Additional security and verification features — Part II
Second half of January 2023 — mainnet release
The time frames above will be detailed and confirmed on Monthly Ecosystem Calls from September through December according to this schedule:
- Testnet release of Phases 2 and 3 will be announced at the September Monthly Ecosystem Call on 29 September.
- Mainnet release dates for both these phases will be announced at the October Monthly Ecosystem Call on 27 October.
- Mainnet release of Phase 4 will be announced at the November Monthly Ecosystem Call on 24 November.
- Mainnet release of Phase 5 will be announced at the Winter Solstice Event on 21 December.
Phase 1 — Know your neighbour
Phase 1 launched on 13 September 2022 and opened the doors for all subsequent phases. It updated the old postage stamp contract and changed its address in the Bee client. As it is still ongoing, expect extensive testing during this phase. An exact release timeline for all subsequent phases will be based on the results of the tests.
The main benefit of this phase is that it allows the redistribution of the value that is currently locked inside the postage stamp contract. Before Phase 1 was implemented, all BZZ tokens used to pay for postage stamps were unavailable for redistribution. These tokens have now been unlocked and made available for redistribution.
Another important benefit of this phase is that it has provided nodes with the ability to probe their neighbourhood’s depth. Essentially, this means that single nodes will be able to determine the available storage of their neighbourhood. This is important since neighbourhoods will collectively participate in the redistribution process described in the following phase.
Phase 2 — Stake and play
This phase will introduce incentivisation for storing content by activating the staking and redistribution smart contracts. When both smart contracts go live, node operators will be able to stake BZZ and participate in the redistribution of the BZZs that were unlocked in Phase 1.
The redistribution process will be as follows: A random sampling of content in a randomly determined neighbourhood will take place. Everybody who wants to participate in the redistribution will have to stake a minimum of 1 BZZ and reveal the results of the calculation based on the random content sampling.
By staking BZZ, node operators will have “skin in the game”. They will have to prove they are actually storing the content chunks, since their chances of winning the pot increase proportionally to their stake. If they are not honest about it, a portion of their stake will be frozen at first and slashed later.
For further information on how staking will work, watch Daniel A. Nagy’s talk from the Swarm meetup in Berlin on 14 September 2022.
Phase 3 — The oracle
Phase 3 will deliver the price oracle contract. The price oracle is an on-chain contract that will dynamically determine network-wide storage price based on signals of supply and demand. It will rely on data provided by mechanisms introduced in Phase 2.
Put simply, the oracle will automatically determine the price based on a simple rule: fewer nodes = less storage = higher price of storage and vice versa.
As a consequence, the current price of storage on the Swarm network will change. The magnitude of change will be determined by the dynamics of the network.
Phase 4 — A good neighbourhood
In Phase 4, further mechanisms of verification will be introduced. With these in place, it will be possible to additionally verify the correctness of the reserve commitment, which serves as an additional deposit of funds to prevent cheating.
The completion of the last phase will introduce a secondary reserve commitment, making it harder to game the system or perform malicious attacks, especially if the attacks are aimed at the integrity of the content.
Forth, to a world computer for everyone
Storage incentives represent the most important step for the Swarm network to grow its potential of becoming the hard drive for the world computer. The Web can now move towards becoming a more free, private, secure and accessible place.
Take note
BZZ utility token should not be purchased for financial gain or speculation. There are risks related with holding and using BZZ token, staking it and participating in the network as a node operator. The node may not receive any reward at all, amounts staked may be unexpectedly slashed, uploaded data may become unavailable or corrupt, temporarily or permanently lost depending on the performance of the network during these phases. Only by participating actively in the network, it’s parameters can be tested and patched when needed. An external audit on the upgrades will be parallely conducted with the estimate delivery date being March 2023. All dates and information in this post is indicative and may change without prior warning. Follow us on discord and twitter for updates. Let’s make the internet great again.
