Hey fellas,
As most of you know, we launched our “Steadfast Storm” release at the end of December, 2020 on uPlexa testnet, otherwise known as testnut. Core contributors have continued to work on SS to improve code compatibility and minor bugs.
During this testing period, we have decided to limit the amount of necessary hardforks this year. Instead, we aim to deliver all of our planned updates in one giant release, rather than having a multitude of network upgrades. Steadfast Storm release will now include:
- Utility nodes & staking via Proof-of-Utility (PoU)
- PlexaNet Decentralized onion routing VPN
- Near-instant transactions
- Minor IoT PoW Algorithm shift
Two more phases will require implementation prior to a code audit and an eventual scheduled mainnet hardfork to put both Steadfast Storm and Plexanet into production. Phase four will be initiated once the code audit has been started.
Phase #2:
Phase #2 is currently under development and is set to be delivered in March. Phase two will consist of more code updates to uPlexa Core in regards to Utility Nodes and Steadfast Storm:
- No set staking period, rather, a prolonged deregistration period — to incentivize consistent staking via simplistic autostaking, and dis-incentivize deregistrations
- UN checkpointing
- Enhanced deregistration algorithm
- Enhanced uptime validation algorithm and network reliability
- Near-instant transactions via PoU validators
Phase #3:
Phase #3 will result in the testing period of Plexanet, the decentralized onion routing based VPN. Phase three is set to be released mid-May:
- Launch of Pleaxnet on testnet
- Update all wallets (Android GUI, Electralight GUI, Web) to work with Steadfast Storm. The classic GUI wallet will be deprecated.
- PoW algorithm shift
- Initiate third-party code audit
- Schedule official hardfork block/date for Steadfast Storm/Plexanet main net
Phase #4:
Phase four consists of some last-minute changes to ensure uPlexa wallets and core utilities work properly across multiple devices, operating systems, and compilers. The end result of Phase four is the launch Steadfast Storm and Plexanet on main net, the date of which will be determined by Phase three.
- Ensure adequate cross-platform compatibility for wallets and uPlexa core
- Update block explorer to work with and show important network details for Utility Nodes
- Main net launch
We have also talked about creating our own Whonix alternatives and a QubesOS alternative. However, to keep things simple, we will likely add integrations for both Whonix and QubesOS for Plexanet support. More details regarding these secured operating systems and gateways will be released as they develop later this year.
Thanks for reading,
QuantumL3eaper
