The day is finally here — Quai Network’s Iron Age Testnet is live now. It’s time to mine Quai.
Introduction
Quai Network’s Iron Age Testnet is the third public test of the Quai protocol, and the first public test of the new PoEM consensus mechanism and cross-chain EVM opcodes. The primary goal of the Iron Age Testnet is to stress-test the PoEM consensus mechanism by onboarding as many nodes and miners as possible. The secondary goal of the Testnet is to encourage developers to deploy projects that spark the beginnings of the Quai ecosystem.
12 million Quai tokens have been allocated as rewards for the Iron Age Testnet. 8 million of these rewards will be distributed proportionally to miners based on the block rewards they earn, and 4 million of these rewards will be distributed to developers who deploy smart contracts and dapps on the Iron Age Testnet.
How to Get Involved
Here is a basic list of ways to interact with the Iron Age Testnet with just a computer and an internet connection:
- Set up a node: Set up your computer to be an active participant in the Iron Age Testnet, allowing you to mine, deploy contracts, and more.
- Set up a miner: If you have any GPUs sitting around, spin them up to start hashing and mining blocks on Quai Network to help test and secure the network (and earn rewards!).
- Download Pelagus Wallet or Koala Wallet from the Google Chrome Store: Both Pelagus and Koala will provide support for Quai’s Iron Age Testnet. To hold Iron Age Testnet funds or NFTs, you’ll want to set up one of these wallets. NOTE: Pelagus will be supporting Quai starting on day 1 of Testnet, while Koala will be adding support shortly after Testnet launch.
- Get some funds from the Iron Age Testnet Faucet: Get some Testnet Quai tokens to test sending transactions, deploying contracts, interacting with dapps, and more.
- Deploy a contract: Whether you have blockchain development experience or not, Quai Network’s Iron Age Testnet is the perfect place to test out a new idea on-chain (and earn rewards!).
- …And much more: Keep an eye on the Quai Network Galxe Space, Discord server, and Twitter account as Testnet progresses!
In the first phase of Testnet, lasting 150,000 Zone blocks, the Dominant Strategies team will be focused primarily on onboarding node operators and miners onto the network. If you’re looking to set up a node and/or miner, jump in the Quai Discord or the Quai Dev Discord to start chatting with other people setting up hardware!
Incentivized Activities
The Iron Age Testnet is incentivized with Mainnet Quai tokens. By completing certain on-chain activities, users will be eligible to be rewarded with Mainnet Quai tokens after completing a KYC as outlined in the disclaimer. Incentives are offered to both miners and builders.
Mining
Mining ensures network security through the Proof-of-Entropy-Minima consensus mechanism. 8 million Mainnet Quai tokens will be distributed to individuals who mine valid blocks on canonical Quai Network chains throughout the Iron Age Testnet.
The Mainnet rewards earned by each address will be determined by calculating what proportion of total Testnet blocks were mined by the address. For example, if a Zone 1 address mined 10 blocks and a total of 1,000 blocks were mined for the duration of the Iron Age Testnet in Zone 1, that address would receive 1% of mining rewards for Zone 1, or 8,888.889 Quai. All rewards will be tracked, calculated, and distributed via on-chain data – be sure to hold onto the private keys for the address(es) you use to mine!
No individual mining address will be able to receive more than 5% of the mining rewards for a single slice. Each individual will be able to KYC/claim a maximum of one mining address per chain on Mainnet.
IMPORTANT NOTE FOR TESTNET MINERS: The Iron Age Testnet will support the creation of mining pools; however, our team at Dominant Strategies will not be maintaining or recommending any mining pools for this Testnet. Due to the way mining rewards are tracked and calculated, allocating your hashpower to a pool that you don’t control will lead to your mining rewards being earned by the pool operator.
Building
Developers can spur network activity by creating applications and contracts on the Quai Testnet. 4 million Mainnet Quai tokens will be distributed to individuals/teams that deploy decentralized applications and projects during the Iron Age Testnet. Details about how these tokens will be distributed will be released during the Iron Age Testnet.
Final decisions surrounding project placement on the ecosystem page and the distribution of developer rewards are left to the sole discretion of the Dominant Strategies team.
Users
User incentives for the Iron Age Testnet will be released after the initial launch of miner and developer incentives. The Iron Age Testnet will likely include a variety of incentives for users, which, if released, will be conducted and tracked through the Quai Network Galxe Space.
