Thank you to everyone actively testing Goliath. We have now upgraded our public JSON-RPC to improve performance and reliability. We have also added an additional RPC instance, increased resources, and introduced caching — making it noticeably more high-frequency friendly.
The rollout was completed with zero downtime.
We hope that you enjoy the smoother experience.
The rollout was completed with zero downtime.
We hope that you enjoy the smoother experience.
Forwarded from Onyx News
Devs are cooking 🧑🍳 The @Onyx https://goliath.net testnet validator dashboard is now live at https://validators.testnet.goliath.net 🔥
Stay tuned as we continue to BUIDL. External validator onboarding 🔜 $XCN
https://x.com/Onyx/status/2011078120208744829?s=20
Stay tuned as we continue to BUIDL. External validator onboarding 🔜 $XCN
https://x.com/Onyx/status/2011078120208744829?s=20
Due to the upcoming blockchain upgrade scheduled for this coming Saturday and Sunday GMT 00:00–00:00, there may be intermittent service delays throughout the day.
Users can continue to use Goliath as normal, and the blockchain will remain stable. However, some users may experience occasional transaction processing delays and connection interuptions.
Onyx will be testing and implementing validator rewards on the network.
Users can continue to use Goliath as normal, and the blockchain will remain stable. However, some users may experience occasional transaction processing delays and connection interuptions.
Onyx will be testing and implementing validator rewards on the network.
Please expect potential service disruptions tomorrow (22/01) due to the ongoing work and maintenance related to the Goliath testnet.
Changes will include changing to dynamic address book which involves node reconfiguration and updates that require network freeze.
We expect positive results with backups available in the event of issues.
The freeze is expected to last between 5 and 30 minutes.
Infrastructure will also be updated and enhanced, including an additional database server to compliment a recent memory increase.
Stay tuned for further updates 🔜
Changes will include changing to dynamic address book which involves node reconfiguration and updates that require network freeze.
We expect positive results with backups available in the event of issues.
The freeze is expected to last between 5 and 30 minutes.
Infrastructure will also be updated and enhanced, including an additional database server to compliment a recent memory increase.
Stay tuned for further updates 🔜
Goliath will be undergoing planned maintance with upgrades this weekend (24th/25th January). This will potential result in intermittent service delays throughout the day (GMT 00:00–00:00).
Users can continue to use Goliath as normal, and the blockchain will remain stable. However, some users may experience occasional transaction processing delays.
More details and further upgrades to the network 🔜
Users can continue to use Goliath as normal, and the blockchain will remain stable. However, some users may experience occasional transaction processing delays.
More details and further upgrades to the network 🔜
Goliath Updates
Goliath will be undergoing planned maintance with upgrades this weekend (24th/25th January). This will potential result in intermittent service delays throughout the day (GMT 00:00–00:00). Users can continue to use Goliath as normal, and the blockchain will…
Friendly reminder to all testers, developers and community members that there may be intermitent service delays this weeend due to maintenance and upgrades.
This weekends updates to improve system performance and reliability have now been completed successfully. These updates include:
• Server resources have now been increased 10x after discovering initial settings were not enough under various stress tests.
• Optimizing database configurations for faster transaction lookups
• Automatic scaling to handle traffic spikes
• Implementation of automated backups and the resolution of synchronization issues after network restarts
• Implementation of automated recovery procedures to minimize future downtime
Goliath is now significantly more reliable with no downtime incidents and recovery is now faster.
This week, the implementation of dynamic new node onboarding will be implemented. This will potentially result in some service delays, with users being able to use and test Goliath as normal and Goliath remaining stable.
We anticipate this work to take place Tuesday, Thursday, and over the coming weekend.
Monday, Wednesday, and Friday will be reserved for full stability.
• Server resources have now been increased 10x after discovering initial settings were not enough under various stress tests.
• Optimizing database configurations for faster transaction lookups
• Automatic scaling to handle traffic spikes
• Implementation of automated backups and the resolution of synchronization issues after network restarts
• Implementation of automated recovery procedures to minimize future downtime
Goliath is now significantly more reliable with no downtime incidents and recovery is now faster.
This week, the implementation of dynamic new node onboarding will be implemented. This will potentially result in some service delays, with users being able to use and test Goliath as normal and Goliath remaining stable.
We anticipate this work to take place Tuesday, Thursday, and over the coming weekend.
Monday, Wednesday, and Friday will be reserved for full stability.
This Friday (30th Jan) and over the coming weekend (31st Jan/1st Feb) Onyx will be rolling out a new Goliath Testnet deployment to deliver several foundational changes that couldn't be applied incrementally to the running network.
