Mitosis Expedition Testnet Retrospective

Farewell to the Expedition Testnet

Earlier this week, Mitosis concluded the Expedition Testnet. Spanning ten days, the Testnet witnessed enthusiastic participation from the crypto community. We reached remarkable milestones that demonstrate both the potential of LRT’s cross-chain expansion and the capability of the Mitosis project. The Testnet marked a step towards positioning Mitosis as the cross-chain liquidity protocol for the modular era.

Some milestones we hit in the Expedition Testnet:

• 170K unique addresses
• 50K swaps in ETH-eETH Sepolia pool on Uniswap
• 230K~350K LRTs on each L2 network
• 2.7 times more LRTs from addresses with EtherFi Points.
• 760K Hyperlane messages

Community Engagement

The level of engagement far exceeded our initial traffic expectations, which is a testament to the community’s tremendous interest and support. The Testnet had 360K pre-registrations and active participation from over 170K unique addresses. The epochs progressed rapidly, with each epoch filling faster than the previous one. The Sepolia ETH<>eETH pool on Uniswap managed more than 50K swaps during the Testnet.

Despite the overwhelming demands, the participants’ active involvement cultivated a highly functional community. The cooperative environment with participants of various roles supporting one another was especially remarkable. A heartfelt shout-out to every member who helped operate the community. The Testnet’s achievements were only possible with their support.

LRT’s Cross-chain Expansion

The Testnet showcased significant interest in LRT’s cross-chain expansion. In total, users deposited a total of 1 million LRTs into the Mitosis Vaults. Each L2 involved in this initiative — Arbitrum, Optimism, and Polygon zkEVM — received 230K to 350K LRTs. Of the million deposit transactions, 710K were directed toward L2 networks.

The numbers are particularly compelling due to the active involvement of mainnet LRT users. Addresses with Eigenlayer points and EtherFi points showed higher engagement levels. The average deposit count for users holding EtherFi points (13.43) was 50% higher than those without points (9.04). This enthusiasm was also evident in the total deposited amount: users with EtherFi points deposited 2.7 times more LRTs (22.09) than those without points (8.17). Such statistics underline the crypto community’s interest in LRT’s expansion to L2 networks.

Cross-chain Transfer Capability

The Expedition Testnet served as a platform for testing Mitosis’s cross-chain transfer capabilities. The substantial traction allowed Hyperlane to experience an unprecedented volume of message traffic. This helped us identify and address potential bottlenecks.

Throughout the 10-day Testnet, Hyperlane handled over 760K messages, with transaction peaks reaching 1200 per minute. During this period, Mitosis faced delays in message processing. The team quickly identified the issue and transitioned the Hyperlane relaying method from sequential to batch, enabling parallel processing of messages. This approach proved effective and ensured seamless cross-chain transfers. The chance to handle significant traffic allowed Mitosis to fully prepare for the upcoming mainnet launch.

What Could Be Better

Despite the Testnet’s overall success, certain unexpected elements detracted from what could have been a better experience.

1. Twitter Connection Failure

• Many users reported failures in connecting to Twitter. The problem stemmed from the Twitter API V2 rate limit. The team upgraded the Twitter plan and switched the authentication method to address this issue.

2. Faucet Failure

• As the platform saw an influx of users, there were some faucet failures. The issue lay in the omission of the faucet’s multicall transactions. We optimized gas fees and changed the token distribution method from per transaction to per batch.

3. Inappropriate Accumulation of Referral Points via API

• Despite announcements that referral points would not apply during the Testnet period, some participants abused the API to accumulate points. The team promptly responded by blocking the referral API and reclaiming the referral points.

We were able to overcome these hurdles thanks to the team’s swift actions and the tremendous support from the community. The Testnet has equipped Mitosis for future challenges. We are now better prepared for issues such as various external factors, unexpectedly high user engagement, and potential abuse by users.

What is Next

The Expedition Testnet was pivotal for Mitosis in proving two critical assumptions: the potential of cross-chain LRT expansion to Layer 2 networks and Mitosis’s capability to handle substantial cross-chain transactions. Thankfully, the Expedition Testnet was a great success. Mitosis will continue its journey to prove its hypotheses and fulfill its visions. We will ensure that early companions in our journey will benefit from their support and contributions.

Thanks to all who participated in our first Testnet.

Mitosis Milestones

1. Expedition: Mainnet — March 2024 onward

2. Mitosis chain: Testnet Phase — Q2 2024

• $miAsset-based gamified programs to earn Mitosis Mainnet governance tokens

3. Mitosis chain: Mainnet — Q3 2024 3. 4

• Unified liquidity layer for the modular era

4. Security upgrade: restaked $ETH — Q4 2024

• Crypto-economics applied to protocol security (Hyperlane AVS ISM)

Join the Mitosis Community

Please follow our journey and provide your thoughts on our Discord and X. We’ll run regular AMAs & podcasts and provide other essential updates to keep you in the loop. Interested in how Mitosis works? Take a deeper dive into our technical documentation.

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