latest: true
+      - run: make build
+
+  install-runsim:
+    permissions:
+      contents: none
+    runs-on: depot-ubuntu-22.04-4
+    needs: build
+    steps:
+      - uses: actions/setup-go@v5
+        with:
+          go-version: "1.23"
+          check-latest: true
+      - name: Install runsim
+        run: go install github.com/cosmos/tools/cmd/runsim@v1.0.0
+      - uses: actions/cache@v4
+        with:
+          path: ~/go/bin
+          key: ${{ runner.os }}-go-runsim-binary
+
+  test-sim-import-export:
+    runs-on: depot-ubuntu-22.04-4
+    needs: [build, install-runsim]
+    timeout-minutes: 60
+    steps:
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
+        with:
+          ref: "release/v0.53.x"
+      - uses: actions/setup-go@v5
+        with:
+          go-version: "1.23"
+          check-latest: true
+      - uses: actions/cache@v4
+        with:
+          path: ~/go/bin
+          key: ${{ runner.os }}-go-runsim-binary
+      - name: test-sim-import-export
+        run: |
+          make test-sim-import-export
+
+  test-sim-after-import:
+    runs-on: depot-ubuntu-22.04-4
+    needs: [build, install-runsim]
+    steps:
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
+        with:
+          ref: "release/v0.53.x"
+      - uses: actions/setup-go@v5
+        with:
+          go-version: "1.23"
+          check-latest: true
+      - uses: actions/cache@v4
+        with:
+          path: ~/go/bin
+          key: ${{ runner.os }}-go-runsim-binary
+      - name: test-sim-after-import
+        run: |
+          make test-sim-after-import
+
+  test-sim-multi-seed-short:
+    runs-on: depot-ubuntu-22.04-4
+    needs: [build, install-runsim]
+    steps:
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
+        with:
+          ref: "release/v0.53.x"
+      - uses: actions/setup-go@v5
+        with:
+          go-version: "1.23"
+          check-latest: true
+      - uses: actions/cache@v4
+        with:
+          path: ~/go/bin
+          key: ${{ runner.os }}-go-runsim-binary
+      - name: test-sim-multi-seed-short
+        run: |
+          make test-sim-multi-seed-short
+
+  sims-notify-failure:
+    permissions:
+      contents: none
+    needs:
+      [test-sim-multi-seed-short, test-sim-after-import, test-sim-import-export]
+    runs-on: depot-ubuntu-22.04-4
+    if: ${{ failure() }}
+    steps:
+      - name: Notify Slack on failure
+        uses: rtCamp/action-slack-notify@v2.3.3
+        env:
+          SLACK_WEBHOOK: ${{ secrets.SLACK_WEBHOOK }}
+          SLACK_CHANNEL: sdk-sims
+          SLACK_USERNAME: Sim Tests release/0.50.x
+          SLACK_ICON_EMOJI: ":skull:"
+          SLACK_COLOR: danger
+          SLACK_MESSAGE: 0.50.x Sims are failing
+          SLACK_FOOTER: ""
diff --git a/.github/workflows/sims-nightly.yml b/.github/workflows/sims-nightly.yml
index abd4ed4328..b16274ec83 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/sims-nightly.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/sims-nightly.yml
@@ -44,31 +44,6 @@ jobs:
         run: |
           make test-sim-import-export
 
-  sims-notify-success:
-    needs: [test-sim-multi-seed-long, test-sim-import-export]
-    runs-on: depot-ubuntu-22.04-4
-    if: ${{ success() }}
-    steps:
-      - name: Check out repository
-        uses: actions/checkout@v4
-      - name: Get previous workflow status
-        uses: ./.github/actions/last-workflow-status
-        id: last_status
-        with:
-          github_token: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
-
-      - name: Notify Slack on success
-        if: ${{ steps.last_status.outputs.last_status == 'failure' }}
-        uses: rtCamp/action-slack-notify@v2.3.3
-        env:
-          SLACK_WEBHOOK: ${{ secrets.SLACK_WEBHOOK }}
-          SLACK_CHANNEL: sdk-sims
-          SLACK_USERNAME: Sim Tests
-          SLACK_ICON_EMOJI: ":white_check_mark:"
-          SLACK_COLOR: good
-          SLACK_MESSAGE: Sims Nightly (Long) are passing
-          SLACK_FOOTER: ""
-
   sims-notify-failure:
     permissions:
       contents: none
diff --git a/.github/workflows/test.yml b/.github/workflows/test.yml
index 822c068db3..a6944e2692 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/test.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/test.yml
@@ -501,121 +501,6 @@ jobs:
           cd x/tx
           go test -mod=readonly -timeout 30m -coverprofile=coverage.out -covermode=atomic -tags='norace ledger test_ledger_mock' ./...
