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We just released a major network update 1.2.1. This update is intended to mitigate recent attacks on GRAFT blockchain and improve the stability of the block intervals. There are two major changes included in this release: timestamp manipulation prevention and improved difficulty adjustment algorithm. The major network update will be triggered at block 68000.

The block timestamp manipulation allows a miner with significant hashrate power to generate an alternative chain of several blocks and add it to the main chain. The corresponding code fix will disable this possibility.

The original LWMA-based difficulty adjustment algorithm used the same adjustment rate to increase and decrease difficulty. As the result, it was taking significant time to restore after a peak, leaving users suffering from a higher difficulty. In our novel approach, we introduce an adaptive adjustment rate, making return to a normal difficulty level faster. The mechanism detects a failing edge of the difficulty curve and change the rate accordingly, using the following formula:

The major network update is scheduled for block height 68000. Each GRAFT network node must be updated to the new software version before that block, otherwise, the node that wasn’t updated is going to be on the wrong version of the blockchain. Major network update means that if you are running the GRAFT network node (graftnoded daemon), you must upgrade it to the current software release as soon as possible. If you do not install the updated node before the block 68000, your node will be blocked by other nodes. Note that the users of GRAFT mobile and desktop wallets (GUI wallets) are not affected by the upcoming network update and don’t need to do anything – as long as they are still connected to the default proxy supernodes (if you are connected to your own supernode, however, do not forget to upgrade the underlying network node).

The source code of the version 1.2.1 is now released and available for download from master. The binaries of the new release are located here:

Ubuntu: https://s3-sa-east-1.amazonaws.com/graftbuilds/graft-1.2.1-20180422-release.tar.gz

Windows: https://s3-sa-east-1.amazonaws.com/graftbuilds/graft-1.2.1-20180422-win-release.zip

In order to check whether you are running the right version of GRAFT network node, launch graftnoded daemon in terminal window (in interactive mode) and type help command. If you are running the right version you should see Graft ‘Beta Lyrae’ (v1.2.1-release) in the first line of the help result.

We decided to make the major network update sooner in order to minimize the possibility of hashrate attacks. Patch version 1.1.1 is now released and available for download from master. The major network update itself is rescheduled for block height 65110, around April 14th.

Each GRAFT network node must be updated to the new software version before that block/date, otherwise, the node that wasn’t updated is going to be on the wrong version of the blockchain. This release contains the ASIC-resistance changes in the hashing algorithm and enhanced difficulty adjustment algorithm, which are supposed to protect GRAFT blockchain from most hashing attacks and stabilize the block intervals.

As another reminder, major network update means that if you are running the GRAFT network node (graftnoded daemon), you must upgrade it to the current software release between now and April 14th. If you do not install the updated node before April 14th, it will be disconnected from the mainnet after block 65110.

In order to check whether you are running the right version of GRAFT software, launch graftnoded daemon in terminal window (in interactive mode) and type help command. If you are running the right version you should see Graft ‘Beta Lyrae’ (v1.1.1-release) in the first line of the help result.

Note that the users of mobile and desktop wallets are not affected by the upcoming network update and don’t need to do anything – as long as they are still connected to the default proxy supernodes (if you are connected to your own supernode, however, do not forget to upgrade the underlying network node).

IMPORTANT UPDATE April 12 – PATCH 1.1.1 HAS BEEN RELEASED – MAJOR NETWORK UPDATE ON BLOCK 65110

We are excited to announce the release of major GRAFT network update version 1.1.0 ‘Beta Lyrae’ to the master / mainnet! Multiple tests are passed, and all the seed nodes are updated. The major network update itself is scheduled for block height 67850, about a week from now on April 17th. Each GRAFT network node must be updated to the new software version before that block/date, otherwise, the node that wasn’t updated is going to be on the wrong version of the blockchain. This release contains the ASIC-resistance changes in the hashing algorithm and enhanced difficulty adjustment algorithm, which are supposed to protect GRAFT blockchain from most hashing attacks and stabilize the block intervals.

