We’re thrilled to announce the release of KYVE’s seventh protocol update! This time, our Engineering team focused on perfecting the existing features and adding in the last pieces to the KYVE puzzle to officially set a feature freeze.
This update is the biggest ever performed on Korellia, including the integration of the latest Cosmos SDK v0.46, a refactoring of the overall code structure to ensure full optimization of the chain and protocol, as well as a new inter-pool security feature, automated testing improvements, and UI/UX upgrades. Let’s explain these additions in detail…
Cosmos SDK v0.46 Integration
KYVE was one of the first projects to upgrade to the latest Cosmos SDK version. Not only is it important to be on the most recent version of the Cosmos SDK (v0.46.x) and IBC (v5.x.x) for the highest security and functionality reasons, integrating these new releases brought on a few new exciting opportunities for KYVE, and shows our proactivity in the Cosmos ecosystem.
The first was a major update to KYVE’s governance module. Before, only one transaction could take place per governance proposal; for example, upgrading runtimes required one proposal per single runtime. This would mean multiple different governance proposals would need to be voted on in order to complete the desired action.
Not only is this hard for governance participants to follow along, but it is also quite a lengthy and complicated process. Thanks to the recent Cosmos SDK update, multiple transactions can take place in one proposal, replacing multiple steps with one streamlined proposal process.
There was also the addition of the x/group module, which simply allows for multi sigs to exist on the chain in a very transparent way.
A feature already present in Cosmos’ v45 was validators setting their own gas prices rather than having a global on-chain gas fee. For this protocol update, we implemented this gas price feature, making it possible to have a handler after all messages are executed, in the end, enabling custom fee burning and refunds for certain types of messages.
In order to best avoid spamming or other events, the fee can be adjusted higher or lower depending on what is necessary via a governance vote. And, of course, to continue incentivizing protocol node runners, these gas fees will be refunded.
It’s important to note that since v46 is so recent, other explorers have not been fully updated, thereforeKYVE’s web appis currently the only place for users to participate in KYVE’s governance. More support options will be offered in due time.
Finally, installing this update has also eased the process of our team refactoring KYVE’s overall modules…
KYVE Module Refactoring
Prior to this protocol update,KYVEhad one main module for managing all major features. Over time, this module grew and eventually became overbearing for the chain’s and protocol’s workflow.
In order to improve this as well as code maintenance and scalability, our engineering team took the time to rethink the overall structure and divide this module up. The goal was to enable KYVE’s features to be self-contained within specific modules, only exporting a fixed set of clearly defined functions to be used between each other.
After a long period of testing and implementation, KYVE has now officially been refactored into the following modules:
This refactoring also allows more flexibility for updates. In case our team needs to update the logic of one of the features like funding, for example, they no longer need to worry about impacting the functionality of the other modules while doing so.
Introducing Inter-Pool Security
Another area that KYVE’s Engineering team has focused heavily on is pool security. In previous updates, we have implemented many different features to ensure KYVE’s pools were as secure as possible. To take things one step further, this update introduces an inter-pool security feature.
Previously, each staker could only join one pool at a time. But now, with inter-pool security, each staker can join multiple pools at once. For every pool they join, they have to specify a valaddress (the address for the node) which is then allowed to vote in favor of the actual staker. The staker has their private key kept somewhere safe so that, in case a server gets compromised, they can revoke the valaddress and create a new one. Each user will have a valaccount that holds the user’s valaddresses as well as data on the staker the valaccount is connected to.
Via inter-pool security, KYVE delegators are now also subject to slashing. To efficiently calculate the delegation rewards and slashes, KYVE employs theF1-Fee-DistributionAlgorithm. This is a scheme in the Cosmos ecosystem which splits fees and inflation between validators on each block, enabling delegation rewards payout and slashing calculation.
For example, slashing occurs in the bundle logic, however, with this new refactoring, the slashing amount is calculated by the delegator module, which is then communicated to the bundle module. The bundle module will communicate that X amount of $KYVE to the pool module, handling kicking out the lowest funders. The continuous flow of communication across all modules enables each to concentrate on its specific task.
For further information, see our recent article on inter-pool securityhere.
Other Notable Updates
This update has introduced the concept of self-delegation. As many know, delegation means trusting your own tokens with someone else. Therefore, self-delegation simply means trusting the tokens to yourself, also known as staking. This terminology was put into place to avoid confusion between delegation and staking. It also allows users to monitor the pool security by seeing if its node runners are self-delegating, AKA, putting their own tokens at risk rather than just relying on foreign delegations.
To ensure all of these improvements and more run smoothly, we have also improved our automated testing, aiming for 100% coverage of all chain logic relevant code. We would also like to thank all beta testers for your aid in testing out these new features and helping the KYVE team pinpoint any pain points prior to release.
Lastly, the KYVE App’s user interface and experience (UI/UX) have had a few updates to better support these new features and improve usability. For example, there is now a dedicated validator page and combined stake and delegation unbonding view, as well as a dedicated page per bundle created per pool, all to have a better overview of what’s going on in the protocol. Live-tallying was also added to governance votes so that participants can live-track the voting process, and the time of time each event takes place was added into the latest activity section for easier readability on the dashboard.
Looking Toward the Future
After months of hard work and testing, we are thrilled to have KYVE’s seventh upgrade live on testnet for all KYVE App users to try out the new enhancements to the overall chain and protocol flow, code optimization, and user experience. This marks the official feature freeze for KYVE, preparing for our next steps toward mainnet release. Thank you to our beta testers for assisting our team in perfecting this release.
However, we’re not done testing! Our team needs your help in continuing to test all the newly added features in order to best perfect KYVE and its usability for developers, node runners, and more. VisitKYVE’s WebApptoday to try out these new implementations and contribute towards archiving and validating your favorite projects!
About KYVE
KYVE, the Web3 data lake solution, is a protocol that enables data providers to standardize, validate, and permanently store blockchain data streams. By leveraging permanent data storage solutions like Arweave, KYVE’s Cosmos SDK chain creates permanent backups and ensures the scalability, immutability, and availability of these resources over time.
KYVE’s network is powered by decentralized uploaders and validators funded by $KYVE tokens and aims to operate as a DAO in the near future. This past year KYVE has gained major support, currently backed by top VCs, including Hypersphere Ventures, Coinbase Ventures, Distributed Global, Mechanism Capital, CMS Holdings, IOSG Ventures, and blockchains such as Arweave, Avalanche, Solana, Interchain, and NEAR.
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Written by Margaux Stancil, Head of Marketing at KYVE.