 
-  test-x-nft:
-    runs-on: depot-ubuntu-22.04-4
-    steps:
-      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
-      - uses: actions/setup-go@v5
-        with:
-          go-version: "1.23"
-          check-latest: true
-          cache: true
-          cache-dependency-path: x/nft/go.sum
-      - uses: technote-space/get-diff-action@v6.1.2
-        id: git_diff
-        with:
-          PATTERNS: |
-            x/nft/**/*.go
-            x/nft/go.mod
-            x/nft/go.sum
-      - name: tests
-        if: env.GIT_DIFF
-        run: |
-          cd x/nft
-          go test -mod=readonly -timeout 30m -coverprofile=coverage.out -covermode=atomic -tags='norace ledger test_ledger_mock' ./...
-
-  test-x-circuit:
-    runs-on: depot-ubuntu-22.04-4
-    steps:
-      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
-      - uses: actions/setup-go@v5
-        with:
-          go-version: "1.23"
-          check-latest: true
-          cache: true
-          cache-dependency-path: x/circuit/go.sum
-      - uses: technote-space/get-diff-action@v6.1.2
-        id: git_diff
-        with:
-          PATTERNS: |
-            x/circuit/**/*.go
-            x/circuit/go.mod
-            x/circuit/go.sum
-      - name: tests
-        if: env.GIT_DIFF
-        run: |
-          cd x/circuit
-          go test -mod=readonly -timeout 30m -coverprofile=coverage.out -covermode=atomic -tags='norace ledger test_ledger_mock' ./...
-
-  test-x-feegrant:
-    runs-on: depot-ubuntu-22.04-4
-    steps:
-      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
-      - uses: actions/setup-go@v5
-        with:
-          go-version: "1.23"
-          check-latest: true
-          cache: true
-          cache-dependency-path: x/feegrant/go.sum
-      - uses: technote-space/get-diff-action@v6.1.2
-        id: git_diff
-        with:
-          PATTERNS: |
-            x/feegrant/**/*.go
-            x/feegrant/go.mod
-            x/feegrant/go.sum
-      - name: tests
-        if: env.GIT_DIFF
-        run: |
-          cd x/feegrant
-          go test -mod=readonly -timeout 30m -coverprofile=coverage.out -covermode=atomic -tags='norace ledger test_ledger_mock' ./...
-
-  test-x-evidence:
-    runs-on: depot-ubuntu-22.04-4
-    steps:
-      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
-      - uses: actions/setup-go@v5
-        with:
-          go-version: "1.23"
-          check-latest: true
-          cache: true
-          cache-dependency-path: x/evidence/go.sum
-      - uses: technote-space/get-diff-action@v6.1.2
-        id: git_diff
-        with:
-          PATTERNS: |
-            x/evidence/**/*.go
-            x/evidence/go.mod
-            x/evidence/go.sum
-      - name: tests
-        if: env.GIT_DIFF
-        run: |
-          cd x/evidence
-          go test -mod=readonly -timeout 30m -coverprofile=coverage.out -covermode=atomic -tags='norace ledger test_ledger_mock' ./...
-
-  test-x-upgrade:
-    runs-on: depot-ubuntu-22.04-4
-    steps:
-      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
-      - uses: actions/setup-go@v5
-        with:
-          go-version: "1.23"
-          check-latest: true
-          cache: true
-          cache-dependency-path: x/upgrade/go.sum
-      - uses: technote-space/get-diff-action@v6.1.2
-        id: git_diff
-        with:
-          PATTERNS: |
-            x/upgrade/**/*.go
-            x/upgrade/go.mod
-            x/upgrade/go.sum
-      - name: tests
-        if: env.GIT_DIFF
-        run: |
-          cd x/upgrade
-          go test -mod=readonly -timeout 30m -coverprofile=coverage.out -covermode=atomic -tags='norace ledger test_ledger_mock' ./...
-
   test-tools-benchmark:
     runs-on: depot-ubuntu-22.04-4
     steps: