2019-11-06T15:00:00Z
Charles Hoskinson Surprise Quick AMA 11-7-2019 by @Eric_Czuleger
Charles Hoskinson sat down on November 7th for a quick AMA. There he discussed the upcoming UTXO snapshot for the Shelley incentivized testnet. He also broke down some of the next steps after the completion of the testnet and reminded everyone to verify their keywords so they can successfully redeem their Ada on the incentivized testnet.
IN SUMMARY
-The first snapshot for the incentivized testnet is on track for the 12th of November with the installers ready on the 14th.
-The second ‘for real’ snapshot will happen around one to two weeks after the first snapshot.
-You will be able to restore paper and legacy Daedalus Wallets to the incentivized testnet wallet using your keywords.
-We are looking forward to the metrics that we will be able to track from the upcoming testnet.
-Make sure to verify your wallet keywords.
Snapshot on the way
We are gaining more clarity and velocity on Shelley. We believe that the first snapshot will be on the 12th of November with a 48 hour burn-in while we spool up the new incentivized testnet. The installers for Daedalus will likely be ready around November 14th. Next week we will launch videos and additional content that will cover everything necessary for participation in the incentivized testnet. This includes how to use the testnet Daedalus Wallet. It will also cover redemption which means entering your keywords to rotate credentials to the new Shelley addresses.
In terms of verification paths there are four different routes in the UTXO that are relevant to us currently. These include, legacy Daedalus addresses, paper wallets, Yoroi addresses, and hardware wallet addresses. These all differ by keywords ranging from 12 to 24 words. To remedy this we will be launching the ability to take keywords from a paper wallet or a Daedalus address and enter them into the incentivized testnet Daedalus. This will verify that you have access to your Ada on the incentivized testnet. Meanwhile, the Yoroi team is working to build a verification system that will allow you to take keywords from the Yoroi app or a hardware wallet, this will then verify that you have access to your crypto in the UTXO. There is a fifth verification path which includes funds kept on exchange. It is up to each individual exchange to determine what they will do with the incentivized testnet down the line.
To recap, on the 12th of November the snapshot will occur. This will be confirmed through an announcement on Monday. We have one more release of Jormungandr which we are planning on launching this week. Come the 14th of November we will have installers ready that will include the new Daedalus, the new wallet backend, and Jormungandr .7 RC5. Of course, we will then be able to use this to track metrics and see who is participating.
From the genesis block we can learn from three different metrics. We can track the total number of transactions which have occurred from the genesis block to a new address. Each time this happens it’s a ‘many-to-one-transaction’ which is an indication of a unique restoration of the wallet. We can also track the total percentage of things in the UTXO which have been rotated over from live addresses. The third thing we can track is the total amount of Ada which has been rotated. We’re excited to look at all of these metrics.
We plan on running this first snapshot as a trial run for between one and two weeks. This will give us a lot of data. It will also give us a sense of who is having difficulties. We assume there will be a great deal of questions and troubleshooting necessary during this time period. This is the first time we have deployed the new Daedalus with the new wallet backend and Jormungandr so we are looking forward to seeing how it all works alongside the community.
The second snapshot
After the run of the first snapshot, we will perform the ‘for real’ snapshot. For participants the experience will be similar to the first snapshot except it will have a new installer which will be available on our website. This wallet will write over the old one, and you will use the same keywords to restore your wallet into the new incentivized testnet. The only difference between these two snapshots, is that the second is ‘for real.’ You will be able to delegate stake, register stake pools, and use the updated block explorer which will be improved for the second snapshot. It is likely that we will also have a dashboard for running stakepools as well. On top of that, we are working on the documentation to make it easy for people to do turnkey deployments of stake pools.
There have been questions about the percentage return on staking and we will make an announcement about that before we make the ‘for real’ snapshot. That will likely come during the middle of the month once we have merged in the final incentives code. As always, stay tuned to our official channels for information.
Beyond the incentivized testnet
After the launch there will be a scale up on the Rust team followed by a productization surge. This is where the team will attempt to cross the delta between the incentivized testnet and what we would like to bring to mainnet. This will include detailed functional and nonfunctional requirements for a backlog of products. We are also going through an external security audit with a group called Root9B. We hope to have that audit ready for public release by January or February.
In conclusion
To recap, on the 12th of November the snapshot will occur. On the 14th participation will begin. Make sure to have your keywords ready. If you do not have them ready or have forgotten them, we recommend that you rotate wallets by creating a new wallet and transferring your funds. Make sure to verify your new keywords so you are ready to participate in the testnet on the 14th. To reiterate: make sure you have your keywords before the 14th. We will likely publish a post mortem blog post on who has verified their keywords.
The ‘for real’ incentivized testnet will be stable and incredibly useful for both the community and IOHK. We look forward to launching it and shifting the conversation from when Shelley? to when Goguen? This will be an exciting experience for us because we will be able to partner with some exciting companies to launch their products in tandem with the Goguen release.
As usual, we want to thank everyone for your participation. Also… verify your keywords.
QUESTIONS
Rolling Stones or The Beatles?
Why aren’t all the New Balance OMN1s on the Cardano Blockchain?
Were you involved in creating bitcoin?
Will staking ever be as easy as sending Ada to your Daedalus Wallet?
How do you feal about Tezos stake launching on Coinbase?
How do you plan on preventing fraud and scams?
If you’ve registered a staking pool a month ago will it still work?
Will the project be completed in 2020?
Will you send Vitalik a Cardano shirt when Goguen is released?
What do you think of the Voynich Manuscript?
Why doesn’t Europe have a top twenty tech company?
What do you think about the Stellar burn?