Hi all PepChain fans! We’ve got great news!
After some delays the PepChain testnet is finally there! It took a little more time than estimated but our 100% Ethereum compatible sidechain now has a testnet!
As you can see on our awesome blockexplorer (thanks blockscout!) we already passed 10k blocks during testing!
Why the delay?
As you guys may already know we are in a crypto winter since the beginning of 2018. ICO projects already struggle with this, but as a non ICO project without any funding it is sometimes hard to keep steaming ahead. The team wasn’t as motivated as before which resulted in one developer leaving and others including me slacking a bit.
We decided to split up the PepChain and CryptoPepes teams. I (Mick a.k.a. Pablo Cryptobar) will now lead development of the PepChain to make it as good of a platform it can be. CryptoPepes will still move to the PepChain and in the future if finances allow I will probably pick up development of CryptoPepes again.
I will lead the project with input from the community until it can become self sufficient. (more about that later this article)
How to start testing the PepChain testnet
There are multiple ways you can already test out the super fast PepChain Ethereum Compatible DPOS network:
Test the PepChain on telegram
By joining either the PepChain or CryptoPepes you can try out the PepChain bot which allows you to send testnet PEP right from within your telegram client.
Test it out in MetaMask
The PepChain is Ethereum compatible so it is also compatible with MetaMask. To set it up follow the following steps:
- Install and setup MetaMask
- Click the MetaMask extension logo next to the url bar
- Click the networks dropdown
- Select “Custom RPC”
- In the “New RPC URL” field enter: “https://churchill.pepchain.io/”
- Click “Show advanced options”
- In the “Symbol” field enter “PEP”
- Click save
- Get some testnet coins from the PepChain or CryptoPepes telegram channels
- You are all set!
Run a node or become a validator
The PepChain is a Delegated Proof of stake Ethereum compatible blockchain. Anyone can run a validator or vote on validators and get a share in the blockrewards they produce.
Setting up a validator locker contract or voting on validators can be done here: https://churchill-voting.pepchain.io/
If you want to strengthen the network by running a validator or a node you can find the instructions here: https://github.com/MickdeGraaf/pepchain-config
If you are a developer you can easily deploy your application to the PepChain using the following RPC url: https://churchill.pepchain.io/
Forward from the testnet
Of course a testnet is a wonderful step, but just a intermediary one.
The PepChain testnet now has working DPOS consensus but below I will discuss the things that are under development and need to be finished before the mainnet can be launched.
The democratic dev fund
As discussed before it is important that the PepChain project becomes self sufficient. Developers, Marketeers, Community Maintainers and so on should all be rewarded for their efforts even if they do it out of passion for the project. That’s why I will develop a democratic dev fund. Once every month the active validators can vote on what to spend it on. The blockreward will be 1 PEP and a additional 0.2 PEP will be put in the dev fund every block.
Onchain governance
We all know how controversial hard forks can be. That’s why we want to limit them to a minimum.
Additionally to voting on the dev fund every month validators can also vote on the following paramters:
- Blockreward amount
- Blockreward contract
- Number of validators
- Democratic dev fund amount per block
- Dev fund receiver
Moving to mainnet
Before the mainnet is live there is still a lot of work to be done.
Merging PEP to mainnet will be possible by burning it on the Ethereum mainnet in a special smart contract. The validators can vote in an update to the blockreward contract to mint these PEP tokens on the PepChain mainnet. There are no planned hard deadlines for this and we will update PEP token holders about this via our social media channels.
Stay in touch
If you have any questions or wanna help make PepChain a success please join our telegram channel