Failure to Launch: Devs Need Another Trial Run for Ethereum 2.0

 The Spadina testnet, meant to focus on genesis block creation, suffered from low participation, partly due to technical issues.

By Jeff Benson

2 min read

Sep 30, 2020

Spadina, the intentionally short-lived Ethereum testnet and "dress rehearsal" for Eth2 genesis, ran into some problems when it launched today.

As a result, Ethereum 2.0, the forthcoming proof-of-stake network, will need at least one more dress rehearsal, said Danny Ryan, the developer spearheading the testnet efforts.

Spadina is a short-term testnet specifically for trialling genesis, or the creation of the first block, on Ethereum 2.0. The second-largest blockchain network is moving from proof-of-work consensus to proof of stake. And, along with it, theoretically, to a less-congested blockchain with lower gas fees. 

Spadina is separate from the ongoing Medalla testnet, a general sandbox meant to represent an up-and-running version of the proof-of-stake network. By contrast, Spadina replicates the beginning of that new network. Testing out its creation is important because before the proof-of-stake chain can get up and running, at least 16,384 “validator” nodes must be running the network and have collectively deposited over half a million ETH.

The testnet proved useful, spotlighting some areas for improvement. 

The first area? Low participation. Coupled with “confusion” and “invalid deposits,” as Prysm Labs noted, the result was a “bad look for this ‘genesis rehearsal.’”

Though testnets are, by the