Welcome to the first eth2 quick update of 2020! This is going to be a very interesting year.
tldr;
- Release v0.10.0 speculation Multi-client testnet and stable target for security reviews
- @paulhauner and the @sigp_io team fag lighthouse construction
- Restart ~ Of Prism TestnetNow includes aggregator and mainnet configuration
- A new proposal for fast merging of eth1+eth2 (aka Step 1.5)
Release v0.10.0 For security review and multi-client testnet
v0.10.0 — 404 Not Found It was released last week. read release notes As for the technical details (IETF BLS integration, simpler eth1 caching, etc.), what does this actually mean for eth2?
v0.10.0 This is the culmination of changes introduced to the Phase 0 specification following the deVcon unfreeze and integration of the new IETF BLS standard. For a while, these new spec changes disrupted the eth2 client team’s smooth development cycle and delayed the impending testnet launch. With launch v0.10.0We are now getting back into a smooth rhythm.
New and updated resources
With launch v0.10.0We once again have very stable targets for both client testnets and third-party audits and security reviews.
To that end, we’ve recently updated many of our onboarding resources and created several new ones. If you want to better understand the eth2 Phase 0 specification, you should definitely take a look at this!
Audit in progress
The Least Authority began a security review this Monday and is currently conducting an in-depth investigation. We have high expectations and are excited to work with a team of that caliber!
Another exciting news is the form of auditing and formalization of Phase 0 cryptoeconomics led by a new EF team, the Robust Incentives Group (RIG).
RIG is obvious An environment to simulate the eth2 economic model and explore a wide range of attacks, including timing attacks, the potential impact of cartels of different sizes, and more!
Please confirm the core of their work It is in the form of an easy-to-understand Python notebook.
What are your future plans?
I’ll only briefly explain it here and go into more detail in my next post.
In parallel with ongoing audits, our customers write maximum code. v0.10.0, integrate the new BLS standard and run a stable testnet. First of all, initial stability v0.10.0 Once achieved, multi-client activity begins.
Regarding this activity, we anticipate that there will first be a small number of multi-client tests, primarily on single-client testnets. That said, we expect to see some clients joining a small number of nodes in what was previously a single-client testnet to test initial interoperability.
If you are successful here, you will be coordinating a shared genesis with two or more clients from the start. I expect some confusion and a lot of learning at this stage. When minor explicit changes are incorporated, ambiguities in the specification may become apparent. We may discover that something we previously thought was okay is broken. A large-scale testnet is its own form of audit.
We expect major changes to the Phase 0 specification once the audit results start coming in throughout February. The scope of these changes and the impact they may have on client development and schedules have not yet been determined. In any case, through post-audit v0.11.0 The rollout is expected to stop around early March.
If the changes are small, the client will integrate the changes, patch the testnet, and move on. Going deeper means integration will take longer, require additional testing, and may require a complete restart of the existing net. After spending enough time in the stables v0.11.xfinal v1.0.0 It will be shortened for mainnet launch. The exact period depends on the depth of the changes.
This is what the next few months will look like at a high level. We’ll keep you posted and provide more details.
Optimized Lighthouse of Tears
Sigma Prime has been relatively quiet since then. We have shut down our first public testnet., The team worked hard! Lighthouse leader Paul Hauner just An exciting tweetstorm It’s full of details about the latest optimizations and benefits of the eth2 client.
obviously they little known Over the past four weeks, the public testnet has achieved impressive results in everything from BLS to block processing to DB read/write. Scroll down and try it yourself!
Oh, and if you want to get involved in the frontend, Sigma Prime just announced RFP for Lighthouse User Interface. This kind of work is important to ensure that validation is easily accessible to all types of users.
Prysmatic’s testnet is re-launched with mainnet configuration and aggregator.
Recently, Prysmatic Labs We have restarted our public testnet Now take a look at the mainnet configuration and proof aggregation strategy! As explained in a previous post, mainnet configurations have larger caches, longer epochs, and are generally slightly heavier than the minimal configuration initially used. This configuration and running a stable testnet with tens of thousands of validators are important milestones that Prysmatic is currently working on.
If you want to get your hands dirty, Become a validator or join the conversation In disagreement.
Oh, and they are hiring! Working remotely with Prysm is a great opportunity for experienced developers. Help us build the future!
Step 1.5
During the holidays, Vitalik posted the following: new offer We explain how to expedite eth1+eth2 mergers and get the benefits of new eth2 infrastructure much faster. This proposal proposes a step 1.5 by migrating eth1 to eth2 shards after the step 1 infrastructure (shard data chain) has been added but before the full step 2 (including scalable EE and any cross-shard add-ons)!
Phase 1.5 brings many potential benefits to the Ethereum protocol, developers, and users.
- Eth1 inside eth2 allows native access to a scalable sharded data layer. Some of the most interesting configurations being built on top of Ethereum today are layer 2 protocols that scale with the amount of data available at layer 1. This combines beautifully with eth2, with just a single chain (e.g. eth1 being a shard) with basic compute functionality. Typically, this configuration is called a “rollup.” There are many different forms and I expect this general design space to continue to expand and become fruitful.
- The migration of Eth1 to eth2 shards will remove PoW from the protocol, significantly reducing issuance and completely halting energy-intensive mining on Ethereum.
- Finally, integrating eth1 into eth2 on a faster schedule reduces the amount of moving parts, unifying system, community, and core protocol development. The eth2 infrastructure is being developed first in parallel with the existing Ethereum chain, but early integration of eth1 into eth2 (beyond a technical win) will help keep the community of protocol developers, application developers, random contributors, and end users united. It’s possible. Within one cohesive Ethereum.
Based on initial discussions and reactions, developers and community members are excited about this proposal. Currently, Phase 1.5 largely depends on the success of two independent components: Phase 1 on eth2 and Stateless Ethereum on eth1. The relative timelines for each of these components will inform how and when this proposal may come to fruition. Over the next few months, we’ll be doing our due diligence to better specify and understand the technical challenges at hand so we’ll be ready to move forward with this work when the time comes 🚀.