This week we released Version 2.0 of the Masa Testnet to the community. After the launch of v1.0 in December, we had such overwhelming demand that we had to make significant upgrades to the testnet in order to handle capacity. In 24hrs we had over 250 node operators running Version 1.0 of the testnet and had reached capacity. With Version 2.0 of the Masa Testnet we have already had 400+ node operators join the network over the past 3 days.
The Masa Protocol is a decentralized credit protocol that allows people to connect their traditional and cryptocurrency accounts — creating a decentralized credit score. The Masa Protocol includes a set of composable credit primitives, smart contracts, and liquidity pools that enable developers to launch sophisticated credit products in DeFi that match the existing centralized credit paradigm.
Masa’s Testnet is a proof-of-stake blockchain built on a forked version of geth. The Masa Protocol uses Tessera transaction manager to provide zero-knowledge private transactions and private smart contracts that can be used with sensitive financial and credit data. This means that Masa’s Layer 1 blockchain is used as a private verification layer that bridges between multiple blockchain protocols, providing validation and oracle services for financial and credit data in DeFi. The protocol will allow developers and users to bridge between the following protocols at launch:
- Ethereum Mainnet
- Celo Mainnet
Version 2.0 of the Testnet brings a lot of new updates and upgrades to the protocol which includes the following:
- Numerous bug fixes and documentation updates
2. Unlimited testers and nodes are able to join freely with the removal of IP whitelisting
3. New community-run bootnodes
4. The latest stable version of geth
5. Full geth binary build instructions included in repo
6. Docker Container for launching the full node
7. Docker Container with the Node UI Alpha v1.0 build with
- Validator staking
- Protocol stats
8. Updated developer documentation in GitHub
9. Block explorer Alpha v.1.0
10. Launch of Phase 1 incentivized testnet rewards pool (details and terms and conditions will be released on the 1st of March)
The protocol and validator nodes in this release do not have the private transaction manager enabled. The private transaction manager is going to be made public in our next release of the protocol which is due in mid-March.
To get started running a Masa node please go to GitHub and follow the instructions in the repo here. If you find any bugs please submit an issue on GitHub here. If you would like to run a community bootnode please submit a PR here. Once tested by our team we will add your bootnode to the node documentation and you will qualify for a bootnode bounty.
For support, you can dive into our Discord node operator group here and Telegram group here.
Have a great weekend,
The Masa Team
