Ethereum has successfully launched a dress-rehearsal testnet for the upcoming Ethereum 2.0 Phase 0, named Zinken.
It has been reported that the launch occurred on October 12 (Monday) at 12 P.M. UTC and unlike previous attempts, was a smooth launch with enough participation and no major bugs.
However, the testnet was organized following the bittersweet launch of Spadina, the first rehearsal that aimed to test the launchpad for stakers.
The Spadina testnet suffered from low participation rates, which meant that a lot of validators who signed up for the testnet failed to bring their clients online. While initially it was believed that this was due to lack of economic incentives, further analysis showed that bugs in clients accounted for a significant portion of the problems.
The report said that maintaining a high participation rate is crucial for the integrity of the network, as more than 66% of the stake must confirm blocks in order for the blockchain to be considered finalized, meaning that blocks can no longer be reversed.
The Ethereum 2.0 Zinken testnet was the first to not suffer from initial participation issues, thus paving the way for 2.0 mainnet launch, @shvandrew reports. https://t.co/bhEcoyuaLH — Cointelegraph (@Cointelegraph) October 12, 2020
Likewise, Zinken became the first testnet that passed the finalization threshold within a few minutes of its existence, proving to be the most successful testnet launch so far. While it was still below the ideal of 90%, participation was above 75% since genesis.
They said that Ethereum 2.0 developers were pleased with the launch, noting that “the Discord chat is silent” — a positive sign when compared to the earlier streams of bug reports and issues. This was the confirmation that the developers needed to go ahead with the mainnet launch.
Vitalik Buterin, who was also present during the call, added that the team may still do a few more rehearsals, but they’d likely be reserved for developers.
Danny Ryan, the Ethereum Foundation’s Lead Coordinator for Ethereum 2.0, said:
“That’s my impression [that a 2020 launch is on target]. This is an ongoing dialogue with client teams, and we need to take a second to look at this testnet. But it is my understanding that this will trigger the next series of things. There’s always blockers that might show up, [so] we need to do this responsibly.”
He noted that readiness is difficult to gauge and requires input from all participants, but there has been good progress made on this recently.
Thus, Ethereum 2.0 Phase 0 will feature the launch of a beacon chain, the first building block of the new blockchain.
Source: Cointelegraph