What's happening:
We're upgrading to a 5-node validator network on the latest version (v0.68.6) with native staking rewards enabled from genesis. This requires a clean genesis block as the new network introduces a different validator topology, a reworked address book with globally routable endpoints, and on-chain reward distribution, none of which can be retrofitted onto the existing chain state.
What's new in the upgraded network:
- 5 onyx-hosted consensus validators (up from 3), all fully staked at genesis.
- Validator rewards enabled - staking rewards are active from block 0, no warm-up period.
- Goliath Consensus Node v0.68.6 - latest platform release with performance and stability improvements.
- Global IP address book - validators advertise their public endpoints directly, improving external connectivity and preparing for multi-site expansion
- Optimised infrastructure - tuned database, autoscaling RPC relays, and production-hardened resource profiles across the stack
What this means for you:
- All existing accounts, balances, and contract deployments on the current testnet will be reset
- The RPC endpoint, Explorer, and WebSocket URLs remain the same
- Chain ID stays 8901 (0x22c5), no MetaMask or tooling changes needed
- Once the new network is live, you can request testnet XCN through the faucet as before, XCN, ETH, BTC, the bridge - everything works as before and better.
Why a clean deploy:
Enabling validator rewards and expanding to 5 nodes with a new address book format requires changes to the genesis state that can't be applied to a running chain. A fresh deployment is the most reliable path to deliver these features without compromise.
Onyx will post again once the new network is live and producing blocks.
Despite warnings about maintenance over the weekend and friday, expect a maintenance window until Monday (Feb 2) while we bring everything up and run validation checks.
Benefits:
- Earn staking rewards - validators and delegators can now earn rewards for securing the network, making participation directly incentivised for the first time.
- Stronger consensus - 5 validators means higher Byzantine fault tolerance; the network can now withstand 1 faulty node while maintaining full liveness (previously, losing even 1 of 4 nodes risked halting consensus, we can significantly shorten or completely remove further maintenance and perform rolling updates.
- Better external connectivity - global IP addressing means wallets, dApps, and external tooling can connect to validators directly without relying on internal cluster routing, resulting in lower latency and more predictable behaviour.
- Latest protocol features - v0.68.6 consensus brings the newest smart contract capabilities, improved EVM equivalence, and platform-level optimisations that benefit every transaction on the network.
- Foundation for mainnet - this deployment mirrors the architecture and configuration we'll use for mainnet launch, so everything built and tested on this testnet carries forward directly.
- More reliable RPC - autoscaling relay infrastructure with optimised caching and connection pooling means fewer timeouts and more consistent responses under load.
What's happening:
We're upgrading to a 5-node validator network on the latest version (v0.68.6) with native staking rewards enabled from genesis. This requires a clean genesis block as the new network introduces a different validator topology, a reworked address book with globally routable endpoints, and on-chain reward distribution, none of which can be retrofitted onto the existing chain state.
What's new in the upgraded network:
- 5 onyx-hosted consensus validators (up from 3), all fully staked at genesis.
- Validator rewards enabled - staking rewards are active from block 0, no warm-up period.
- Goliath Consensus Node v0.68.6 - latest platform release with performance and stability improvements.
- Global IP address book - validators advertise their public endpoints directly, improving external connectivity and preparing for multi-site expansion
- Optimised infrastructure - tuned database, autoscaling RPC relays, and production-hardened resource profiles across the stack
What this means for you:
- All existing accounts, balances, and contract deployments on the current testnet will be reset
- The RPC endpoint, Explorer, and WebSocket URLs remain the same
- Chain ID stays 8901 (0x22c5), no MetaMask or tooling changes needed
- Once the new network is live, you can request testnet XCN through the faucet as before, XCN, ETH, BTC, the bridge - everything works as before and better.
Why a clean deploy:
Enabling validator rewards and expanding to 5 nodes with a new address book format requires changes to the genesis state that can't be applied to a running chain. A fresh deployment is the most reliable path to deliver these features without compromise.
Onyx will post again once the new network is live and producing blocks.
Despite warnings about maintenance over the weekend and friday, expect a maintenance window until Monday (Feb 2) while we bring everything up and run validation checks.
Benefits:
- Earn staking rewards - validators and delegators can now earn rewards for securing the network, making participation directly incentivised for the first time.
- Stronger consensus - 5 validators means higher Byzantine fault tolerance; the network can now withstand 1 faulty node while maintaining full liveness (previously, losing even 1 of 4 nodes risked halting consensus, we can significantly shorten or completely remove further maintenance and perform rolling updates.
- Better external connectivity - global IP addressing means wallets, dApps, and external tooling can connect to validators directly without relying on internal cluster routing, resulting in lower latency and more predictable behaviour.
