Dev Release 222

Purpose:
Following the successful Awakening Network launch, the BlockDAG team has been consistently engaging with internal stakeholders, community testers, and miners to ensure smooth post-launch operations. The initial phase after the Awakening deployment was focused on observing network behavior, identifying issues related to contract verification, node synchronization, and mining application stability.
Over the past few weeks, we have made significant progress in addressing these issues, stabilizing the ecosystem, and preparing for upcoming integrations such as ASIC mining pool support for miner devices. This release summarizes those updates and outlines our next steps.

• Continuous collaboration between development, QA, and operations teams to monitor and stabilize the Awakening network.
• Resolution of smart contract verification issues, ensuring seamless developer deployment experience.
• Network stability testing under real-time usage and varied load conditions.
• X1 Miner application restored to full functionality after Redis infrastructure optimization.
• Ongoing development of the ASIC Mining Pool to enhance mining scalability and efficiency.
• Incremental improvements across blockchain, explorer, and application layers to enhance transparency and usability.

The Awakening Network marks a foundational step in BlockDAG’s evolution, establishing the platform’s long-term scalability and developer readiness. However, post-launch monitoring is a critical stage to ensure consistent performance under real network conditions.
This update reflects our commitment to maintaining a robust, transparent, and high-performing ecosystem. By resolving infrastructure-level issues early, optimizing contract verification, and enhancing miner reliability, we are laying the groundwork for sustained growth, improved developer experience, and secure participation for all stakeholders in the BlockDAG ecosystem.

Since the Awakening launch, the blockchain engineering team has been working closely with internal stakeholders to analyze on-chain metrics, identify irregularities, and validate key functions across different network layers.

• Contract Verification Fix:
  One of the major challenges encountered post-launch was a smart contract verification issue that caused delays in validating deployed contracts on the explorer. The issue stemmed from mismatched compiler configurations and metadata inconsistencies. This has now been fully resolved, and verification now works seamlessly for newly deployed contracts.
• Network Stability Testing:
  We have initiated continuous monitoring of node synchronization, block propagation time, and transaction throughput. This involves stress testing across multiple environments to identify performance bottlenecks and optimize network latency.
• ASIC Mining Pool Development:
  The team is actively working on the next major enhancement — the BlockDAG ASIC Mining Pool. This will allow large-scale miners to participate more efficiently by leveraging high-performance hardware. The feature aims to improve overall block production rate, enhance decentralization, and provide better network-level incentives.
• Internal Collaboration:
  The blockchain and infrastructure teams are conducting structured testing cycles in collaboration with QA and DevOps to ensure that upcoming updates can be deployed with minimal disruption to network participants.

The BlockDAG Explorer remains the primary interface for users and developers to track network activity, transactions, and contract deployments. Recent efforts have focused on improving reliability and transparency:

Enhanced backend caching to reduce API response times during high query loads.

Ongoing improvements in real-time data synchronization, ensuring accurate reflection of block confirmations and transaction histories.

Additional metrics and monitoring layers are being integrated to give stakeholders deeper visibility into validator performance, block propagation, and network health.

• In the past few weeks, the X1 Miner Application faced intermittent downtime due to a Redis infrastructure issue caused by unexpected system load surges. This led to temporary disconnections and degraded mining performance for some users.
• The Redis issue was traced back to resource exhaustion under heavy simultaneous connection attempts.
• The DevOps team has since scaled Redis clusters, added load balancing mechanisms, and optimized caching layers to handle higher volumes efficiently.
• Post-fix monitoring indicates stable performance and consistent uptime.
• The X1 Miner app is now fully operational and stable, and miners can resume activities with improved reliability.

• Smart Contract Verification Issue: Resolved. Contract deployment and verification are now stable and consistent across the ecosystem.
• Redis Infrastructure Issue (X1 App): Resolved. Redis cluster has been scaled and reconfigured to handle peak loads effectively.
• Node Synchronization Delays: Improved synchronization logic and optimized peer discovery parameters for better block propagation.

• Ongoing blockchain stability testing under simulated heavy load environments to ensure consistency at scale.
• Performance tuning for ASIC mining pool integration, focusing on hash distribution and reward logic.
• Explorer metrics dashboard enhancement for more granular visibility into transaction metrics and validator health.

We value your input! If you encounter issues, have feature suggestions, or wish to contribute to the BlockDAG ecosystem, please reach out to us at support@blockdag.network.
Your insights are invaluable in helping us strengthen the ecosystem and deliver a more reliable and scalable platform.

The post-Awakening phase has been crucial in refining the stability, transparency, and scalability of the BlockDAG network. With the resolution of key issues, successful restoration of the X1 Miner application, and active development of the ASIC mining pool, we are steadily moving toward a more powerful and production-ready environment.
The BlockDAG team remains fully committed to proactive monitoring, rapid issue resolution, and continuous innovation as we prepare for the next phase of network expansion.