Eth2.0 Pyrmont testnet is live!

The official launch of Eth2.0 is approaching. The Eth2.0 clients developers have successfully launched the Pyrmont testnet at genesis time afternoon UTC on November 18, 2020 . Pyrmont genesis started with 100,000 validators, about 160 beacon nodes and more than 250 signatures per second produced in total. It will replace the existing Medalla multiclient testnet. The earliest Ethereum 2.0 genesis event is set to take place on December 1, 2020, at 12 pm UTC if expected deposits are included in the genesis block on-chain before November 24, 12 pm UTC. Ethereum network has released version 1.0 of Eth2 specs including the mainnet contract address earlier this month.

Successful Pyrmont testnet launch #eth2
🔸100000+ validators
🔸100+ beacon nodes
🔸 Hasn’t skipped a finality
— terence (@terencechain) November 18, 2020

The Pyrmont Testnet

The Pyrmont is the new multiclient public testnet for Ethereum 2.0 beacon chain. It runs on eth2.0- spec v1.0.0. This testnet is expected to keep the queue times reasonable in the next few weeks and allow for a productive testbed for all users. With the same configuration required to reach the mainnet, it does not have a defined end-of-life date as yet. Pyrmont will remain the open beacon chain network with wide participation encouraged. Although the testnet started from 100K validators from the client implementers, it is now open for the community participation.

Pyrmont testnet aims to stress test for phase 0. Things are going well, but some problems are experienced due to the sheer amount of CPU load on the beacon chain. Seeing Phase 0 perform at 100k is a good stress test for Beacon chain. The chain should be super stable with 16k-32k validators.

The developer’s community believes that Pyrmont testnet will run at least for a few months. Pyrmont is a public testnet for the beacon chain just like Medalla. But with Pyrmont became functional, Medalla will no longer be maintained.

Explorer: https://pyrmont.beaconcha.in/
Eth2stats: https://pyrmont.eth2.wtf/#/
Testnet config: https://github.com/protolambda/pyrmont

Why replace Medalla Testnet?

Medalla testnet was the first public multiclient testnet released by Ethereum Foundation on August 4, 2020. It could not finalize at the time of launch because of low participation of validators but eventually did. Over 20,000 validators joined the network in the beginning. Just before the initiation, several bugs were discovered. To improve user experience, Ethereum Foundation redesigned its website shortly after the launch of Medalla and integrated guidelines and procedures to help validators.

Medalla encountered a series of cascading failures that exposed several vulnerabilities. As explained in a blog by the Prysmatic Lab, it threw off most Prysm client nodes. Client team pushed a fix to the problem but because of a bug, that escalated the issue removing all necessary features for nodes to function. Mass slashing events, Rollback, and syncing troubles all contributed to flawing Medalla testnet. Also, the long queues time was not a desired feature for a healthy testnet.

How to participate?

To participate in a testnet, one would have to become a validator, and must possess the basic operational knowledge of how to set up and run eth2 beacon nodes. It requires installing a Metamask wallet, depositing 32 ETHon the validator contract. Each beacon node allows running thousands of validators. However, running only 1 or 2 validators on the testnet will allow keeping the activation queue reasonably quick.

Role of validator

Duties are assigned at epochs. At the end of every epoch, participation is measured and every validator is either rewarded or imposed with a micro-penalty according to the performance. For validation, one should be an active participant. An additional penalty is levied in case of inactivity. Validators perform an important function of progressing and finalizing the blockchain. While the validator client is held responsible for producing new blocks and attestations, beacon chain clients manage the state of beacon chain and validator shuffling.

A user can select clients from the list below to set up own user node and participate in Proof of Stake algorithm being introduced by the genesis of Ethereum 2.0

Lighthouse is an Eth2.0 client focused on establishing speed and security.
Nimbus is a research project and client implementation for Ethereum 2.0 and will be helpful for those who want to operate from mobile devices.
Teku by PegaSys is a java- based Ethereum 2.0 client with functions similar to Lighthouse.
Prysm is another Eth2.0 client focused on improving usability, security and reliability
Lodestar is a typescript implementation of the official Eth2.0 specifications and is also leading the research and development of Ethereum 2.0

Pyrmont is the next public testnet to trust after the community’s support sunset for Medalla. The name Pyrmont is inspired by an area in Sydney. The popular EDCON 2019 took place at the same location. Sigma Prime founded and maintains Lighthouse, an open-source implementation of the Ethereum 2.0 specification written in Rust. Medalla was named after Medalla Milagrosa subway station in Buenos Aire.

An important note here is that Ethereum 1.0 and 2.0 represent different layers of the Ethereum ecosystem. The transition will not cause any disturbance in the workflow. The users will be able to experience the benefits of the changes.