- Latest protocol features - v0.68.6 consensus brings the newest smart contract capabilities, improved EVM equivalence, and platform-level optimisations that benefit every transaction on the network.
- Foundation for mainnet - this deployment mirrors the architecture and configuration we'll use for mainnet launch, so everything built and tested on this testnet carries forward directly.
- More reliable RPC - autoscaling relay infrastructure with optimised caching and connection pooling means fewer timeouts and more consistent responses under load.
Goliath Testnet — New Chapter
We've completed a major network upgrade over the past three weeks.
Here's what changed:
Stronger Consensus: 3 → 5 Validator Nodes
Goliath now runs on 5 independent validator nodes, up from 3. This increases fault tolerance and the network can now withstand more node failures while maintaining consensus. All nodes run the latest v0.68.6 consensus engine (3 versions up).
Staking & Validator Rewards Are Live
Staking is now enabled on Goliath. Validators earn rewards for securing the network, distributed automatically every 24 hours at UTC midnight at 30% APY.
Reward pools have been funded, 1 billion XCN for staking rewards and 100 million XCN for node operator rewards. This is the foundation for the incentive model that will carry into mainnet.
All Smart Contracts Redeployed
The full DeFi stack has been redeployed on the new network:
• WXCN (wrapped native token)
• Slingshot DEX, Bridge
• Crypto native assets: ETH, BTC, USDC
• Precious metals: GOLD XAUX , SILVER XAGX
• Cross-chain bridge (Goliath - Ethereum Sepolia)
• Multicall3 and FlashArbitrage utilities
Slingshot DEX Updated
The Slingshot interface has been updated to point to all new contract addresses. Swap, provide liquidity, and bridge, all working on the upgraded network. Now available in 22+ languages.
Infrastructure Services Upgraded
• Price oracle (price-pegger) actively pegging XCN, ETH, BTC, and metal prices to real market data
• Bridge backend processing cross-chain transfers between Sepolia and Goliath with 10x faster finality
• Block explorer and Grafana monitoring dashboards live
• Faucet bot distributing test tokens via Telegram
Service Versions
• Consensus nodes: v0.68.6
• Mirror node: v0.147.0
• JSON-RPC Relay: v0.70.0
• Orchestrator: v0.54.0
• Validator Dashboard: v25.1.1
What's Next: External Validator Onboarding
With 5 nodes proven stable and staking/rewards infrastructure in place, we're preparing for external validator onboarding. Community members will soon be able to run their own Goliath validator nodes, stake, and earn rewards, moving us toward a truly decentralized network.
What's on the Roadmap
The next milestone is community staking means any XCN holder will be able to stake their tokens to a validator of their choice and earn staking rewards, no minimum, no lockup complexity, just straightforward participation in network security. The infrastructure is already live and distributing rewards to validators.
We will be opening this up to regular community members is the immediate next step, followed by external validator onboarding where anyone can run their own node.
This upgrade represents Goliath's transition from an early testnet to a production-grade blockchain ready for decentralized participation.
Action Required for Existing Users
1. Clear MetaMask cache: Go to Settings → Advanced → "Clear activity and nonce data". The network was redeployed from genesis, so your wallet's cached nonces and transaction history are stale and will cause transactions to fail if not cleared.
2. Re-add tokens in your wallet: All Slingshot token contract addresses have changed. Remove the old tokens from MetaMask and add the updated addresses from Slingshot or the documentation. The old addresses no longer exist on the new network.
You can view the validator dashboard, including a list of validators at https://validators.testnet.goliath.net/testnet/nodes/table
We've completed a major network upgrade over the past three weeks.
Here's what changed:
Stronger Consensus: 3 → 5 Validator Nodes
Goliath now runs on 5 independent validator nodes, up from 3. This increases fault tolerance and the network can now withstand more node failures while maintaining consensus. All nodes run the latest v0.68.6 consensus engine (3 versions up).
Staking & Validator Rewards Are Live
Staking is now enabled on Goliath. Validators earn rewards for securing the network, distributed automatically every 24 hours at UTC midnight at 30% APY.
Reward pools have been funded, 1 billion XCN for staking rewards and 100 million XCN for node operator rewards. This is the foundation for the incentive model that will carry into mainnet.
All Smart Contracts Redeployed
The full DeFi stack has been redeployed on the new network:
• WXCN (wrapped native token)
• Slingshot DEX, Bridge
• Crypto native assets: ETH, BTC, USDC
• Precious metals: GOLD XAUX , SILVER XAGX
• Cross-chain bridge (Goliath - Ethereum Sepolia)
• Multicall3 and FlashArbitrage utilities
Slingshot DEX Updated
The Slingshot interface has been updated to point to all new contract addresses. Swap, provide liquidity, and bridge, all working on the upgraded network. Now available in 22+ languages.
