In order to prepare for mainnet version 2, staking version 2 and to accelerate our journey towards true decentralized governance, we are announcing a smart contract upgrade and token swap due to take place on Wednesday 14th October. Originally scheduled in our roadmap for mid-November, we are bringing this forward to better align with our up-coming incentivized testnets and this week’s re-launch of FET staking.
The token swap will take place at a block height of 11054400, which we are expecting to occur within two hours of 14:00 UTC on Wednesday 14th October, 2020.
For the vast majority of FET token holders, NO ACTION IS REQUIRED.
See below for a simple summary:
Important: If you represent an exchange or information service and we have not yet contacted you about the planned swap, please contact info@fetch.ai for more information.
Fetch.ai roadmap context
Currently our core FET ERC-20 smart contract is as it was implemented when the FET token launched in February 2019. The upgrade of our core ERC-20 smart contract will enable seamless interoperability between Ethereum and our v2 main-net, decentralized control of network functions via our up-coming governance framework, as well as updating the core code to recent ERC-20 smart contract developments.
We are taking this action now, because the updated staking permits stakers to enter and exit staking at their convenience. In order to do a token swap, we would need to pause staking, which would represent a substantial inconvenience for our community so soon after its launch.
By bringing this swap and upgrade forwards a month, we avoid that whilst ensuring we’re prepared for the incentivized testnet period and further activity relating to FET, MTLX and the Atomix project. The launch of our updated staking contract will take place a few days after the token swap. Fetch.ai will then be on the optimal pathway to mainnet v2.0 scheduled for early 2021. A series of incentivized testnets will commence in the second half of October 2020 and will demonstrate new and enhanced functionality and reward those helping to exercise activities such as agent deployment, node operation, voting to demonstrate and refine decentralized governance and much, much more.
The token swap process will be much simpler if we undertake this important step now, rather than during this critical development phase.
Enabling community focused governance
The Foundation wishes to make it clear that it is committed to the path to complete decentralization, and to arrive there at the earliest time that it is safe to do so. As a utility token fuelling the activity of autonomous economic agents, collective AI and more, it is vital that the network is controlled and governed by its users and community. This upgrade puts in place the tools to set us firmly on this journey.
The updated contract ensures that governance has the options necessary to protect, secure and nurture the Fetch.ai community as it continues to grow. As we deliver the governance, all network stakeholders will vote on governance issues to ensure the community’s full involvement in important decisions. The recent KuCoin incident has reminded us of the importance of community decision making.
What next?
The Fetch.ai Foundation has deployed a new FET token contract, and we ask the community and industry to support the swap.
The new contract has been deployed to the Ethereum mainnet and you can view it, and its audit report, here:
https://etherscan.io/address/0xaea46A60368A7bD060eec7DF8CBa43b7EF41Ad85
It has not escaped our notice that the new contract address begins with “AEA”, and is the perfect home for Fetch.ai’s tokens and Autonomous Economic Agents now and in the future! The contract has been audited, and you can read the audit report here:
We have been busy informing exchanges and information services of the upcoming swap.
The token swap will take place at a block height of 11054400, which we are expecting to occur around 14:00 UTC on Wednesday 14th October, 2020. Due to the variable nature of the Ethereum block time, this time could vary as much as 2 hours in either direction. In conjunction with exchanges, we are anticipating that most exchanges will pause deposits and withdrawals around 10:00 UTC and resume before 18:00 UTC on Wednesday 14th.
After the token swap is complete, on Etherscan you will see two FET balances, one will be the old, outdated contract and the new one will reflect the same balance, but from the new contract.
On Metamask, you should remove the tracking of the old asset by clicking on the FET box, underneath your ETH holdings, selecting the management button in the top-right corner and clicking the “hide asset” button. This simply stops Metamask from tracking the old account balances and does not send any transactions to the blockchain. You will then need to add the new FET token to MetaMask or MyEtherWallet, by adding a new asset token with an address of 0xaea46A60368A7bD060eec7DF8CBa43b7EF41Ad85, with 18 decimals, and FET as its name. Your balance will be maintained and transferred automatically, and you need take no action for this to happen.
