On September 28th, Beijing time, Filecoin’s official blog stated that it will gradually launch the Filecoin mainnet through protocol upgrades and state transitions. It will be officially opened at epoch 148888, which is expected to reach this epoch around October 15th, and then a period of monitoring and problem solving will begin to ensure the normal operation of the network after the transition, and the space race test network will continue to operate. Filecoin officials will also launch a week-long celebration of the Filecoin mainnet launch from October 19th to October 23rd.
The following is the full text of the blog:
Filecoin mainnet ignition and launch phase
In the past few months, the Filecoin network has made amazing progress:
- Core protocol functions: In August, we completed the second phase of the mainnet proving trusted configuration, launched the drand mainnet with partners such as Cloudflare and Ethereum, published an article on the in-depth interpretation of the Filecoin encryption economy, and delivered the entire Functional, can be used for Filecoin launched on the mainnet to implement lotus 0.5.0-not only supports storage and mining, but also supports storage and retrieval of transactions.
- Ecological development: At present, at least 85 organizations are collaborating on the Filecoin network-creating applications, developer tools, infrastructure, etc. The Filecoin Ignite Project hackathon series of events and accelerators attracted thousands of community members to participate in learning, building and launching their projects on the Filecoin network. Activities include HackFS hackathon (hosted by EthGlobal), Spark University hackathon (hosted by En[code] Club), Apollo (hosted by Gitcoin) and Filecoin Launchpad (hosted by Tachyon)-together more than 230 were cultivated on Filecoin New projects and more than 1,000 talented developers.
- Storage users: As part of the Space Race: Slingshot, many storage users have already landed on the Filecoin network-including users like Slate, allowing its users and applications to store and retrieve files. These users are based on the Filecoin developer API and tools like Fleek’s Storage Daemon, Textile’s Powergate, and Pinata’s upcoming Filecoin retrieval service supported by IPFS.
- Storage miners: In the past four weeks, more than 400 miners from 34 countries and regions across six continents uploaded 325+PiB of storage capacity to the Filecoin network. This is enough to hold 90 million 1080p movies, more than 1,400 copies of Wikipedia, or 7 times all written works of human society since ancient times. This is indeed an extraordinary achievement. Never in the history of the Internet has a community that can coordinate such a large storage capacity in a trustless distributed storage network.
Transition to main network ignition
Today, when we enter the ignition phase of the mainnet and are ready for the launch of the Filecoin mainnet, I am very happy to share with you the phase and timetable of the launch of Filecoin. Starting the blockchain is a complicated and long process. Like many other networks (such as Polkadot, NEAR, etc.), Filecoin uses a segmented method to start the main network, and different groups and communities are added to it in a period of time. In the network until the main network starts.
In the next few weeks, various groups-including miners, users, custodians, applications, network services, etc., will join the network before the main network is launched. This pre-launch phase is called the main network ignition phase, which allows network participants time to initialize, learn, set up their systems and optimize their deployment. We are all counting down the mainnet launch, but this does not mean that all work has been completed. We still need to do a lot of preparatory work to ensure that the network achieves a wonderful start:
- Storage miners: Continue to add storage to the network during the ignition phase, and prepare for operation for the main network startup and perform stress tests on storage and retrieval transactions.
- User & Application: Participate in our ongoing space race-Slingshot, the purpose is to use Filecoin’s distributed storage capabilities to provide usable and flexible data storage.
- Custodian & Eco-Partner: Use this time to connect operations and stakeholders to the network.
- SAFT holders: Please check the CoinList and the email of the custodian of your choice to learn how to set up on the network before the mainnet ignition and the transition phase of the mainnet. If you encounter any problems, please contact team@coinlist.coinvestor-support@protocol.ai.
- Implementation plan developers: Strengthen the testing, enhancement and interoperability between different implementations of Filecoin, including lotus[PL], forest[ChainSafe], fuhon[Soramitsu] and go-filecoin[IPFSForce].
The ignition phase of the main network is also a good time to consolidate the Filecoin community’s participation in network improvement and decision-making. Storage miners, community leaders, developers, users and ecological partners can participate in the enhancement of the network through the open Filecoin Improvement Process, and upgrade through cross-discussion on the implementation plan of the core development meeting held every two weeks, as well as through inter-miners Consensus approves new changes. Filecoin has complete functions, but we hope that the community can continue to develop and improve the Filecoin network through continuous software updates after the mainnet launch.