Testnet Schedule
The Iron Age Testnet will go through four unique phases. Each phase will come with an increase in TPS, and a change in focus from the Dominant Strategies team.
Importantly, the only technical aspect of the Iron Age Testnet that changes with each phase is the TPS change. Developers looking to begin deploying contracts at the beginning of Phase 1 will be able to do so, but the Dominant Strategies team will not begin assisting with development and integrations until the beginning of Phase 2 on ~October 10th. Similarly, users are more than welcome to begin participating in Testnet starting as early as September 19th, but will not receive direct support from the Dominant Strategies team until the beginning of Phase 3 on ~October 31st.
The schedule will be officially followed by block number, NOT by time. Phases will change every 150,000 Zone blocks (which, at a 10s block time, takes ~3 weeks). Because Zone chains operate asynchronously, some Zone chains may process 150,000 blocks and switch phases faster than others.
Phase 1: Nodes & Miners
Zone block 0 – 150,000
In Phase 1, the TPS limit of the network will be set to 450. During the first 150,000 Zone block period of the Iron Age Testnet, the Dominant Strategies team will be focused on assisting node operators and GPU miners in order to ensure a secure foundation for the remainder of Testnet.
Phase 2: Integrations, Smart Contracts & Deployment
Zone block 150,001 – 300,000
In Phase 2, the TPS limit of the network will be raised to 900. During the second 150,000 Zone block phase of Testnet, the Dominant Strategies team will be focused on assisting developers, integration partners, and decentralized applications looking to deploy on/integrate Quai Network.
Phase 3: Users
Zone block 300,001 – 450,000
In Phase 3, the TPS limit of the network will be raised to 1350. During the third 150,000 Zone block phase of Testnet, the Dominant Strategies team will begin to focus on onboarding users into the Iron Age Testnet with user-focused marketing campaigns and Testnet incentives.
Phase 4: Dapp Testing
Zone block 450,001 – 600,000
In Phase 4, the TPS limit of the network will be raised to 1800. During the fourth and final 150,000 Zone block phase of Testnet, the Dominant Strategies team will be focused on working with deployed projects to drive users to explore Dapps on the Iron Age Testnet. At the conclusion of Phase 4, the winners of the development incentives will be selected and announced.
Join us to build a better blockchain.
Quai Network is an open-source Proof-of-Entropy-Minima blockchain network utilizing the capabilities of merged mining to increase throughput and security. Users of Quai Network will enjoy fast transaction times without compromising decentralization and security. Miners will have competitive mining opportunities across the many blockchains within the network.
Capable of thousands of transactions per second, the Quai Network is a new solution to scalability that is soon to be ready for mainnet release.
Terms & Conditions / Disclaimer
The entirety of the Quai Genesis grants program, including the content of this article, is subject to the Terms and Conditions outlined here.
Opinions, ideas, and statements shared in this update are delivered with numerous assumptions, risks, and uncertainties which are subject to change over time. There are multiple risk factors, including those related to blockchain, cryptographic systems, and technologies generally, as well Quai’s business, operations and results of operations, that could cause actual results or developments anticipated not to be realized or, even if substantially realized, to fail to achieve any or all of the benefits that could be expected therefrom. We reserve the right to unilaterally, completely, or partially change plans, expectations, and intentions stated herein at any time and for any reason, in our sole and absolute discretion, and we undertake no obligation to update publicly or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future developments, or otherwise. ACCORDINGLY, WE RECOMMEND THAT YOU DO NOT RELY ON, AND DO NOT MAKE ANY FINANCIAL DECISION OR INVESTMENT BASED ON, THE STATEMENTS CONTAINED IN THIS UPDATE OR ANY OF OUR UPDATES/ARTICLES — INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY SELLING OR TRADING OF QUAI TOKENS, ETHER, OR ANY OTHER CRYPTOGRAPHIC OR BLOCKCHAIN TOKEN, OR THE SECURITIES OF ANY COMPANY.
The views, opinions, and statements made in this update are those of an individual author and not those of any institution, University, or legal entity operating within the jurisdiction of The United States or beyond. There is no association between these views, opinions, and statements and any for-profit or non-profit entity, particularly with Universities, Foundations, and other Agencies located within the United States. Any perception of such an association is purely accidental, and will be rectified immediately if brought to our attention by the reader.