Welcome to Aptos Incentivized Testnet 3

The Aptos team is excited by the success of AIT-2, and has so much in store for the upcoming AIT-3! The team has been hard at work preparing substantial updates. Here are some registration details and expectations for AIT-3.

This incentivized testnet brings forward the last major deliverable for mainnet: on-chain governance and upgrades! To reflect a realistic environment for the mainnet launch, the number of AIT-3 participants will be nearly the same as AIT-2, so roughly 225 participants. Our goal is to ensure that Aptos can safely and securely launch the mainnet. Sometime in the upcoming winter, we will bring AIT-4 with an emphasis on scaling decentralization and further performance optimizations. We look forward to inviting more participants then!

Complete these 6 steps to register for AIT-3:

1. Confirm you have a Discord account and have joined the Aptos server.
   IMPORTANT: You will be asked to connect a Discord account for AIT-3.
2. Create an account (or log into your existing one) on the community site.
3. When prompted, provide your email address and username, and make sure to confirm your email.
4. Follow the steps on this AIT-3 page to install and start up a validator node, set the node up in test mode, and provide the validator details to the Aptos community.
5. Download and install the Petra wallet and register your wallet address on the community site. (Remove previous versions of the wallet)
6. Pass an identity verification and sanctions screening process. If you have concerns about eligibility, please review our terms and conditions.

REMINDER: Individuals should only register once. We reserve the right to exclude those that abuse this policy from AIT, and they will not be eligible for any rewards.

Important Dates:

• Registration begins on August 19
• Registration ends on August 25
• Notifications will be sent out on August 29
• The testnet becomes live on August 30
• The testnet concludes on September 09

ALERT: All accepted participants are expected to join the testnet within 24 hours of notification.

Key Objectives

In AIT-2, the Aptos community came together to demonstrate that Aptos can run as a decentralized proof-of-stake blockchain! Along the way, many of you continued to demonstrate the attributes expected of successful Aptos node operators. As a community, we were able to experiment with adding load to the system, working across a global distribution of participants, and even ran through a few upgrade drills.

A key new experience in AIT-3 is the various roles within the Aptos governance structure. Each node is backed by stake in an owner account; however, the node itself can be managed by an authorized operator account that is independent of the owner account. This means that, unlike AIT-2, the node operator and token owner can now be separate entities. Similarly, in governance, the owner can be different from the voter. This means that owners can delegate their voting rights to a separate voter account. In AIT-3, the operator account will be managed via the CLI, whereas both the owner and voter accounts will be managed via the Petra wallet. The explorer has also expanded its functionality to support a governance platform for both owner and voter operations.

To stress-test the blockchain, AIT-3 will have 3 distinct types of governance proposals: (1) trivial configuration change, (2) a Move framework upgrade, and (3) a breaking change that will require both a Move framework upgrade and an updated binary. Accomplishing all of these goals will be a strong indicator that both the Aptos software and community are ready to launch this blockchain!

All selected participants are expected to:

• Access the Aptos governance platform to register, stake, and designate their operator (the account associated with the validator)
• Register their validator node’s configuration on-chain
• Join the validator set
• Vote in the 3 distinct governance proposals
• Leave the validator set at the end of AIT-3

DOCUMENTATION: Documentation on these topics is posted on this AIT-3 page.

Success Criteria and Rewards

• Perform all the required objectives on time
• Meet node liveness as defined by metrics push data ≥ 95%
• On-chain reward earned ≥ 80% of maximum
• Successful participation in all Aptos-created governance operations

Everyone meeting these criteria will receive 800 Aptos tokens. In addition, the team will offer two opportunities to gain an extra 200 Aptos tokens:

• Run a validator fullnode with an open REST API for load testing
• Successfully participate in all operations

NOTE: Any Aptos tokens can only be given to non-US participants, due to regulatory considerations. Any rewards in connection with the incentivized testnet will be provided only following a successful mainnet launch and any tokens provided will be subject to a minimum one-year lockup period. More details are provided in our terms and conditions.

Next Steps

After you’ve successfully registered, look for an email from Aptos Labs on August 27. In the meantime, “star” us on GitHub, follow us on Twitter and bring any questions on AIT-3 registration to next week’s Move Monday.