We will keep the community updated during the process on Wednesday 14th October, and we welcome any questions you might have on our official Telegram channel.
Actions the community can take
If you access your FET tokens through proprietary wallet software such as Trezor or Ledger Live you may need to add the new token contract’s address to see your restored FET tokens. We request that any FET that is locked in smarts contract is moved the back into a wallet address:
Remove FET tokens from decentralized exchanges
Ahead of the planned swap, please remove liquidity from DEX systems. This ensures your tokens can be returned to your address during the swap.
Current MTLX stake-drop participants
Please remove your remaining FET tokens from staking.mettalex.com ahead of the swap.
Cease trading or transferring FET tokens
We will be transferring the state to the new contract, and to minimize the risk of issues, we encourage you to stop transferring FET tokens with the existing “0x1d287” contract on the 14th October. The old FET token will not be supported after the swap is complete.
Support the proposed swap
If you are a node operator, testnet participant or industry partner, we request that you support the proposed migration to the new smart contract, and update your systems accordingly when requested.
Frequently asked questions:
Q: Why are you doing this?
A: The token swap was originally planned for mid-Q4, around November (see https://roadmap.fetch.ai). We are bringing this forward so that it happens before we launch staking V2 later this week. Additionally, we are accelerating our journey towards decentralized governance and preparing for mainnet version 2, both of which require this token swap to take place. By doing it now, we avoid community inconvenience when mainnet v2 is launched.
Q: What if I still have tokens in the old staking contract?
A: No need to worry. If you do not take them out, they will be automatically refunded to the source address when we do the token swap.
Q: My tokens are in my MetaMask wallet. What do I need to do?
A: If you hold your tokens in a wallet, no action is required before the token swap. After the token swap you need to update the wallet with the new FET contract address, as above in order to see the balance of the new FET tokens in MetaMask.
Q: I use MyEtherWallet. What do I need to do?
A: If you hold your tokens in a wallet, no action is required before the token swap. After the token swap you need to update the wallet with the new FET contract address, as above
Q: I have my tokens with Binance / Bitfinex / another exchange?
A: If you hold your tokens on a centralized exchange, no action is required before or after the token swap. Your balances will be automatically transferred to the new contract address
Q: I have tokens on Uniswap, what should I do?
A: Please remove your tokens from DEXs before 14:00 UTC on Wednesday 14th October. Tokens can be re-added later, using the new contract address.
Q: Is this in response to the KuCoin hack?
A: No. We are doing this slightly ahead of schedule for the reasons outlined above. . KuCoin is a reminder of the need for decentralized governance, and this accelerates that journey for Fetch.ai.
Q: What if I am using FET tokens in my application?
If you have applications, such as autonomous economic agents, operating on the FET mainnet, you will not be affected. Mainnet v1 tokens are independent of the ERC20 token. If you have built autonomous economic agents that use the ERC20 FET token, you may need to modify your transaction code to reflect the new token’s address, but no other changes will be necessary.
If you are using any of our testnets, such as Agentland or the v1 testnet, you are also unaffected by this change.
Q: How do I operate a node on the Fetch network?
As part of the process to truly decentralized governance, we are running an incentivized testnet program after the token swap is completed. The second phase of this program is targeted at recruiting a new wave of network operators, and interested parties can register by contacting info@fetch.ai
Q: What about FET staking?
A: Our updated version 2 staking program will begin on Thursday 15th October after the token swap is complete. This exciting update adds increased flexibility, enables participation in the incentivized testnets and much more.
Q. How do I tell the difference between the old and new tokens?
Specific instructions for Metamask and MyEtherwallet are given above. For other types of wallets and token browsers, it’s important to note that the contract address of the new token is 0xaea46A60368A7bD060eec7DF8CBa43b7EF41Ad85.
