Ternoa Phase 1 Roadmap: Alphanet and Mainnet
On March 17th, our CEO Mickael Canu announced the roadmap for the launch of the Ternoa Mainnet.
We’re now happy to share additional details of what to expect in Phase 1 of the Mainnet.
Alphanet and Mainnet
Let’s start with the terminology.
Alphanet and Mainnet are the two final stages of Ternoa blockchain product release.
Alphanet is the test network where each release will first be issued, prior to the Mainnet launch. The goal of the Alphanet is to allow Dapp users, governance token holders and validators to test the features of the network without the risk of losing real tokens. Alphanet releases are made following the completion of rigorous internal tests by developers and certification by Ternoa product managers. In the Alphanet, test CAPS tokens are used, and not the real ERC-20 CAPS. A faucet will be available to release test CAPS for usage on the Alphanet.
Mainnet release constitutes the final version of a blockchain product release. It is the production network and ready to be used by validators and users. It is here that the real native (substrate) CAPS tokens are used to pay transaction fees and for staking.
In summary, every release of Ternoa blockchain will first be made on the Alphanet. Feedback will be compiled from the Alphanet user testing, and from the network monitoring by the DevOps teams. Based on these, code and configuration changes are performed. The release is then prepared and deployed on the Mainnet through a governance proposal.
Mainnet Phases
The roadmap of Ternoa blockchain development is organized into phases. A summary of the various phases of the Mainnet for the Ternoa chain is shown in the figure below.
Figure 2 shows the first five phases of the Ternoa Mainnet development roadmap. A phase consists of one or more releases that follow the release lifecycle described in the previous section.
Let’s now dive deeper into the releases planned as part of Phase 1 of Mainnet.
Phase 1 releases
Phase 1 will consist of four distinct releases:
Release v1.0.0: Genesis and self-hosted validators
This will be the first Mainnet release of the Ternoa L1 chain where the genesis block will be minted.
The main focus of this release is to ensure that the genesis block is produced correctly, the on-chain parameters have been rightly configured and block production is stable.
The key features of this release are described below.
Self-hosted validators: A limited number of genesis token holders would be pre-configured, who would run the first set of validator nodes on the Mainnet. These nodes would be self-hosted by Capsule Corp, the creator of the Ternoa blockchain. Validator staking and rewards would be enabled.
Balance transfers: Balance transfers would be enabled to allow token transfers among a limited set of genesis token holders and validator accounts.
Governance: This release will enable the creation of a technical committee for governance of the chain parameters and for release approvals. The technical committee will be comprised of blockchain technical and product experts who will have the ability to raise and vote on proposals. The technical committee will require a quorum of two-third of votes for governance proposals to be approved.
Release v1.0.1: ERC-20 token transfers and external validators
This will be the second Mainnet release in phase 1 where a token bridge will be deployed to allow transfers of ERC-20 CAPS tokens issued on the Ethereum Mainnet to the newly launched Ternoa Mainnet.
The main focus of this release is to enable cross-chain token transfers and to strengthen network security.
The key features of this release are described below.
Token bridge: A token bridge will be launched to allow users to bring their ERC-20 CAPS from Ethereum to the Ternoa chain. A web application will be available to allow users to connect to both their ERC-20 wallet (e.g. Metamask) and Substrate-native wallet (e.g. Polkadot.js wallet extension), and perform bi-directional transfers of CAPS tokens between Ethereum and Ternoa Mainnets.
External validators: In the first release of phase 1, the network was secured through self-hosted validators. In this release, external validators will be able to stake their Ternoa native CAPS tokens, register and run their validator nodes, and receive CAPS token rewards.
Release v1.0.2: Council governance
This will be the third Mainnet release in Phase 1, where Council-based governancewill be launched.
The main focus of this release is to decentralize the governance of the Ternoa chain.
The key feature of this release is described below.
Council governance: In the previous two releases of phase 1, governance of the chain was performed using a technical council comprising of pre-selected members. In this release, CAPS token holders will be able to participate in an on-chain election of Council members by staking their CAPS tokens and voting for their preferred candidates to be a part of the council. The council members are expected to be prominent members of the Ternoa and Dotsama community with specialized skills and experience in blockchains and NFT ecosystems. Once the council is elected, it has the ability to re-constitute the technical committee which will continue to be comprised of technical and product experts in blockchain technologies.
Release v1.0.3: Nominator staking and rewards
This will be the final Mainnet release in Phase 1, where the CAPS token holders will be able to select validators against which to stake their tokens for the purpose of participating in network security (aka nominations) and receive staking rewards.
The main focus of this release is to enhance network security.
The key feature of this release is described below.
Nominated proof of stake(NPOS): This release will enable the NPOS feature where CAPS token holders can select a set of validators and stake their tokens in their favour. By appointing their stake in this manner, the users are able to participate in the election of the active set of validators and share in the rewards that are paid out.
A summary of the four Phase 1 releases is shown in Figure 3 below:
Conclusion
As described previously, each release will first be deployed on the Alphanet and then on the Mainnet. The first release v1.0 will be deployed to Alphanet on the 31st of March. After adequate tests have been performed, the release will be deployed on the Mainnet, details of which will be released later in the social media channels for the Ternoa blockchain.
Phase 1 of the Mainnet represents the foundation of the blockchain infrastructure over which Dapps and features will be built in subsequent phases. We are truly excited to see our blockchain product development efforts culminate in the first Alphanet release, followed by the Mainnet.
Stay tuned for further updates, and follow us on this exciting journey to the Ternoa Mainnet.
