August 23, 2022

v4 Milestones

dYdX
v4 Milestones

Introduction

dYdX is committed to creating the best product and establishing the gold standard in DeFi. To that end, we will provide periodic updates on what we are planning for the rollout of the new dYdX v4 open-source blockchain software (“dYdX Chain”) and solicit feedback and input at certain junctures.

We’ve split the development of the blockchain into several milestones so that we can test early-and-often, allowing us to validate our assumptions, find bottlenecks, fix bugs, and gather product feedback.

Each of our milestones contains a set of features to be built. Each milestone also specifies the release of a new software, or a significant evolution of an existing software. This serves to expand the scope and quality of integration testing that we will be able to perform.

Planned Milestones

During each milestone we will add a suite of automated unit and integration tests, as well as use telemetry to identify opportunities for optimization. We also plan to continuously build both a graphical front-end interface as well as an indexing service that can store and serve historical data more efficiently than a default full-node.

In addition, at the completion of each milestone, we plan to release a major update to the software.

Below we detail the major features to be built for each milestone as well as the associated software release.  As the project progresses, we may need to make adjustments to certain projected milestones, and will keep the community apprised.

Milestone 1 - Developer Testnet - Complete!

This milestone was to allow for basic trading on the blockchain so that we could start testing as early as possible. The main features of this milestone were:

  • Orderbook & Matching-Engine
  • Margining System
  • JavaScript Client
  • Telemetry & Monitoring

As part of this milestone, we have created an automated way to spin up a developer testnet consisting of multiple validator nodes across multiple continents that allows us to stress-test the system in a higher-latency environment.

Milestone 2 - Internal Testnet - 2022 Q3

This milestone is to complete all of the basic functionality needed for the software to power an exchange. The main features of this milestone are:

  • Fees
  • Liquidations
  • Oracle Price Updates
  • Static Funding Rates
  • Token Transfers

This milestone will also take the developer testnet and transform it into a more stable testnet with a larger number of validator nodes. This testnet will still remain internal to dYdX, but will allow for more robust testing by developers, including those building end-user products.

Milestone 3 - Private Testnet - 2022 Q4

This milestone is to complete more advanced features. The main features of this milestone are:

  • Validator Staking
  • Dynamic Funding Rates
  • Key-Permissioning & Access Management
  • Advanced Order Types
  • Documentation for Validators
  • Indexing Service

This milestone will see the creation of a private testnet that’s external to dYdX. We will work with a limited set of partners to ensure that the documentation and setup for running validator nodes and full nodes is as easy and fully-featured as possible.

If you are interested in participating as a validator in this testnet, please fill out this form.

Milestone 4 - Public Testnet - 2023 Q1

This milestone is to build the rest of the functions that can be added on to a non-production chain and to test on a publicly available network. The main features of this milestone are:

  • On-Chain Governance
  • Token Emissions & Rewards
  • Wallet Compatibility & Onboarding

This milestone will see the evolution of the private testnet into a public testnet that allows anyone to trade testnet tokens as well as run validators and full-nodes.

Milestone 5 - Mainnet - 2023 Q2

This milestone is for polish, optimizations, and to build any other necessary features for the open-source release of our mainnet software. The main features of this milestone are:

  • IBC Connections to other Blockchains
  • Stablecoin Integration

Post-Mainnet

If mainnet is deployed, there could be three parallel networks:

  • Internal Testnet
  • Public Testnet
  • Mainnet

This will allow for future testing of features and upgrades in real-world environments.

Progress so Far

As previously mentioned, we have fully completed Milestone 1 including stress testing our Developer Network and have achieved 500 order placements per second and 50 trades per second. We plan to continue to optimize this over future milestones.

We are now in the middle of working on Milestone 2, and will release another update after completion.

Conclusion

We’re extremely excited to continue building out the dYdX Chain and plan to release updates in the form of blog posts for each future milestone.

About dYdX and Terms

Here at dYdX, our mission is to democratize access to financial opportunity. We believe that v4 software will represent notable progress in service of that mission. The events in the global economy that have transpired over the last year have only reinforced the need for open, transparent, and permissionless financial products. We’re excited for v4 software to better meet those needs.

If building the future of a decentralized exchange and open finance is something you’re interested in, check out what it’s like to work at dYdX and our open roles!

To ask additional questions, join the discussion on Discord, participate in the dYdX community, or follow us on Twitter. We’re excited to continue building the dYdX Chain and will continue to release updates over the coming months.

Terms and Conditions: This post is subject to the dYdX Terms of Use.  The dYdX interface and products are not available to persons or entities who reside in, are located in, are incorporated in, or have registered offices in the United States or Canada ("Blocked Persons"), or other Restricted Persons (as defined in the dYdX Terms of Use). dYdX products and services are not intended for, and should not be used by, Blocked Persons or Restricted Persons. Terms of Use specific to v4 software can be found here.

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