Original Author:
Infrared Finance
Original Translation by: Deep Tide TechFlow
In January of this year, the Artio testnet of Berachain went live, and since then, the ecosystem has been steadily growing. Developers, users, and validator operators have all participated in the testing, helping to stress test the network and guide Berachain’s design decisions. The V1 testnet validated core concepts such as liquidity proof, but also identified areas for improvement, which is where V2 comes in. We will do our best to summarize the latest achievements of Berachain’s core developers.
Brief Explanation
Validator nodes now need to stake 69,420 BERA instead of BGT to enhance economic security.
BGT delegators will no longer be slashed.
All validator nodes have an equal chance to produce blocks.
The maximum number of validator nodes has been increased to improve decentralization.
The core technology stack has been changed from Polaris to BeaconKit to enhance performance and EVM compatibility.
The public deployment of the upcoming Infrared testnet is on the horizon.
Changes in V2
Changes in BERA staking and slashing
One key economic change in V2 is the introduction of a larger validator node bond, i.e., the amount staked in BERA. In simple terms, the validator node bond is the amount of tokens that a validator node must stake when starting to produce blocks.
In V2, the validator node bond has increased from a small amount of BGT to 69,420 BERA. This ensures that validator nodes have a higher economic commitment, improving network security by increasing the cost of potential attacks. This change means that validator nodes take on more responsibility, while also increasing the utility of BERA without affecting the role of BGT in liquidity proof.
Changes in BERA staking also impact validator node slashing, which is a penalty for improper behavior or poor performance by validator nodes. If a validator node is slashed, a portion of the staked tokens will be deducted, which is an undesirable outcome.
In V1, slashing could affect both validator nodes and BGT delegators. In V2, only the BERA stake of validator nodes will be slashed. This protects BGT delegators and places more responsibility on validator nodes, ensuring that users and protocols can use their BGT for liquidity proof with peace of mind.
Fairer Block Production
In V1, the chances of validator nodes producing new blocks increased with the amount of BGT delegated to them. In V2, block production has been improved, with all validator nodes now having an equal chance to produce new blocks, and block rewards scaling proportionally with their delegated BGT. This ensures fairer reward distribution and encourages more validator nodes to join the network while still maintaining the importance of BGT delegation.
Validator Node Limit
The maximum number of validator nodes has been increased from 100 to 128, with the possibility of further increases in the future. It is well known that increasing the limit of validator nodes can improve decentralization and network security. Decentralization is crucial!
Architecture Upgrade
Finally, Berachain V2 has migrated from the Polaris architecture to BeaconKit, which will enhance network performance. BeaconKit allows the use of any Ethereum execution client, such as Reth, Geth, or Nethermind, making Berachain fully compatible with EVM. This upgrade addresses bottlenecks encountered in V1, ensuring smoother transaction processing. If you want to learn more, please read Dev Bear’s technical blog on the topic.
Impact of These Changes on Infrared
The changes introduced in V2 are an important step forward for the network. Berachain V2 will provide a better experience for users, developers, and validator nodes, benefiting the entire ecosystem.
BGT is shifting towards a purely economic role, strengthening the ecosystem built around iBGT by clarifying the value proposition of BGT. We have seen many protocols adopt iBGT to build flywheels, and we expect this trend to continue under the improved design of BGT.
Regarding BERA staking for validator nodes, we have some exciting plans in the works that we will soon share with everyone.
What’s Next?
We are working hard on the new, public deployment of the Infrared testnet, and we hope to launch it soon for users and partners to use.
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