Overcoming Challenges for Seamless Cross-chain Transactions

Two weeks ago we launched the t3rn testnet, and the response has been nothing short of overwhelming. Our bridge has seen a surge in users and transaction volume far exceeding our initial projections. This enthusiastic adoption underscores the community’s interest and confidence in t3rn as a pivotal tool in blockchain interoperability. However, with this rapid influx of activity, we've encountered a few hurdles that we're actively addressing.

Feedback and Challenges

The excitement around our testnet launch has brought a wealth of positive feedback from users exploring the new features and capabilities of our platform. However, it’s also come with its share of challenges, primarily concerning transaction processing delays. A significant number of users have reported transactions getting stuck or taking longer than expected to process. This issue stems from a few key factors:

1. RPC Provider Limitations: Our initial RPC provider was not equipped to handle the unexpectedly high traffic load. The infrastructure was overwhelmed, leading to delays and transaction bottlenecks.
2. Network Spamming: We've observed instances of bots spamming the network, as well as DDOS attempts, which have further strained our network.
3. Gas Price Mismatch: There have been mismatches in Gas Prices on orders, hindering the execution of transactions under fluctuating network conditions.

Proactive Measures and Improvements

In response to these challenges, we’ve implemented several strategic improvements to enhance performance and user experience:

• Securing Additional RPC Providers: To alleviate the pressure on our infrastructure and improve resilience, we’ve begun securing more RPC providers. This diversification will help distribute the load and enhance the stability of transaction processing.
• Efficiency: We are continuously working on improving the overall efficiency of t3rn. This includes optimizing our codebase and refining our transaction handling procedures to better manage high traffic volumes.
• Strategies and Liquidity for Executors: We've added more strategies and increased liquidity for our Executors. These enhancements aim to provide Executors with the resources they need to process transactions more effectively and efficiently.
• Counteracting Bots: To mitigate the impact of bots on the network, we've increased the minimum order submission to 0.01 Sepolia ETH. This measure is intended to deter spam transactions and ensure that genuine users can transact smoothly. After all the intended optimizations are deployed to testnet, we’ll be decreasing the amount to accommodate all volume. 

We're also actively working on and evaluating several fixes to further enhance performance and user experience:

• Pricer API Memory Issue: We've pinpointed an issue where the Pricer was spiking CPU and memory usage due to constant restarts. Our team is currently investigating this to prevent it from happening again in the future.
• Attestation: With the large number of pending transactions, we're working on implementing an additional service to expedite the attestation process. This should help clear the backlog and speed up attestations.
• Optimizing inner processes for highest performance and non-blocking interactions 
• Duplicate Transactions: High network traffic led to some duplicate transactions. We've already developed a fix for this on our devnet and are closely monitoring its performance to ensure it behaves correctly when implemented in the live environment.
• Upcoming Executor Updates: New versions of both the GUI and Binary executors are in the pipeline, and we're aiming to release them in the next few days—possibly even sooner than expected. Executors will be notified when the new release is available.
• Updating Stats for Better Insights: We're refining our stats to provide clearer insights into the average transaction cost and time. Our goal is to make this data more accessible and meaningful, helping you better understand the network's performance and your role within it.
• Dashboard for Executors and Users: We're excited to be working on a new dashboard tailored for both Executors and Users. This dashboard aims to give you more insights and transparency into your activities and performance. We’d love your feedback on what features or data you'd like to see included. Your input is invaluable in shaping a tool that meets your needs, so please share any suggestions you have!

To Our Community 

We understand the importance of trust and security for our users. Please be assured that any funds deposited at the time of ordering are safe. In the event of transaction delays, funds are all refundable, no testnet tokens are at risk and users will receive their BRN rewards for all executed transactions.

In response to the challenges encountered during our testnet phase, our team is actively developing a compensation program designed to support our community members who were adversely affected. This initiative will offer BRN rewards as a token of appreciation for your patience and to mitigate any inconvenience caused. We're committed to ensuring that all users have a positive experience on our platform, and this program is a part of our ongoing efforts to uphold that commitment. Further details about the eligibility and the process for claiming these rewards will be shared soon. 

Looking Forward

We are immensely grateful for the robust participation and feedback from our community. These are precisely the reasons why we conduct testnets—to identify and resolve issues before a full-scale launch. We are confident that the measures we’ve implemented will resolve the current issues within the coming week, paving the way for a smoother and more reliable service. After all the current volume is successfully processed, the system will be working on the speed measured in millions of cross chain settlements a day.

Join us on Telegram to get real-time updates and direct support or connect with other users and our developers on Discord for in-depth discussions and insights. Thank you for your continued support and for being an integral part of this journey. Your engagement is invaluable as we strive to refine t3rn and achieve our vision of seamless, secure, and efficient cross-chain transactions.