Shelley Testnet Released After Months Of Developments

The Shelley testnet has made its network debut after several months of developments. The Shelley is working since last week and it has been released to the market for the community to join on September 26. 

The information was released by Tim Harrison, Communications Director at IOHK in a blog post on Sept. 26. 

Shelley Testnet Released

The Cardano (ADA) community will now be able to enjoy Shelley’s testnet and start getting used to the new solutions provided by the network. 

One of the most important things to mention is that this is the first decentralized implementation of the Ouroboros Genesis consensus algorithm. Cardano was launched two years ago and the Ouroboros feature was one of the most commented developments of this crypto network. 

Boom https://t.co/rFul1VKDa2 Welcome to the Networked Testnet

— Charles Hoskinson (@IOHK_Charles) September 26, 2019

Mr. Harrison explains that the networked testnet phase allows IOHK to test the behaviour of an Ouroboros-based decentralized network before making changes to mainnet. 

At the same time, the Cardano network operates on a federated model, with all nodes in the network controlled by the Cardano Foundation, IOHK or EMURGO. However, the main goal is to have a network that is completely run by the community. 

There are some few steps that must be taken before it is possible for the network to realize complete decentralization. As Harrison stated, “it can’t happen all at once.” He went on saying that steps are being taken to ensure this is done correctly. 

Through the private network set up last week, it was possible for the team to test the network and how it operated in real-time. Thus, it was possible to gather information about its behaviour in a live context. 

About the testing plans, Harrison wrote:

“This network is being built for the real world, but the real world is unpredictable. By testing the network capabilities in different scenarios, it’s possible to learn more and account for a broader set of variables. To derive understanding from real-world scenarios, wider community participation is required.”

IOHK is also calling for users to start participating in this network by running their own nodes. In order to do so, they have made available the necessary documentation and instructions. 

Despite the usual instability, lag and outages in this testnet network, the goal is to build a Cardano ecosystem that is based on decentralization and a strong community. In the future, there are going to be new updates in order to solve some issues that could be found and patch bugs.