ARPA Network’s MainNet Launch on Ethereum: Empowering Secure and Scalable Blockchain Solutions with BLS Threshold Signatures
Dear community,
Following two months of dedicated work since our TestNet launch, we are thrilled to announce that the ARPA Network’s MainNet is now live on Ethereum. This marks a significant milestone in our mission to innovate cryptographic systems to make blockchains more versatile, reliable, and interlinked.
The ARPA Boneh–Lynn–Shacham Threshold Signature Scheme (BLS-TSS) Network is a cutting-edge decentralized cryptographic system designed to provide secure and reliable random number generation on the Ethereum blockchain. By employing the principles of threshold cryptography, specifically using the BLS threshold signature scheme, the ARPA BLS-TSS Network pioneers a novel approach to produce random numbers in a distributed and tamper-resistant manner, thereby enhancing security and trust in the system.
As a decentralized network, ARPA is made up of dynamic groups of nodes capable of securely generating BLS threshold signatures. This eliminates the need for centralized authorities or single points of failure in node or group management. It hands over control to entities, both human and non-human, empowering them to control the generation and usage of the BLS signature without the need to rely on external authorities.
Our MainNet provides the foundational infrastructure for an array of blockchain applications, including verifiable random beacons, secure (keyless) wallets, cross-chain bridges, and decentralized custody solutions. We’re particularly excited to offer developers a powerful API to build innovative dApps, adding to the dynamism of the blockchain ecosystem. These include:
- Random Number Generator for projects of lotteries, gaming, or token distributions;
- Multi-party computation tools;
- Decentralized voting systems;
- Decentralized access control tool for shared resources;
- Decentralized and privacy-preserving identity management systems;
- Signature middleware for secure atomic swap.
In the transition from TestNet to MainNet, we have made several enhancements to bolster the functionality and reliability of our project. Here’s a rundown of the key highlights:
Dependency Management: We’ve added and updated several dependencies, including the integration of openzeppelin-contracts-upgradeable and an update to sea-orm 0.11.
Randomness Requests: Significant strides were made to enhance the randomness request process. The changes include:
- Adapting contract changes in randomness request and fulfillment.
- Using requestCommitment during a randomness request to save gas.
- Making the gas calculation of fulfillRandomness accurate.
Testing and Code Quality: We have implemented numerous test case improvements, including the addition of an AdapterProxy test case, refactoring and use of a fixed interval retry strategy in listeners, linting codes by solhint, and adapting tests to contract changes. We’ve also addressed several issues flagged by the Slither static analysis tool.
Controller and Adapter: The commit partial signature process has been improved. Features like getRandomnessCount(), changeDkgPublicKey(), getBelongingGroup() were added to the adapter and controller, and additional views were also added to these components.
Configuration and Logging: We’ve refactored post grouping and post-success grouping, moved some config structs to arpa-node-core, updated config.yml, and removed the global static CONFIG.
Retry and Error Management: We have introduced a fixed interval retry strategy in listeners, added a selective retry on transaction failure, and enhanced polling management. We’ve also implemented a measure to enhance private key safety.
Documentation: The README.md files have been updated multiple times to reflect the new changes. The documentation has been moved to a dedicated docs folder.
Staking: The staking submodule has been updated.
Solidity Optimizations: We’ve made a few important updates to our Solidity contracts. Changes include unifying the SPDX-License-Identifier, optimizer, and solc version and modifying pragma solidity to ^0.8.18.
Miscellaneous Improvements: A multitude of other changes have been made, including the addition of node_advertised_committer_rpc_endpoint to support complex network setup, the addition of a flat fee in RandomnessRequestResult, and many more.
These improvements represent our ongoing commitment to enhancing the platform’s performance and stability. As always, we welcome feedback from the community as we continue our development efforts.
What drove us here?
