We have all been quite busy with everything going on! I’ll keep these posts coming, but be sure to check out Ben Edgington’s website for the latest updates. Eth2 has a new feature offering solutions.
Tune into the virtual summit Ethereal this Friday and Thursday: it’s filled with great content related to Eth2 and it’s totally free. We are grateful to all of the organizers who made it possible to switch to online. I’m really excited.
tl.
Duplicate Rewards Program
Starting from today, rewards will be available in the pre-launch rewards program: zero. Your chances of getting a job are increased by two critical bugs, with a maximum reward of $20k!
This program is designed to motivate you to report and find bugs in the Eth2 phase 0 core specs prior to the mainnet launch. The Ethereum Foundation is running this program up until the phase 0 mainnet launch. After phase 0, we’ll switch over to the Ethereum bounty program.
Read more about details on how to report, severity levels, rewards, and the rules here.
Happy bug hunting!
Schlesi Multi-Client Testnet
On April 17, the first Eth2 multi-client testnet, Schlesi, was born!
Schlesi is an Eth2 multi-client effort, spearheaded by Afri Schoedon. This is the first multi-client persistent testnet. A huge thank you to Afri for her tireless efforts in getting multiple clients to cooperate, submit bug reports, and keep the network running for several weeks.
The network was set up with Prism and Lighthouse, but clients have been in constant communication ever since. Nimbus, Teku, and others have been in sync and working to make sure their validators are running perfectly. Check out the Graffiti testnet blocks – many are labeled with the client or construction, while others have amusing messages.
Schlesi may be able to get the multi-client testnet running in a few iterations. For now, the network will be restarted every other week or two, and versions will be updated as bugs are found and clients connect more frequently.
Come join the network and learn more on the Eth research and development channel Schlesi.
Preparing for v0.12
Most of my time has been devoted to getting ready for the Eth2 spec jump to a semi-major version, v0.12. Unless any safety-critical items are found, this will be the last specification change before the mainnet launch. This release includes draft 7 BLS hash-to-curve for IETF, enhancements to the network spec, and minor changes to the state transition to help with testing.
The IETF BLS standard has been both a source of anticipation and anxiety during the Eth2 process. On one hand, we’re excited to use a well-vetted industry standard and get access to more powerful tools and better interoperability. On the other, standardization is an external dependency we can’t control. Each update is a big alteration to the Eth2 spec, requires development work, and brings uncertainty to our timeline.
The IETF spec keepers are content with draft 7 and there are no more changes in the pipeline. The Eth2
