What You Need to Know about the Minter Mainnet

Hello! This is Daniil Lashin, lead developer of the Minter team.

The Minter Mainnet launch deadline is set for May 1. In this article, I will tell you everything you need to know before the main network goes live.

How Will the Network Be Launched?

First, the exact date and time of the start of the network are yet to be determined. After that, release 1.0 will appear on the project’s GitHub. At the appointed time, four Minter team nodes with zero stakes (0.000000000000000001 bip) will launch the Minter Mainnet. Immediately after that, validators will be able to set up and start running their masternodes. Below we will outline a mechanism for distribution of the purchased and bonus coins.

How to Create a Wallet?

During the start of the Mainnet, we will disable the ability to register a wallet by login and password. We are taking this step as we are not entirely sure about the security of storing the users’ private keys on our servers. We will make additional improvements and enable this feature later.

Currently, the recommended way is to create a seed phrase at https://console.minter.network. The phrase should be written down on paper and stored in a safe place. Before using the Minter Console, it is recommended to scan your computer for viruses and switch the browser to incognito mode to disable installed extensions. Warning: in any case, do not use the accounts and seed phrases that you used in the testnet. They may have been compromised.

How Will the Coins Be Distributed?

At the moment, the following distribution mechanism has been determined:

1. The pools will receive their coins immediately in the genesis block. Distributing them among users is the responsibility of the pools. You should clarify the procedure for obtaining your coins in advance.
2. Users without pools will be able to request coins through the Early Access Dashboard https://minternetwork.com. We recommend that you prepare your login details in advance. If you cannot remember the password you entered to access the EA, please contact @MinterPSBot for assistance.
3. The distribution of airdrop coins will be launched a month after the start of the network. They will also be available in your Early Access Dashboard, in the Bonus section.

What to Do with the Coins?

After receiving the coins, you can:

• Launch a masternode and become a validator
• Become a delegator
• Create your own coin

What Issues May Arise in the Mainnet?

We spent a lot of time developing and testing our blockchain. Tens of testnets were launched, tens of millions of transactions were processed, and an open bug bounty program was launched. Still, many modules of our blockchain are new in the market, and we do not exclude the possibility that some problems may appear.

There are four main reasons why Minter Mainnet may stop generating blocks. Next, we will examine each of these causes and the ways of restoring the network in case of such failures.

1. A one-time shutdown of ⅓+ of the voting power of the validators
2. Protection mode triggering
3. Error in the code
4. Failure to update ⅔+ of the voting power of the validators

1. A one-time shutdown of ⅓+ of the voting power of the validators

It was a typical scenario for a testnet, which was used to stop the old version of the network and start a new one. The Tendermint consensus algorithm is designed to stop its work if ⅔+ of the voting power did not vote for the block. Such a stop is not considered an error.

Solution: validators should get their nodes back online as soon as possible. If for any reason this is not possible, then a manual fork of the code and update of the remaining nodes will be needed.

2. Protection mode triggering

The Minter node has a built-in data verification mechanism that is activated every 720 blocks. It checks factors such as the number of coins issued, the number of validators, and the number of candidates for validity. If suddenly there is a discrepancy between the real values ​​and the target values, then the node stops with an error.

Solution: the bug that led to incorrect data on the network should be eliminated, and validators need to implement the upgrade and restart their nodes.

3. Error in the code

The error may occur both in the code, for which the Minter team is responsible, and in third-party libraries. The most critical are errors in the Tendermint engine, which can lead to a complete stop of the network.

Solution: the bug that caused the node to stop must be fixed, and validators need to implement the upgrade and restart their nodes.

4. Failure to update ⅔+ of the voting power of the validators

If an upgrade (fork) was released and accepted by more than ⅓ but less than ⅔ of the voting power, then a situation similar to the first point will occur (one-time shutdown of ⅓+ of the voting power of the validators).

Solution: validators need to update their nodes as soon as possible. If for any reason this is not possible, then a manual fork of the code and update of the remaining nodes will be needed.

A critical situation and the impossibility of a hard fork

We have prepared a specific tool for cases where the further operation of the network is impossible. In critical situations, data from the blockchain can be downloaded, and a new network can be launched on its basis.

Data to be downloaded:

• Account balances
• Coins
• Validators
• Delegators
• Redeemed checks
• Stakes
• Unbond records

Transactions, blocks, and other data will be available in the previous network. The new network will begin its life from the first block.