Infrastructure Services Upgraded
• Price oracle (price-pegger) actively pegging XCN, ETH, BTC, and metal prices to real market data
• Bridge backend processing cross-chain transfers between Sepolia and Goliath with 10x faster finality
• Block explorer and Grafana monitoring dashboards live
• Faucet bot distributing test tokens via Telegram
Service Versions
• Consensus nodes: v0.68.6
• Mirror node: v0.147.0
• JSON-RPC Relay: v0.70.0
• Orchestrator: v0.54.0
• Validator Dashboard: v25.1.1
What's Next: External Validator Onboarding
With 5 nodes proven stable and staking/rewards infrastructure in place, we're preparing for external validator onboarding. Community members will soon be able to run their own Goliath validator nodes, stake, and earn rewards, moving us toward a truly decentralized network.
What's on the Roadmap
The next milestone is community staking means any XCN holder will be able to stake their tokens to a validator of their choice and earn staking rewards, no minimum, no lockup complexity, just straightforward participation in network security. The infrastructure is already live and distributing rewards to validators.
We will be opening this up to regular community members is the immediate next step, followed by external validator onboarding where anyone can run their own node.
This upgrade represents Goliath's transition from an early testnet to a production-grade blockchain ready for decentralized participation.
Action Required for Existing Users
1. Clear MetaMask cache: Go to Settings → Advanced → "Clear activity and nonce data". The network was redeployed from genesis, so your wallet's cached nonces and transaction history are stale and will cause transactions to fail if not cleared.
2. Re-add tokens in your wallet: All Slingshot token contract addresses have changed. Remove the old tokens from MetaMask and add the updated addresses from Slingshot or the documentation. The old addresses no longer exist on the new network.
You can view the validator dashboard, including a list of validators at https://validators.testnet.goliath.net/testnet/nodes/table
Validator Rewards Now Live on Goliath Testnet
We're excited to announce that validator rewards are now active on the Goliath Testnet!
Current Testnet Configuration:
• $500,000/year total budget
• approx $100,000/year per active validator
• Daily automatic distributions at UTC midnight
• USD-denominated (stable income regardless of XCN price)
Note these are amounts in testnet tokens only.
Mainnet economics will be announced separately
Two Ways to Earn on Goliath:
1. Validator Rewards - Run a consensus node (details in this announcement)
2. Staking Rewards - Stake XCN to validators (separate announcement coming soon)
Planning to Run a Validator?
Start preparing now! Review hardware requirements and get ready for onboarding. Full onboarding guide will be provided shortly.
Monitor rewards live: https://validators.testnet.goliath.net/
Documentation:
• https://docs.goliath.net/rewards/validator-rewards
• https://docs.goliath.net/rewards/running-a-validator
Note that as we continue to roll out updates, there may be minor network freezes on Friday the 6th of February. While the impact is minimal and unlikely to impact most users, there may be brief freezes lasting around 30 seconds each.
Questions?
The main @Onyx group continues to be the open forum for discussing testnet activities, Ambassadors and Moderators are able to forward details to the developers and @theonyxdao can be contacted directly.
We appreciate everyone testing and look forward to the release of the Goliath Mainnet.
We're excited to announce that validator rewards are now active on the Goliath Testnet!
Current Testnet Configuration:
• $500,000/year total budget
• approx $100,000/year per active validator
• Daily automatic distributions at UTC midnight
• USD-denominated (stable income regardless of XCN price)
Note these are amounts in testnet tokens only.
Mainnet economics will be announced separately
Two Ways to Earn on Goliath:
1. Validator Rewards - Run a consensus node (details in this announcement)
2. Staking Rewards - Stake XCN to validators (separate announcement coming soon)
Planning to Run a Validator?
Start preparing now! Review hardware requirements and get ready for onboarding. Full onboarding guide will be provided shortly.
Monitor rewards live: https://validators.testnet.goliath.net/
Documentation:
• https://docs.goliath.net/rewards/validator-rewards
• https://docs.goliath.net/rewards/running-a-validator
Note that as we continue to roll out updates, there may be minor network freezes on Friday the 6th of February. While the impact is minimal and unlikely to impact most users, there may be brief freezes lasting around 30 seconds each.
Questions?
The main @Onyx group continues to be the open forum for discussing testnet activities, Ambassadors and Moderators are able to forward details to the developers and @theonyxdao can be contacted directly.
We appreciate everyone testing and look forward to the release of the Goliath Mainnet.