Cosmos Launch Communications — August Community Update
Ahoy!! Space Cowboys & girls,
August was a month of quiet, heads-down work, and in September, all of that work is coming to fruition. Much of the legal paperwork and administrative items have been knocked off for Game of Steaks and we are moving full-steam ahead getting all the loose ends tied and ready for a feature-complete testnet. This month’s update is chock-full of information so be sure to not miss anything important and read through its entirety. But if you’re short on time, here’s the…
TL;DR
Here are the things you can expect to happen in September:
- The Gaia-9000 testnet series will be launched and run on the as-yet unreleased Cosmos-SDK
v0.25.0. - Cosmos-SDK
v0.25.0will add fee mechanisms as anti-spam measures including simple fee distribution, fee payment, and a simple flat fee (among other features listed below in the Mainnet Launch Features section). - The aforementioned features in SDK
v0.25.0comprise, in full, the prerequisite features needed to run the Game of Steaks live environment, which more or less means that we will have a feature-complete testnet for a MVP Proof-of-Stake protocol. This would mark a significant milestone not just for the Cosmos Network but for the entire ecosystem of PoS protocols. - Cosmos-SDK
v0.25.0is estimated to be released mid to late September, and shortly after that, Game of Steaks will be launched. - Registration for Game of Steaks will open in early September so watch out for that (it will be announced on the blog and on Twitter).
Update — Mainnet Launch Features
The 7 major features left to implement before version 0 of a mainnet release candidate software are:
1. Fees (Cosmos-SDK)
2. In-protocol slashing (Cosmos-SDK)
3. Multi-signatures (Tendermint)
4. ABCI (Application Blockchain Interface) changes (Tendermint)
5. Gas pricing (Cosmos-SDK)
6. Governance v2 (Cosmos-SDK)
Most of these features will be in the next release of the Cosmos-SDK v0.25.0. After that release is launched and tested, the test environment will be feature-complete for Game of Steaks.
1 Fees
Issue #1921: We are implementing a simple flat, non-consensus minimum fee as an anti-spam measure.
Issue #1944: We’ve implemented a “Piggy bank” fee distribution mechanism which specifies how the protocol allocates fees to stakers.
Estimated Timeline — Work on fees should be completed in the Cosmos-SDKv0.25.0 release.
2 Slashing
In-protocol slashing is already implemented, but minor tweaks are still being made.
Issue #2163: Unbonding state for validators (WIP).
Issue #2122: Slashing period.
Issue #1256: Other slashing issues blocking for launch.
Estimated Timeline — Work on slashing should be completed in the Cosmos-SDKv0.25.0 release.
3 Multisig Support in the CLI
Multi-signature support has been implemented on the Tendermint Core side, but more work is needed to implement multi-sig in the GaiaCLI.
Estimated Timeline — TBD
4 ABCI Changes
Changes in the Tendermint ABCI need to be constantly maintained due to keeping up with corresponding breaking changes on the Cosmos-SDK. One of the improvements in the pipeline is better error logs for improved developer experience. These new updates should be included in the next release of Tendermint Core.
Estimated Timeline — ABCI changes should be included in Tendermint v0.24.0 release.
5 Gas Pricing
Gas pricing is a launch requirement, and currently, we’re benchmarking the IAVL to inform additional work to be done.
Estimated timeline — TBD
6 Gaia Lite
Gaia Light is the Cosmos-SDK light client implementation currently being developed for third-party integrations. We’re very aware that a large deciding factor for decentralized application developers when choosing which platforms to build on desire mature ecosystems with integrations — such as wallets — already built-in so that they don’t need to do the legwork of getting their applications supported themselves. Gaia Lite — when ready — addresses this need.
Issue #2177: Core developers at bianjie.ai (IRISnet) implemented Gaia Lite (referred to as ‘LCD’ in the PR) and we are currently in the process of splitting up the tasks and reviewing each component of the roughly ~5000 line light client implementation.
