As evident from the screens above, FATE enables significant code size reductions when compared to both the EVM and the AEVM. More specifically:

A FATE contract is only 10% of the size of an EVM contract. Smaller code size also translates into faster and cheaper smart contract execution by orders of magnitude.

So how much better will FATE be in practice? Anyone is welcome to find out by themselves:

FATE is already part of the æternity Mainnet!

Summary of FATE’s advantages.

You can watch Dr. Erik Stenman’s talk on FATE in YouTube.

Finally, using FATE will not require learning a new programming language, since developers are able to use a compiler that turns Sophia contracts into FATE bytecode.

Generalized Accounts — Customized Transaction Signing on æternity

Dr. Hans Svensson.

During Universe One’s second day, Dr. Hans Svensson took to the stage to present the benefits of Generalized Accounts (GAs), a unique technological feature of the æternity protocol. GAs were introduced in the Fortuna Release and were further improved with Lima.

In a sentence:

Generalized Accounts allow the use of a smart contract instead of a signature when signing transactions.

Why is this important?

According to Dr. Svensson, GAs allow for the use of any signature scheme without first having to introduce it into the core protocol with a harfork, or making consensus breaking changes to the account management process. This improves the flexibility of the æternity protocol, enabling developers to use any signature scheme of their preference when developing applications or introducing æternity support in software and hardware wallets.

Generalized accounts are simply a special type of Sophia smart contract which is attached to an existing account. Unlike all other types of contracts, the cost of execution of the Generalized Account contract is 0 if the transaction signing fails. You can watch Dr. Svensson’s full Universe One talk on GAs on YouTube.

æternity Naming System Auctions

Michal Zajda, AENS team lead.

The æternity Naming System (AENS) has been part of the protocol since Mainnet launch. It allows for accounts keys that look like this:

ak_2QkttUgEyPixKzqXkJ4LX7ugbRjwCDWPBT4p4M2r8brjxUxUYd

to be associated with a human-readable name, and start looking like this:

robert.chain

So far users have only been able to claim test names which use the .test extension. With the æternity Mainnet now running Lima, users are able to participate in auctions which are an efficient mechanism to determine a fair market price for a specific name.

To learn how to register your .chain name, visit this Forum topic:

The shorter the name, the more expensive it is.

On the stage of Universe One, Michal Zajda, the AENS team lead, explained that the crypto-economic rules that have been applied to the auction process follow a simple economic logic — the shorter a name is, the more expensive it will be. The auction price for the most expensive, one letter names will start at about 570 AE. Names live in a protocol-protected state thus making them fully secure.

You can participate in AENS auctions right now through the mobile Base account manager. There are already more than 300 ongoing auctions!

Go to AEknow.org to learn what names are currently being auctioned:

You can also watch Michal Zajda’s Universe One presentation on AENS auctions on YouTube.

Governance æpp and Delegated Voting

To facilitate the process of formally providing an opinion on any issue, AE token users will soon be able to use a Governance æpp. It will be accessible inside the Base æpp and will enable users to launch and participate in polls.