As another reminder, major network update means that if you are running the GRAFT network node (graftnoded daemon), you must upgrade it to the current software release between now and April 17th. If you do not install the updated node before April 17th, it will be disconnected from the mainnet after block 67850. In order to check whether you are running the right version of GRAFT software, launch graftnoded daemon in terminal window (in interactive mode) and type help command. If you are running the right version you should see Graft ‘Beta Lyrae’ (v1.1.0-29ae686) in the first line of the help result. Note that the users of mobile and desktop GRAFT wallets apps are not affected by the upcoming network update and don’t need to do anything – as long as they are still connected to the default proxy supernodes (if you are connected to your own supernode, however, do not forget to upgrade the underlying network node).

And finally, we would like to thank everyone from GRAFT community who contributed to the first major GRAFT network update by providing their feedback! We appreciate your support! We look forward to working together on our next major milestone – alpha and beta releases of RTA (real-time authorization) functionality of full supernodes. Stay tuned!

We’re happy to announce that GRFT is now traded on Stocks.Exchange as our second external exchange with support for BTC and ETH pairs.*

External exchanges play an important role for any token by providing liquidity for miners and a way for new people to get involved with the project, and we want to offer a well-balanced, diversified set of trading exchanges with few more becoming available soon. Having said that, our main focus is on building out the product and the eco-system, including integrating with decentralized exchanges (DEX) in order to achieve the very important in-network interchange and payout functionality.

* Please note that current Stocks.Exchange integration is limited to CLI wallets for GRFT deposits. We’re working with Stocks.Exchange on implementing integrated addresses which include both the receive address and the Payment ID. Integrated addresses are already supported in all GRAFT wallet apps.

The upcoming GRAFT network update will take care of problems with hashrate attacks and instability of block intervals (in addition to ASIC resistance upgrade). We would like to share the most recent results of the new difficulty algorithm testing on the testnet. The first graph shows how the existing algorithm slowly adjusts to multiple spikes of the network hashrate: The second graph shows how the upgraded algorithm quickly reacts to virtually any change of the network hashrate: The release candidate build is finalized but we are still in a process of testing of the upcoming network update. We are still on track to release it next week, stay tuned to get further notifications about specific date/time. By the way, if you haven’t seen it yet, here is the most up to date and detailed GRAFT engineering roadmap.

The code release for the upcoming GRAFT network update, which includes ASIC resistance, enhanced difficulty adjustment algorithm, and minor bug fixes, is almost ready to go, and we are on track to release it on Monday, April 9th, with the actual switch scheduled to be triggered around April 16th (the block number will be announced later). Currently, we are conducting regression tests. The ASIC resistance code in conjunction with the new difficulty algorithm is supposed to minimize the possibility of hashrate attacks – when significant hashrate power (generated by ASIC or large GPU miner) is connected for relatively short period of time and making it difficult for other miners to compete and solve the blocks, until the existing algorithm adopts to a new hashrate and adjusts the network difficulty. This is how the existing algorithm reacts to sudden hashrate spikes in the mainnet: The following graph shows how the updated algorithm adjusts the difficulty much better after the simulated hashrate attacks: Although we think the upcoming network update will be sufficient to protect the blockchain from the majority of hashrate attacks, we are also working on original, even more enhanced version of the difficulty adjustment algorithm, which is supposed to provide even better, more “symmetrical” and balanced response to any hashrate fluctuations. Since such enhancements require significant testing, which is very time consuming, we are planning to include it in the next network update (the one after the upcoming update on April 6th), along with the merge of recent Monero changes. As usual, we will follow up with more details soon. Stay tuned!

As was promised in the last week’s post, we provide more details regarding the upcoming major network update. The mainnet release of GRAFT software update has been scheduled tentatively for April 9th, with the major network update to happen on April 16th (specific number of the block that triggers the update, which is hardcoded into the node, will be announced on April 9th).

As a reminder, major network update means that if you are running the GRAFT network node (graftnoded), you must upgrade to the latest software release between April 9th and April 16th. If you do not upgrade your node before April 16th, it will be disconnected from the mainnet. Note that users of mobile and desktop wallets are not affected by the network update and don’t need to do anything – as long as they are still connected to the default proxy supernodes (if you are connected to your own supernode, however, do not forget to upgrade the underlying network node).

This network update will include two major changes and some minor bug fixes. The major changes are the Cryptonight update (for ASIC resistance) and new difficulty adjustment algorithm (for preventing hashrate attacks and stabilizing the block intervals). We are still testing the new difficulty algorithm to determine the best set of parameters. The testing results will be published next week. Stay tuned!