- Final Ethereum 2.0 testnet, Zinken, successfully launches.
- The mainnet launch date edges closer with a 2020 launch is in sight.
As the final dress rehearsal launch before the launch of ETH 2.0, Zinken testnet has fulfilled its purpose with a successful genesis launch on Oct. 12, Ethereum 2.0 developer Terence Tsao said in a tweet. The Zinken testnet was launched as an emergency testnet following the Spadina test network’s failure on September 29, as reported by BEG.
Zinken is the final ETH 2.0 dress rehearsal in preparation for the mainnet launch, which now seems likely to launch at the tail end of this year. Unlike the Spadina network, this testnet faced no issues – experiencing a smooth launch, and no critical bugs were detected on the platform.
Spadina testnet failed due to a lack of enough validator participation and major bugs on the client network. Maintaining a high participation rate in preparation of Eth2 is crucial as 66% of the network needs to verify blocks added to the chain to confirm transactions.
The testnet was tasked with checking the viability of launching the genesis block on Eth2, which failed. However, the Zinken testnet has passed the genesis test showing Eth2 is ready for launch – bar some improvements. Currently, Zinken shows high participation rates at 75% but is still way off the 90% rate proposed by Eth2 developers.
At launch, Eth2 will require a minimum of 16,000 validators and 500,000 ETH staked on the blockchain to start the proof-of-stake era. However, the testnet phase – in Medalla, Spadina, and Zinken – numbers were reduced to promote participation by validators before the mainnet launch.
According to beaconcha.in, a data aggregator of the Eth2 testnet phase reports a total of 4,550 validators participated in the Zinken launch, with over 145,952 ETH staked. Currently, Medalla testnet has over 2 million ETH staked on the platform, with over 75,000 test validators participating on the testnet.
Speaking on the rapid development of the Eth 2 testnet in 2020, Vitalik Buterin, co-founder of Ethereum, stated the Eth 2 development team would continue to have regular tests to check for any abnormalities in preparation for the mainnet.
Danny Ryan, an Eth 2 lead developer on Ethereum Foundation, confirmed the possible launch of the mainnet later this year after contradicting statements from other developers earlier. According to Ryan, Eth 2 mainnet launch in 2020 is on track, but the process should be checked for any loopholes. He said,
“This is an ongoing dialogue with client teams, and we need to take a second to look at this testnet. But it is my understanding that this will trigger the next series of things. There’s always blockers that might show up, [so] we need to do this responsibly”.
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