Mainnet launch transition phase
In the past month, the entire Filecoin ecosystem has completely focused on the space race-our multi-track testnet reward competition. This is the key stage for the Filecoin project to adjust and upgrade the network to prepare for the launch of the mainnet-the entire ecosystem has accumulated valuable knowledge and operating experience through large-scale real-time stress tests. In the entire space race, more than 500 miners landed more than 325 PiB of storage in Orbital Burn. Among them, 265 user applications performed more than 40,000 storage and retrieval transactions in Slingshot, and worked together on the function and security of the network. Sex and flexibility have been thoroughly tested.
We are very happy to be able to launch the Filecoin network based on the solid foundation of the space race. Everyone has invested a lot of work (manpower and machines!) to increase storage capacity to make the Filecoin network safer and more distributed. Early miners invested a lot of money to find vulnerabilities, accumulate operational knowledge, and lay the foundation for the network to invest a lot of packaging and storage hardware. The space race test network will continue to operate and will gradually enter the main network through protocol upgrades and state transitions in the next 3 weeks, instead of setting up from scratch (this will lose all storage capacity). After the mainnet is launched, we still need to make some improvements and state transitions, but we will build it in the upgrade of the chain instead of a hard reset. If you are a miner and want to join the Filecoin network, the second round of space race: Orbital Burn is the best way for you to start now!
Mainnet start countdown
The culmination of all our efforts is coming. The Filecoin mainnet will be officially launched at epoch 148888! We expect to arrive at this epoch around October 15th, and then we will start a period of monitoring and problem solving to ensure the normal operation of the network after the transition (in line with expectations). In a few days, we will hold the Filecoin mainnet launch: a week-long Filecoin launch event from October 19th to October 23rd.
From cutting-edge cryptographic research to complex protocol design and development discussions, to many sleepless nights during the debugging of real-time networks during the space race-we have created amazing results together in the past 3 years. Starting a blockchain is like launching a software rocket, requiring the entire interstellar community to work together to achieve this goal. Thank you for participating in this epic journey!
We know that the Filecoin mainnet launch is a highly anticipated milestone, so we want to give the community some time to make it more meaningful. Are you looking forward to Filecoin? This week is an excellent time to hold online meetings, gatherings and events to celebrate the launch and explore the future of the Filecoin network together. We can’t wait to participate in all the events the community wants to organize to celebrate the successful future of Filecoin.
If you want to host a local party or event (where permitted by regional health and hygiene regulations), please contact us!
Planning to launch a new product, application or service around Filecoin? The mainnet launch period is a good time to highlight outstanding projects joining the network!
Consider posting at a meeting or party during the launch, or hosting your own launch event! If we can help promote your event or share your story, please contact us at contact@filecoin.io.
Looking forward to the future after launch
Like any rocket launch, lift-off is only the beginning. The maximum dynamic pressure of the rocket is after leaving the ground, not before. Similarly, our biggest challenge as a community is that we are committed to upgrading the protocol, supporting more demanding use cases, and adding new features to the implementation. In order to resist the pressure after the mainnet launch, we must carefully plan the upgrade path, dynamically respond to problems, and form a diversified community to jointly define the spirit, culture and future of the Filecoin network. We have a solid launch pad, and now it’s up to us to decide how to advance in the starry sky.
Building this rocket with everyone is a major feat-let us now prepare for the launch!
Note: Many ecosystems have found some scams when they are launched-please stay alert! Please be extra vigilant about any purchase and sale of Filecoin during the mainnet launch-the testnet FIL is not the mainnet FIL! No one should ask you to provide your private key or wallet recovery password, nor should you ask you to pay for the eligibility for the “given coins”. During the launch process, information will only be released through the official Filecoin Twitter and blog. If in doubt, please verify through multiple channels first.
Welcome to the early investors who participated in the 2017 Filecoin public offering, as well as investors who want to know more about IPFS and Filecoin, to contact the IPFS China Community Operations Officer ( WeChat ID: chuanzhang129 ).
