On January 22 Zilliqa released the last Mainnet update which is set to curtain raise the launch of Zilliqa Mainnet project. This is a follow up of a public statement issued by Zilliqa Sometime around August last year when they pushed the launch to a later date in January 2019 where they also addressed the reasons for the delay.

Since the launch is scheduled on January 31, BlockchainReporter decided to highlight some key updates coming with the Zilliqa Mainnet.

The Road Map

The team at Zilliqa has been releasing updates leading up to the Mainnet launch. The updates have been done in phases to ensure that the scalability solutions are adequately executed and will hold up after launch.

The team has given a total of 26 updates over time in anticipation of the Mainnet. All these updates combine up to form three TestNet Versions.

The first version TestNet, code-named Red Prawn, enabled users to transact through Zilliqa’s web wallet and check the transactions’ status. Most of the features of this test net were a trial run to see the areas that needed improvement regarding stability and security.

The second version TestNet, code-named D24, was a major technological milestone with new, improved and exciting features: documentation with programming applications in Scilla, which allowed users to write smart contracts, upload said contracts to the blockchain, send and receive messages to and from the smart contracts. This version was a lot more stable, allowed mining and supported smart contracts, a much improvement of the first testnet.

The third and final version TestNet, code-named Mao Shan Wang, has the same features contained in the upcoming Mainnet including public mining. It launched as a trendsetter, is the first fully-fledged TestNet in the world to implement all these three features – Transaction, Network and Smart contract sharding. This version addressed all issues regarding security discovered in previous versions by security auditors and ensured extra safety checks and enforcement mechanisms to improve system stability. It also saw the full implementation of Scilla across the network, where nodes are now capable of executing smart contracts, which was not the case in the previous versions. Most importantly, this TestNet has new upgrading protocol that will pave the way for a seamlessly easy upgrade into the Mainnet.

Upgrades to Expect

Zilliqa is hoping to finalize parameters and perform their last touches on the codebase of the Mainnet in the next two weeks after the launch. However, the bird-in-hand perquisites of the project include:

An upgrade to Zilliqa’s network mechanism Refined reward system Enhanced security

An upgrade to Zilliqa’s network mechanism

The new network upgrade will now support both the Scilla interpreter and Zilliqa protocol unlike the previous mechanism that supported the latter only. Also, the system update will have a multiple version support feature that will allow downward compatibility of Scilla’s smart contracts and its states.

Refined Reward Mechanism

Previously, Zilliqa’s design governing the reward system only awarded nodes that had verified their transactions successfully and used coinbase/gas fees to sign blocks. To refine the reward system, Zilliqa took into account the feedback from the mining community. The new system will offer a base reward of 25% of coinbase/gas fees to nodes that have submitted certified Proof of Work (PoW) results successfully.

Of the 75% remaining, 70% will be distributed equally depending on the number of valid signs the validating nodes have submitted whereas the last share (5%) is rewarded to the lookup nodes or seed for the services they provide such as welcoming new nodes joining the network, producing a storage for historical data, performing transactions forwarding and attending to JSON-RPC requests.

Enhanced security

The security improvement on Zilliqa’s mechanism has been integrated to differentiate between a transaction meant for testnet from one designed for the mainnet. The system will be using the first half version ID of the transaction as a chain ID to determine the mainnet and the testnets.

It doesn’t end there, Zilliqa’s team developers have also made sure that only valid messages can gossip in a shard. They have achieved this security measure by applying signature schemes to the gossiping messages.

About Zilliqa

Zilliqa is a secure, scalable and fast blockchain platform that hosts decentralized applications and ensures that you can focus on your ideas without worrying about security, congestion in the networks and high transaction fees. Zilliqa enables new businesses that are decentralized to operate smoothly without any inefficiencies or intermediaries, by creating new ways to interact and trade with one another effectively.

Launched in June 2017, Zilliqa has been integrated into gaming and entertainment where their tokens enable gamers to own actual assets. Also, they have revolutionized digital advertising by improving automation of payments and scaling down intermediaries and payment where the scalability of Zilliqa makes micro-payments across borders possible.

Zilliqa’s Team

The team behind the innovative and groundbreaking work in Zilliqa consists of engineers, scientists, financial experts and venture creators with vast experience in their given fields. The Chief Executive Officer Xinshu Dong leads this team followed by Yaoqi Jia as the Head of technology, Amrit Kumar as Head of research, Yiling Ding as head of Marketing, Prateek Saxena as the chief scientific advisor, Juzar Motiwalla as the chief strategist, Max Kantelia as the chief evangelist and Addison Huegel as the head of communications.

Final Thoughts

It may sound like a tall order, but Zilliqa has been described as a ground-breaking blockchain platform whose Mainnet is very likely to make some waves in the industry. Many enthusiasts of crypto believe that it is set to be a game changer, as it already is a trendsetter – demonstrating that sharding did work when they implemented it ahead of other crypto companies, and the use of Scilla as a programming language. The Mainnet launch is one more achievement under their belt as they aim to reach greater heights in the blockchain industry.