Release Overview

Gonka v0.2.8 marks a significant milestone in the network's evolution, establishing the foundation for migrating to Proof of Contribution V2 while addressing critical infrastructure improvements. This release introduces a dual-mode migration system, optimizes cryptographic operations, and resolves token distribution issues from the genesis block.

Key Changes

PoC V2 Migration Infrastructure

The most significant addition is the PoC V2 tracking mode, which enables the network to monitor adoption of the new Proof of Contribution system without disrupting existing operations. Key parameters include:

  • Model transition: Migration to Qwen/Qwen3-235B-A22B-Instruct-2507-FP8
  • Sequence length: Set to 1024 tokens
  • Dual-mode operation: ConfirmationPocV2Enabled=true with PocV2Enabled=false
  • Statistical validation: New thresholds for V2 validation processes

This approach ensures network stability during the transition by allowing participants to gradually adopt the new MLNode builds before PoC V2 becomes the primary consensus mechanism.

BLS Key Optimization

The release implements precomputed BLS slot key generation, significantly improving cryptographic verification performance. The system now:

  • Generates BLS slot public keys during migration
  • Stores precomputed keys for the current epoch
  • Enables optimized verification logic for better throughput

This optimization reduces computational overhead during block validation and improves overall network performance.

Community Token Cleanup

A critical fix addresses inadvertent token creation during genesis by burning excess coins from the pre_programmed_sale module account (gonka1rmac644w5hjsyxfggz6e4empxf02vegkt3ppec). This ensures the intended token distribution and maintains economic integrity.

Container Updates

The release updates container versions for api and node services in the deployment configuration. Existing hosts are not required to upgrade their containers immediately - updates are primarily intended for new participants joining after the on-chain upgrade completion.

Testing and Validation

Extensive testing has been conducted on the testnet environment, including:

  • Complete upgrade path from v0.2.7-post1 to v0.2.8
  • PoC V2 parameter migration validation
  • BLS key precomputation verification
  • Token burning operation testing

Network participants can request testnet access to validate the upgrade process or test on private testnets.

Migration Process

The upgrade follows Gonka's established governance process:

  1. Community review of the upgrade proposal on GitHub
  2. Majority approval triggers release creation and on-chain proposal submission
  3. On-chain voting by network validators
  4. Automatic execution upon proposal approval

The migration logic in upgrades.go handles all necessary state transitions automatically, ensuring seamless network operation throughout the upgrade.

Looking Forward

This release sets the stage for the complete PoC V2 transition, which will bring enhanced ML model capabilities and improved consensus mechanisms. The tracking mode allows for careful monitoring of network readiness before full activation.

For technical details and implementation specifics, refer to the upgrade documentation and migration logic in the repository.