Month: August 2020

Cardano Updates

Goguen to the Fore in September

August is almost over, and it has been a busy month for Cardano.

We have had the release of Shelley, an upgrade to node version 1.19.0 which brings significant performance improvement, and hours earlier, an update to Daedalus mainnet wallet 2.2.0 (which is based upon node version 1.19.0).

For September, IOG (and Charles himself) is concentrating on Goguen. We can expect these features to crystallise:

  1. Native Asset (move from Single Asset Ledger (SAL) to Multi Asset Ledger (MAL)
  2. Plutus Foundation
  3. Plutus Application Framework

(1) and (2) might be scheduled for a bundled release as a Hard Fork Combinator (HFC) event, while (3) should just require a node version update.

More information on the Goguen rollout schedule will be discussed during the September month end product update by Tim and Aparna.

IOG is also looking into a collection of apps that can run as DeFi foundations, such as stablecoins, oracles and DEXs.

On Daedalus, these are the upcoming product features/improvements:

  • Multisig
  • Hardware wallet center
  • 1 to many delegation (partial delegation)
  • Delegation portfolios
  • U2FA (Universal 2FA) and Yubikey
  • QR code generator center
  • Shielded paper wallet
Running in parallel,  we can look forward to a voting center (first iteration on a cell phone app, then on Daedalus) for Voltaire. DC Fund submission is starting 7 Sep and Fund 1 (focus group side) has already begun.
 
September will also see a scale up of Marketing efforts for IOG. Cardano Foundation has already partnered with McCann to revamp their website, and we will see a similar ramp-up of marketing strategies on the IOG side.
 
One final key takeaway from this whiteboard video is this: 
 
Correctness and Security before Performance Optimization
 
IOG is now working hard to pay off the technical debts by improving the performance of the Shelley network and Daedalus back end. 
 
KOPI identifies with this mission of first doing the right things, then doing things right.

The Shelley Hybrid Era

On d and alpha

The d parameter represents the proportion of blocks made by stake pool operators (SPOs), not by the OBFT protocol.

When d=1, the network is in a static and federated mode, where the OBFT pools are making all the blocks for no profit or reward.

When d=0, the network is fully decentralized, where the stake pool operators are making all the blocks with rewards.

(1) Moving from d=1 to d=0.5

  • Majority of the blocks are made by OBFT, minority by Praos
  • Increase in SPO participation
  • Increase in active stakes up to ~60%
  • P2P governor to be turned on
(2) Bookend at d=0.5
 
  • Goguen Hardfork Combinator (HFC) event planned when d=0.5 (Native Assets, Plutus Foundation, etc)

(3) Moving from d=0.5 to d=0

  • Majority of blocks are made by Praos, minority by OBFT
  • Disaster recovery in place
(4) Bookend at d=0
  • Voltaire HFC event planned
  •  Replace current update system with dupdate (decentralized update)

Alpha Parameter

Alpha (constant decay) parameter will be explained in more details on 14 August. 

Every epoch, d is decremented, at minimum, by alpha. Hence, knowing alpha will give you the maximum time it takes to get to d=0.

Where alpha=0.025, it will take 200 days for d to decrement to 0. Again, decrements of 0.025 is a minimum, and the actual decrement depends largely on network health.

Hence, 200 days to d=0 is the maximum expectation, and it can be accelerated with strong network health.

Postponement of first d decrement

The first decrement of d has been postponed by one epoch to 13 August.

This is due to two issues:

  • Daedalus bug where 1/3 of stake pools were not showing up on dashboard (resolved)
  • Some exchanges experiencing difficulties in transitioning to Shelley due to their particular infrastructures (ongoing)

KOPI Thoughts

The Cardano project continues to be transparent and Charles’ communication to his followers is exemplary as usual.
 
Whiteboard videos by Charles are wonderfully informative, but as pointed out by others previously, I wish that there is an official single point of communication to all ADA holders. This postponement has real-life monetary consequences, so while SPOs and community members can help to spread the word, official announcements on cardano.org or similar will inspire much more confidence.

Cardano has no CEO. With decentralization, the official channel of Cardano gospels needs to shift away from Charles. ADA holders should not need to sift through Twitter, YouTube, Telegram and reddit just to find the information they need.
 
The postponement of SPO block-making is a little disappointing, since KOPI’s system has been purring along smoothly and raring to go. But we stand by our principle of fairness and community, and re-iterate that the well-being of the Cardano eco-system remains top priority.

How to stake your ADA: Daedalus

Daedalus Wallet Setup

For your Daedalus Wallet setup, we recommend that you watch the official IOG video seen above.

An outline of the steps shown in the video are as follow:

(1) Download and Install Daedalus wallet

It is important to only download Daedalus from the official IOG Daedalus website.

