BandChain Phase 1: Guan Yu
On May 27 2020, we publicly announced the public Mainnet launch of BandChain Phase 0 — the first step to lay out the building blocks of a cross-chain decentralized oracle network. Since then, we have accomplished numerous critical milestones including migrating BAND tokens from Ethereum to BandChain, onboarding validators to produce blocks and secure BandChain.
We are now ready to proceed towards the launch of Phase 1 which will bring oracle functionality to the BandChain Mainnet.
To date, there are now over 48+ active validator nodes bonding over 81M+ BAND tokens operated by top blockchain infrastructure DevOps/security firms, industry-leading validator services, trusted ecosystem partners and community nodes around the world!
The Significance of Phase 0
Our focus for the Phase 0 Mainnet was to rollout the foundational layer of BandChain to enable account creation, token transfer and validator staking with the overarching goal of smoothly onboarding our professional genesis validators, additional network participants, wallets and exchanges.
By doing so, we have ensured that the BandChain oracle network was decentralized from initial release alongside the successful implementations of the aforementioned token functionalities. We now have a vibrant and active community to support the oracle network with the next steps to bring functionality to life onto the Mainnet.
Transitioning Into Phase 1: Guan Yu
Phase 1, codenamed Guan Yu, will support the permissionless creation of customizable data oracle scripts that can query any open data source or API on Web 2.0. While Phase 1 is already live on the Devnet and being used to integrate with our partners to conduct internal testing and code audits, we are proud to announce the next steps to bring this to the BandChain mainnet.
With the final patches and updates to the Phase 1 codebase completed and in final stages, we are undergoing a rigorous security audit from a leading blockchain security company to ensure that BandChain Phase 1 is secure and ready for the public release.
Here’s a quick summary of the next steps for Phase 1:
Phase 1 Testnet #1 (Pre-Audit)
Band Protocol will be publishing an overview of the Phase 1 architecture and how to join the testnet. Similarly to Wenchang Testnet, the main purpose of this is to allow all validator nodes to be familiar with how to run a Phase 1 node which will include oracle functionality.
Validators who join the testnet will have the first-mover advantage to set up a Phase 1 Mainnet node, capturing data request revenue instantaneously upon Mainnet release. Furthermore, there will be strong opportunity for delegation and rewards from the foundation if security vulnerabilities are discovered.
The tentative timeline of Testnet #1 is mid-July.
We are always happy to support our validators, feel free to ask us any questions or raise discussion points on our Discord!
Phase 1 Testnet #2 (Post-Audit)
Upon successful completion of the security audit, Testnet #1 will be winded down and Testnet #2 will be rolled out to ensure that all existing Phase 0 validators are onboarded seamlessly and familiar with the transition.
The timeline will be announced after the conclusion of Testnet #1 which is subject to the security audit result. If all goes well, the next steps after Testnet #2 will be the public Mainnet launch of Phase 1!
Technical Detail on BandChain
The Band Protocol engineering team has been consistently updating the BandChain technical documentation as more developments and upgrades are completed. Recently, we’ve expanded publicly supported blockchains to support Ethereum, Matic Network, Fantom, Celo layer-1 architectures.
Check out our documentation here:
This week we begin our technical deep dive series, kicking this off with Data Sources & Data Oracle Scripts in BandChain — stay tuned!
Developers, You’re Invited
As we gradually roll out the BandChain Phase 1 upgrade, this is the best time for developers to integrate and test out the Band Protocol oracles.
If you are working on decentralized applications whether it’s DeFi, gaming, prediction markets, betting or an exciting idea — we would love to support you through engineering support and also our grants program!
Launching a Private Proof-of-Authority Mainnet
Due to high demand from developers and our partners, we will be fast-tracking the availability of Band Protocol oracles by launching a Proof-of-Authority (PoA) Mainnet after the code audit for BandChain Phase 1. The chain will be maintained by geographically diversified validator nodes belonging to the foundation to support our integration partners while we test a fully decentralized version of BandChain Phase 1 in Testnet #1 & #2.
⚠️ NOTE: The Proof-of-Authority Mainnet has no real token value and will be run simultaneously with the current Phase 0. There is no action required for token holders and current Phase 0 validators.
The purpose of this is to allow partners to integrate with BandChain and complete testing prior to the public launch of Phase 1 onto the Mainnet.
Moving Forward
With the ongoing BandChain Phase 1 security audit, engineering efforts will be focused on improving stability, bug fixing, and supporting validators in the transition from Phase 0. Additionally, our integration team will continue to work closely with our partners to deploy a working implementation of Band oracles on the private Proof-of-Authority chain.
Stay tuned for our upcoming technical deep-dive series and public bug bounty program for developers!
About Band Protocol
Band Protocol is a cross-chain data oracle platform that aggregates and connects real-world data and APIs to smart contracts. Blockchains are great at immutable storage and deterministic, verifiable computations — however, they cannot securely access data available outside the blockchain networks. Band Protocol enables smart contract applications such as DeFi, prediction markets, and games to be built on-chain without relying on the single point of failure of a centralized oracle. Band Protocol is backed by a strong network of stakeholders including Sequoia Capital, one of the top venture capital firms in the world, and the leading cryptocurrency exchange, Binance.
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