Gaia Lite is being updated to implement the Interchain Standard (ICS) specifications. ICS0, ICS1, ICS20, and ICS21 have been implemented already. ICS22 and ICS23 are currently under active development.
Estimated Timeline — Gaia Lite is needed for IBC functionality so it will be implemented, tested, secured, and audited before launch.
7 Governance (v2)
Governance v1 is done and currently stable. It only enables simple text proposals, but for v2, there remains an open issue about whether or not we want signaling for software upgrades. Governance v2 is the lowest on the priority list.
Issue #1079: Simple software upgrade proposals.
Issue #2116: Another governance proposal for software upgrades.
Estimated Timeline — TBD
Announcements
It’s Over 9000!! Game of Steaks Update
Actually, it’s not over 9000; it’s just right around 9000. Game of Steaks will be running on the same testnet version as Gaia-9000. This doesn’t mean that Game of Steaks will launch when Gaia-9000 is launched! However, you can expect GoS to launch sometime during the Gaia-9000 series. Two testnets — the adversarial one for GoS and a regular public testnet — will run concurrently.
Registrations will open early September.
HackAtom3 is Under Way
- Blog post & submission instructions: HackAtom3 Announcement
Cosmos Network Headed to Shanghai International Blockchain Week
Shanghai International Blockchain Week is right around the corner! Cosmos is proud to be the Diamond Sponsor of Wanxiang’s 4th annual Global Blockchain Summit. This is the largest conference in East Asia and we’re excited to be a part of the revolution boiling up in the East.
Sunny Aggarwal, Tendermint’s Core Developer, is a Tech Open Day speaker and will give a practical demonstration showing developers how to implement a module within the Cosmos-SDK.
Jae Kwon, Tendermint’s co-founder, is a keynote speaker and will be giving a talk covering the evolution of dApp development over the generations: from the advent of Bitcoin and Ethereum, during the Wild Wild West era of cryptocurrencies and ICOs, to the advent of Cosmos, taking humanity to the Space Age of blockchain-based, commercial-scale applications. With Cosmos launching imminently this year, introducing the very first pure Proof-of-Stake platform with in-protocol slashing and fault detection beyond that of masternode paradigms, there is much to look forward to. We can’t wait to launch mankind into the Cosmos. Are you ready to take the leap?
- Full details of agenda and speaker list at Shanghai International Blockchain Week: linked here.
Cosmos Academy, Seoul
Chjango Unchained, Tendermint’s Head of Communications, will give a talk covering an overview about the benefits of building a decentralized application as a self-governed blockchain with the Cosmos-SDK and leveraging its modular framework. The talk will be followed by a developer-oriented workshop given by Joon, Tendermint’s Core Developer, teaching the audience how to build a module within the Cosmos-SDK.
- Signups and event details found here: cosmos.network/academy/kr
Cosmos Community at Large
The Cosmos community is growing! As the ecosystem evolves, we have found some very enthusiastic volunteer organizers who are leading the efforts in various parts of East Asia. The following are unofficial Cosmos communities run by separate organizations. These community organizers contribute translations, host local meetups, and curate discussion channels in the language of their respective regions.
Cosmos China (operated by IRISnet)
- Twitter: twitter.com/cosmoschina
- Telegram: t.me/irisnetwork
- WeChat: ask for the Cosmos China WeChat invite in the IRISnet telegram channel above
Cosmos Korea (operated by Lunamint)
- Cosmos Academy Korea: cosmos.network/academy/kr
- Medium Publication: medium.com/lunamint-atlas/cosmos-korea
- Cosmos Weekly Update Series: Start here
- Twitter: twitter.com/cosmosSKorea
- Telegram: t.me/cosmos_node
Cosmos Japan (operated by CryptoAge)
- Medium Publication: medium.com/cosmos-japan
- Japanese Blog: www.cosmosjapan.blog
- Twitter: twitter.com/cosmosnetworkJP
- Telegram: t.me/cosmosjapan