Our journey to this MainNet launch has been driven by an unwavering commitment to fair, secure, and privacy-preserving blockchain ecosystems. Starting from the MPC MainNet era (May 2020 — April 2022), we leveraged our achievements and learning experiences to transition to the more sophisticated TSS-BLS network, illustrating our progressive strides toward harnessing advanced cryptographic solutions. Beginning this year with intensive DevNet testing, followed by the feature-rich TestNet in April, we have continued to innovate, leading us to today’s fully operational MainNet. This achievement is not just a testament to our technological advancements but also a call to a broader ecosystem of stakers and nodes to join us in our continual journey of evolution and growth.
Fueling growth and expanding the ecosystem
Furthermore, on June 22nd at 02:00 PM UTC+8, we will be minting the remaining 500 million tokens that have been reserved for staking rewards out of the maximum supply. These tokens will serve as staking rewards and contribute to the ecosystem growth reserve. The tokens will be released progressively and not all at once. A gradual vesting process is in place to ensure the steady and sustainable development of the ARPA network. Please note that the max supply of ARPA tokens will remain at 2 billion.
What’s next: staking, bug bounty, Randcast, and more
As we celebrate the launch of ARPA Network’s MainNet on Ethereum, we are excited to share what lies ahead on our roadmap. Here’s a glimpse of what’s coming up:
Staking Program: In the spirit of community participation and further decentralizing the ARPA Network, we are finalizing a 6-month community pool staking program. This initiative will allocate 1.5 million tokens as monthly rewards. By staking ARPA tokens, community members can earn rewards while contributing to the security and integrity of the ecosystem. The staking program is scheduled to go live on June 27; stay tuned for more details.
Bug Bounty: For developers who are still exploring the possibilities of a secure and scalable BLS-TSS computation network, we invite you to join our upcoming bug bounty program. It’s a great opportunity to familiarize yourself with the ARPA Network code and collaborate with our core tech team. Join our Discord and keep an eye out for updates and announcements.
Randcast: We are thrilled to introduce Randcast, a verifiable Random Number Generator, as the first showcase on the ARPA Network. Randcast will introduce a new layer of innovation to our network, pushing the boundaries in various areas, including blockchain games and lotteries, NFT distribution, wallet management, and DAO governance. We encourage you to stay connected with us on Twitter or sign up for updates to be the first to experience the power of Randcast. The Randcast 0.1.0-alpha launch is just a few weeks away!
Ecosystem Expansion: At ARPA, we believe in a thriving, multi-chain, interconnected, and inclusive Web 3.0. While our MainNet launch on Ethereum marks a significant step, we are actively pursuing integration with other EVM-compatible chains such as BNB Chain, as well as exploring the potential of layer-2 chains to further enhance the scalability and versatility of our network. Stay tuned as we continue to expand our reach and foster collaboration across different blockchain platforms.
In conclusion, we want to express our sincere appreciation to our community for your unwavering support. The team is fully dedicated to showcasing our appreciation through persistent hard work, constant breakthroughs, and meaningful progress. Exciting news awaits on the horizon, so stay connected with us and be part of the ARPA Network’s journey.
For any inquiries or further information, please join our community or reach out at contact@arpanetwork.io.
ARPA Team
About ARPA
ARPA Network (ARPA) is a decentralized secure computation network built to improve the fairness, security, and privacy of blockchains. ARPA threshold BLS signature network serves as the infrastructure of verifiable Random Number Generator (RNG), secure wallet, cross-chain bridge, and decentralized custody across multiple blockchains.
ARPA was previously known as ARPA Chain, a privacy-preserving Multi-party Computation (MPC) network founded in 2018. ARPA Mainnet has completed over 224,000 computation tasks in the past years. Our experience in MPC and other cryptography laid the foundation for our innovative threshold BLS signature schemes (TSS-BLS) system design and led us to today’s ARPA Network.
Randcast, a verifiable Random Number Generator (RNG), is the first application that leverages ARPA as infrastructure. Randcast offers a cryptographically generated random source with superior security and low cost compared to other solutions. Metaverse, game, lottery, NFT minting and whitelisting, key generation, and blockchain validator task distribution can benefit from Randcast’s tamper-proof randomness.
For more information about ARPA or to join our team, please contact us at contact@arpanetwork.io.
Learn about ARPA’s recent official news：
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