Sitara-Incentive Testnet Report: All Validators Unite

The Stafi testnet, which was launched on 1st Jul, has been running for 2 months. Stafi Protocol has endured tests from different angles and in various ways, through the testnets Seiya and Sitara. It has turned out to be quite good, although there were some functional bugs. On a positive side, the participants’ sense of identification with Stafi is growing. We are confident to say that it has been a very successful test.

Design Methodology

Seiya is the first public testnet of Stafi. After 10 days of stable operation, Stafi launched the second testnet, namely Sitara, which provides incentivisation. In Sitara, validators will be rewarded when they complete tasks. It is a 3-staged test that Sitara encompasses.

1. Basic Task
2. Security Test
3. Staking Competition

Stafi has set varied goals for each phase of the test. In the first stage, we wanted all validators to familiarize themselves with NPoS consensus and some basic actions. In the second stage, we set tasks for validators in order to enhance their capability of testing. In the last stage, we verified the ability of those validators and checked their influence on the community.

Rewards are also given in a gradual way. Basic tasks are usually rather easy, and rewards can be obtained by all validators who complete the task. However, security test is a complicated one, and will take more time and experience. So, the reward awarded is also higher. The last testing stage is similar to cashing out your ability to validate, which has been gained in the previous 2 stages. Outstanding validators have won higher rewards.

Please check here for reward distribution.

Network

The Seiya and Sitara networks are stable. The number of nodes and validators peaked at 400 and 200 respectively. The phase 1 of Sitara had the most concurrent number of participants, with nearly 200 nodes running simultaneously. Blocks were steadily produced and all were functioning well. However, there were 2 network problems.

The first was that the block producing speed exceeded the default 6s per block, delaying the block interval to 6.8s~7.1s when 100 nodes were online simultaneously.

Our first analysis points to the substandard configuration of Stafi’s recommended server. Compared with Polkadot, Stafi sets a rather low level of recommended configuration. Low bandwidth is also one of the reasons. We will keep optimizing the parameter of Stafi nodes and the machine configuration as our priority in the future.

Second, at around 10 am (UTC+8), July 25th, the network was jammed (halt) for about 20 minutes, and no blocks were produced. The network gradually came back to normal operation by itself but during that period, most of the validators were kicked out and were Slashed.

Our current conclusion is that it was because some validators did not produce blocks. The problem got worse when their related nodes were unable to be synchronized. This may have been due to the design flaw of the underlying P2P module. Stafi has submitted an issue to Parity Technologies in GitHub. We are waiting for their confirmation of the cause. In the future, we will further optimize the network.

Data

During the Sitara testing, which lasted about 35 days, 600,000 blocks have been produced. We were excited to see firsthand what validators were doing in the Sitara testnet to help us with different kinds of testing. Some data is shown below to sum up the operation situation of Stafi Protocol.

• Over 650 people signed up, 398 validators joined in Sitara
• There were 9 tasks in the first Stage, and over 220 validators completed them all. More than 270 completed at least one task, accounting for 82% of all nodes.
• In the second stage, more than100 nodes have completed Sentry Nodes. Meanwhile, and more than 50 nodes have completed the monitoring script task (Monitor Task). The reward distribution rate is as high as 100%. In addition to that, Uptime’s online statistics shows that the online rate of award-winning validators(nodes) is up to 95%.
• In the second phase of stage 2, 52% nodes updated to the newly released testnet within 12 hours. We had expected a higher number though. The top validator was nominated by 38,000 FIS, and more than 195 Stakers participated in the nomination.

Validator Community

Validators are undoubtedly the guarantee of the Stafi protocol in terms of security and decentralization. We have set up Mentor rewards in the first and second phases of the test. We hope that experienced validators can help the newcomers. We are very happy to see the mutual assistance in the community, where some rookie validators successfully deployed their nodes under the guidance or with the help of the veterans.

We are also more than happy to see that one of our validators has helped Stafi with the creation of Docker. New validators will only need a few steps to complete the node configuration and start operating, which greatly facilitates development, and saves time and energy for developers.

The testing in the third Phase of Sitara is in the form of competitions. Validators who rank higher in staking nominations can win rewards. Many validators have actively helped StakingDrop users, who have obtained FIS through StakingDrop with the nomination process. This is very meaningful to us. Stakers can benefit from the inflation by nominating validators after the mainnet is live.

Rewards

There are up to 500,000 FIS (accounting for 0.5% of the total Token) to be awarded to validators and community members during the whole Sitara testing. We will judge by validators’ completion of tasks. Normally, validators can earn rewards as long as their tasks are completed. For the tasks with limited prizes, the late comers will not get rewards. In addition, we sorted the award-winning nodes during each phase of Sitara testing as follows, and we want to thank all validators and community members again for all your love and support.

Here is the final Reward Details, participates who pass KYC can get rewards in Mainnet.

What’s Next

Sitara Incentivized Testnet has been completed, and the Seiya testnet will remain a public network of Stafi, which will be used for the testing of various SCs (Staking Contract). This is to ensure that each SC will meet the security standard before it is rolled out. Due to the different development cycles of different SCs, Stafi will hold multiple competitions in the next stages. You are welcome to participate during the second phase of the test. Let’s be better prepared for the mainnet together!

About Stafi Protocol

Stafi is the first DeFi protocol unlocking liquidity of staked assets. Users can stake PoS tokens through Stafi and receive rTokens in return, which are available for trading, while still earning staking rewards. FIS is the native token on Stafi Chain. FIS is required to provide security to the network by staking, pay for transaction fees on the Stafi chain, and mint & redeem rTokens.

Website: www.stafi.io
Twitter:@Stafi_Protocol
Telegram Chat: https://t.me/stafi_protocol
Telegram Announcements: https://t.me/stafi_ann
Discord: https://discord.com/invite/jB77etn

Learn more…

Seiya- Community report.