Haven Offshore Update — October 2019
It’s been nine months since the Haven community took over the project’s development. After many long discussions, late nights, and extensive community contributions, Haven has reached the first major project milestone.
We are pleased to announce the Haven offshore testnet has now been launched for public access. This will be rolled out in several stages in order to carefully manage offshore testing and subsequent development:
Stage 1 — Closed offshore testnet (COMPLETE)
The first closed offshore testnet was conducted by Haven team members and long term community project supporters. This allowed for initial testing and bug fixing under controlled conditions before opening up to a wider audience.
Stage 2 — Public offshore testnet (ACTIVE)
The testnet’s key functions — offshore and onshore transactions of xUSD — are now open for anyone to try. This phase is being carried out using only the Command Line Interface (CLI) wallet, which allows for faster responses to any further bugs found using just a single platform. Please read the following guide to participate in the offshore testnet, and stop by the Haven Discord to ask questions.
Stage 3 — Integrated wallet testnet (IN DEVELOPMENT)
While Stage 2 is ongoing, team members are continuing to integrate the offshore code into the backend of the new Haven web wallet. This work is almost complete. Once finished, this will open up the offshore testnet to a much wider audience with a simple-to-use wallet and UI. In the future, this web wallet will be the primary hub for the entire Haven network.
There are several important pieces of protocol architecture that will be used during the offshore testnet in order for Haven to launch with a robust and secure network:
Moving averages
Moving averages are being used to determine price quotes and offshore transaction fee levels in order to balance efficiency and protection of the network. These will be tested and calibrated during the course of the Offshore Testnet leading to an optimal moving average prior to mainnet.
Time-lock decay function
Additionally, Haven uses a unique time-lock decay function in conjunction with moving averages to determine fees and unlock times for transactions within the Haven vault. The use of a time-lock decay function is designed to measure and reduce the incentive for bad actors while offering optimal conversion times for users.
Circulating supply transparency
The Haven community expressed a desire earlier this year to enable visibility of all XHV and xUSD circulating supply numbers while retaining full privacy for user balances and addresses. There are several benefits to enabling supply transparency, including:
· Allowing more efficient monitoring of the Haven network, which means attempted attacks and large-scale manipulation can be detected and mitigated much faster.
· Giving users greater confidence to enter the Haven network with the ability to view the number of XHV and xAssets in circulation at any given moment.
· Allowing for greater visibility, and therefore more precise analysis, on coin metrics websites.
Decentralized pricing oracle
Testing and integration of the Haven pricing oracle will take place during the offshore testnet. After mainnet launch, Haven plans to utilize ZEL Protocol nodes in order to ensure the integrity of price-data.
Hardware wallet support
Hardware wallets will be supported for use with the Haven web wallet to give users additional options for storage. The first release will be for Haven’s base currency (XHV) with plans to add other xAssets at a later date.
Further technical details of the issues discussed above can be found in Haven’s updated white paper.
As the project has progressed, Haven now benefits from the help of numerous long-term community members who have volunteered to assist with everything from analyzing Haven’s economics, translating the white paper and other documents, and marketing.
Everyone is encouraged to get involved by making a positive contribution — without the Haven community there is no Haven! Join the community conversation on Discord, Twitter, Reddit, Bitcointalk, and Telegram.
Together we look forward to delivering the world’s first private, decentralized finance network.
