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Announcing Namada Public Testnets

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Awa Sun Yin
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Announcing Namada Public Testnets

The Namada protocol is a proof-of-stake L1 for interchain asset-agnostic data protection. Namada deploys zkps to enable a unified shielded set and shielded transfers for arbitrary assets that are created on Ethereum or fast-finality chains that are IBC-compatible.

Over the last months, the Namada protocol's release cadence has been stabilised to a biweekly release schedule and multiple releases have been continuously tested by a group of very early Namada validators*, including the current private testnet that deploys the Namada protocol v0.11.0.

*Special thanks to Namada's early validators including Wicklow, ZK Validator, Simply Staking, Papers, P2P, Node Guardians, Nocturnal Labs / Maven11, Lemniscap, Knowable, Figment, Everstake, Cosmostation, CMCC, Chorus One, Binary Holdings, and B-Harvest!

In preparation for mainnet, the implementation of the Namada protocol needs to be tested by as many network operators and other users as possible. To facilitate this, a series of public testnets will be launched that anyone can join.

Testnet schedule

  • Namada's first public testnet genesis time is programmed for 17:00 UTC on the 20th of December 2022.
  • After genesis, anyone can join by operating a full node, a validator, or testing the network's shielding features as a user.
  • Expect network upgrades, restarts, bugs and other unforeseen actions or events during public testnets.

The public testnets are a great training ground for participants in the upcoming incentivised testnets and everyone who is planning to operate or use Namada post-mainnet in any capacity.

Getting ready for Namada public testnets

Namada is a novel L1 protocol that deploys a new proof-of-stake variant called Cubic Proof-of-Stake as its Sybil-resistance mechanism, among many other exciting features. As the genesis time for the first public testnet gets closer, here is some recommended reading for everyone who's interested in participating:

  • The Introducing Namada & What is Namada? articles in the blog provide a high level introduction to Namada and its features.
  • The Namada protocol specifications provide an in-depth description of the architecture, cryptographic and cryptoeconomic to mechanisms of the protocol.
  • The validator and user docs (updated regularly) contain guides and instructions for running a full node, validators or using Namada's features.
  • Visit the Namada code repository to checkout the implementation and staying up-to-date with the protocol software releases (give it a star & watching to get notifications on the development!).
  • Follow Namada on Twitter for relevant updates and feel free to post on Namada's subreddit if you have any questions.