Gemini 3h Launched & The Mini Space Race Started
Today we started our Mini Space Race mainnet launch dress rehearsal on a community call. We kicked off the Launchpad phase by determining our Proof of Time seed based on Bitcoin block 828258. The call was also an opportunity to discuss the details of the latest iteration of Gemini 3 which is 3h.
Fradique set the scene with a recap on how important security is to the future of the chain when starting the network. He then handed over to Justin who kicked us off with a Farmer Office Hours style “state of the network” address to document the impressive statistics we achieved on Gemini 3g as we prepare to leave it behind. This writer believes that it was our most stable and productive test network to date.
- Currently 8,204 nodes which represents a regular drop as farmers prepare for Gemini 3h and move to multi-farmer, single node setups. A peak of a shade under 10,000 nodes was observed at the height of participation - it’s possible we did break that number!
- 12.42PB of space plotted. An amazing achievement by our community. We understand that plotting is the bottleneck with some of our whales reporting that they are only just halfway plotted with their rigs. Roll on mainnet!!
Ved, representing the Engineering department, gave us a run down of the new features that will be available in Gemini 3h including:
- Upgraded staking protocol.
- Introduction of storage fees for domain users (not fully implemented yet, see coming soon).
- Introduction of Merkle Mountain Range in order prove pruned state from the runtime.
- Coming soon:
- Storage fee fund for operators.
- Updated block reward issuance function.
- Challenge period to be measured in consensus blocks rather than domain blocks.
- Cross-domain messaging and transfers between the consensus chain and domains.
- Permissionless instantiable domains.
Emil introduced the changes our community need to know about to run the latest version of the software - there are important updates that both farmers and operators need to familiarize themselves with. Fear not, we have put together a comprehensive guide on the migration path between 3g and 3h for your convenience here: Migrating from Gemini 3g to Gemini 3h.
Jim reminded us where we are in the Mini Space Race and the reason we are approaching this network reset in such a different way to the path we have travelled with previous versions. (we suspect Jim might enjoy delivering his call to action speeches)
Nazar announced the proof of time seed and explained its importance and the next steps involved in getting the new network up on its feet. To confirm, the Bitcoin block yielded the following value:
--pot-external-entropy 000000000000000000037bbc7fae1cd2c91dba8312b65f71352630e938cc4dda
Jim then went into a more detailed breakdown of what network participants can expect during the Launchpad Phase. We will be bootstrapping the network and seeding data which will cause anyone who starts plotting to have to constantly replot. We will keep the community informed on the seeding progress and will be inviting everyone to an event to start the Mini Space Race itself in about a week’s time if all goes well. Remember that the ongoing incentivized testnet rewards will remain on Gemini 3g until the next phase of the race where they will be paused until our farmers are able to plot a target amount of space on Gemini 3h.
Ryan introduced a number of exciting initiatives that will keep farmers engaged while they decide which network to dedicate resources to and watch their rigs replot during seeding. They were:
- Subspace Network Scavenger Hunt: Explore, Discover, Win!
- Subspace Setup + Storytelling contest (introducing our new #hardware channel in Discord)
- Gemini-3h Meme Contest
- Gemini-3h Subspace Hat Giveaway Announcement
Added to our existing monthly initiatives there is a healthy $2,100 on the table as prizes for February!
Finally, a robust Q&A session from the audience to the panel rounded things out.
Please do catch up by watching the recording if you were unable to attend live. And, as always, come and find us in Discord if you have any questions. The Mini Space Race has just started so you have plenty of time to get involved and earn rewards in our ongoing incentivized testnet!
