Aleph Zero, a layer 1 privacy-enhancing blockchain, has concluded a new testnet update with the release of the “Aleph Node 9.0” along with a host of other features. The primary objective of the new update is to enhance the way smart contracts operate on the Aleph Zero blockchain.
New Set of Upgrades to Improve Smart Contracts
On January 19, the Aleph Zero team released a new version of pallet contracts that features Ink! 4.0 Beta that aiming to improve the Smart Contracts environment. The other updates include a major Substrate update that will bring a new weight system (V2), a new networking layer that will be used by validators to communicate with each other and an updated version of AlephBFT consensus powered by a Directed Acyclic Graph algorithm (DAG).
Testnet update concluded successfully! 🔥
Learn more: https://t.co/LUZY2mGBzM@ink_lang pic.twitter.com/oQiD0IBmxT
— Aleph Zero (@Aleph__Zero) January 19, 2023
For the unversed, Aleph Zero is a Proof-of-Stake (PoS) layer 1 public blockchain that aims to transform the way transactions are recorded on the blockchain along with building a network that is easily accessible, scalable, decentralized and provides maximum security.
A Brief Timeline of the Updates
According to the official blog post, the privacy-enhancing public blockchain team noted that the previous version of Aleph Node will not be compatible with the chain after the upgrade specifying that all node operators have to update their setup to ensure their nodes are compatible with the network. The team also published a brief timeline of the testnet update process to further explain the new upgrades.
The process started on January 12, with the release of “Aleph Node binary (r-9.0 tag)”. Following which the developers provided a timeframe of six days for all the validators to upgrade their nodes. Subsequently, on January 19, the team published a final reminder for community node owners to perform the update. The Aleph Zero team wrote,
“We encourage all smart contract developers to migrate their contracts to ink! 4 and redeploy them to the Testnet. Most of the coding work required for the migration is quite mechanical and we prepared a quick summary with basic guidelines to help you with that transition. We would greatly appreciate your feedback or improvement suggestions.”
This comes on the heels after Aleph Zero (AZERO) opened its Mainnet to community validators in December. The Switzerland based blockchain developers emphasized that anyone who fulfills the hardware requirements and possesses the appropriate number of AZERO coins, its native cryptocurrency, can begin validating and securing the network.