For FAQ on installation and other matters, you can visit the IOG helpdesk.

(2) Start and Sync Daedalus

The blockchain will start to verify and sync the entire blockchain. Depending on the specifications of your machine, the sync will take a few minutes or more.

Concurrently, you can select either:

  • Create a new wallet, or
  • Restore an existing Daedalus, Yoroi or Paper wallet

If this is the first time you are using Daedalus, please create a new wallet.

If you have a legacy Byron wallet, you will need to first restore the Byron wallet, and then create a new Shelley wallet to transfer all your funds over. This is because staking to earn ADA rewards can only be done using a Shelley wallet.

(3) Create a Shelley wallet

Remember to keep your 24 seed words safe. You should never divulge your seed words on social media or potential phishing sites.

(4) Transfer your funds from Byron to Shelley wallet

Note that small fee of ~0.19 ADA will be deducted for this transfer as a transaction fee.

Now you are ready to delegate to your favorite stake pool.

 

Delegate to KOPI

(1) Select “Stake pools”

Go to second icon on the leftmost panel, and then select “Stake pools” tab on top.

You will see all stake pools that are available for delegation on the dashboard.

(2) Search for KOPI

Go to “Search stake pools” and type in “KOPI”.

Click on KOPI to see our stake pool details.

For optimal rewards, always select a pool with low “Cost per epoch” (fixed fee), low “Pool margin” (variable fee), and high “Pledge.

Note that in the first few epochs, the rankings will be randomised. The rankings will only reflect performance (relative to costs and pledge) after pools make blocks for a few epochs.

(3) Delegate to KOPI

Select “Delegate to this pool” for KOPI.

Choose your Shelley wallet and confirm your delegation to KOPI.

Note that your first delegation deducts a 2 ADA deposit for staking rights, while all delegations require a transaction fee of ~0.18 ADA.

It is also important to know that delegations will only take effect 2 epochs after current epoch.

For example:

  • Epoch 0: You delegate
  • Start of Epoch 1: Snapshot taken
  • Epoch 2: Delegation takes effect and Pool makes Blocks
  • Epoch 3: Rewards are calculated
  • Start of Epoch 4: Rewards are delivered
Please refer to the official Delegation Cycle flowchart below
***Note that the starting Epoch for block-making and rewards calculation/delivery has been postponed for one epoch. Now the first date of block-making will be 13 Aug, rewards calculation will be made on 18 Aug, and the first rewards delivery will be 23 Aug.

Shelley Hardfork Day

Short recap of HF day: An SPO's perspective

It’s 5am in Singapore.

Bleary-eyed from just 2 hours of fitful sleep, I trudged to my laptop and tuned into The Cardano Effect’s live show.

Yes, it’s Shelley Hardfork day.

It was good hearing from Charles, and even better to match faces to some of the most diligent and generous stake pool operators from Telegram and Twitter.

Then the countdown came and went. Nothing. The system didn’t blow up. There was an overwhelming sense of emptiness to it. And that is precisely what made the hardfork combinator such an admirable feat of engineering.

Cardano has done it.

Now the mad race to get registered is on!

Earlier I had updated the Cardano build and synced up the databases for KOPI nodes. It took quite a while, roughly 1.5-2h per node. The initial database bootstrap was perhaps the only time raw CPU power came into play for staking. I had also downloaded Daedalus 2.0.0, synced up the chain, and restored my Byron wallet beforehand.

KOPI was primed to go the moment Shelley went live.

From the get go I created a new Shelley wallet, and swiftly transferred over my Byron funds. Then I steeled myself for the ultimate heart-stopping process, the transfer of pool pledge to the CLI wallet.

Why heart-stopping? This is because pledging is not available from Daedalus, Yoroi or any hardware wallets. It can only be performed through a CLI wallet, which is not a HD wallet with seed mnemonics. Just imagine transferring a big pledge to a random string of letters!

(*Tip: Do a trial transfer with a small amount of ADA first, before committing your full pledge)

As a security precaution, the creation of wallet and pool keys were performed offline and subsequently encrypted and stored in dedicated thumbdrives.

The final act of the morning was to submit the pool registration. To be honest, my fingers were shaking a little when pressing enter to submit. This is the culmination of 2 months of practice runs from testnet v1.13.0 to mainnet v1.18.0. Not to mention the many more hours spent reading and learning about everything Cardano.

My relief was palpable when the pool registration went through without a hitch. And switching to Daedalus, it was gratifying to see KOPI registered as the #46 pool in Cardano’s history.

My mantra for the day was “Proceed slowly and deliberately, with extreme caution”. This really kept me in good stead.

Sweaty palms, wobbly fingers and dazed eyes notwithstanding.