Incentivized Testnet - Final Draft

[EddieNuta]

@Ucodia

The reward distribution does not make sense at all to me for a testnet incentive which main purpose is to test drive and tune up the SSV codebase.

I think we should copy along (maybe edit the first post on this topic), the “Motivation” for this incentivised testnet, from @Adamefr 's initial post in November:

@Adamefr

Motivation

The goal of a testnet is to thoroughly test all the different components of a network, from the node software all the way to network economics.

A testnet can be regarded as a public beta testing where all involved parties can freely engage and test the network.

Testnets were proven to be a necessary milestone for decentralized protocols before going mainnet.

This proposal aims to scale the current testnet by rewarding more validators and operators to join the network, alongside, introducing “real world” dynamics between operators and validators.
As rewards are introduced to validators (as a function of how well their operators perform) it will force validators to carefully choose their operators, requiring a higher level of service and overall network “health”.

Operators will be rewarded depending on the number of validators they are assigned to and the overall performance of those validators.

There’s also another reply by @alonmuroch on the V3 version, about one of the objectives…

@alonmuroch

One of the objectives of this whole thing is to create accountability between validators and operators

It is clear to me that this incentivised testnet is very ambitious, with a broad spectrum of objectives, and these objectives need more visibility.

I am in favor of LAUNCHING IT as soon as possible.

The team needs feedback.
Codebase needs to be tested in as many scenarios as possible.
The interaction between validators and operators also needs to be tested.
The network economics is a huge factor, and I think it cannot be really tested without an incentivised testnet.

While this may not be perfect, IMHO, launching it will greatly benefit the project.