Ethereum 2.0 Developers release specifications for the “official” testnet earlier today! Ethereum 2.0 developers have done so with a presumed end-of-year launch – the testnet will begin August 4th And has been named “Medalla” after the Bruno’s Aires metro stop.
Official, in this case, means the testnet being deployed by the Ethereum Foundation. The testnet is still run by a decentralized group of code auditors, developers, and programmers. They’re organized by fork coordinator Afro Schoedon.
The network’s code base is also, presumably, ready for launch given the term “official”. Investors and developers alike have been itching for the multi-year project’s release.
Medalla joins multiple prior tests of Eth 2.0’s code bank on various client implementations, including Görli, Witti, Schlesi and most recently Altona.
“The Schlesi testnet was one of many steps in that direction. The Witti testnet was another. The Altona testnet is yet another. The Medalla testnet aims to be the final one prior to mainnet launch,” Schoedon said in the testnet GitHub Wednesday.
Clients by Prysmatic Labs (Prysm), PegaSys (Teku), Status (Nimbus) and Sigma Prime (Lighthouse) have participated in all the most recent testnets. All four clients plus one, Chainsafe’s Loadstar, have the ability to join Medalla, the GitHub reads.
Each testnet has focused And or tested different parts of Ethereum’s 2.0 launching sequence. This is due to the enormous technical challenges presented with moving a running blockchain network into an entirely different consensus algorithm.
In the case of Medalla, the testnet will focus on improving the experience for moving ether (ETH) over to the new network in what is called “staking.”
As Schoedon explained:
Medalla means “medal” and can be seen as a reference to the Olympic testnet that was used to prepare the ETH1 launch. It emphasizes the importance of the network at this stage towards the ETH2 launch. It can also be seen as a hint that Medalla validators will receive a proof of attendance “medal”on the Ethereum network for participation.
Ethereum 2.0 developers have also recently released guidelines for attacknets with accompanying bounties, at $5,000 a piece. The purpose of these is to stress test the network.
The original Ethereum network launched with few implementations, but grew to be dominated by one – Geth. Developers are taking their time as they want to iron out any bugs or unforeseen situations by testing and stressing the network.
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