Call for Validators: Road to Sommelier Mainnet

Launch App

Call for Validators: Road to Sommelier Mainnet

Sommelier validators are key partners to support Sommelier’s mission to deliver automated Decentralized Finance execution. We would like to begin a weekly update to the validator community with this first post outlining our next steps to Sommelier’s mainnet, which will focus on gradual and rolling launches from testnet to an initial mainnet launch on August 13, 2021. If you are an aspiring validator for Sommelier, this is the FAQ post for you!

Where to find Sommelier Validator Code?

We want everyone in the community who wishes to be a validator to participate in our network! The Sommelier validator code is undergoing active development and available here: https://github.com/PeggyJV/sommelier. If you have validator expertise, we encourage you to review this repo and test deploy the code and let us know if you discover any errors or issues. Please make sure to hop on our Discord and join the #validator channel there to engage with us.

What’s the status of Sommelier Testnet?

Sommelier is happy to announce that we have launched an initial Sommelier testnet that has grown from a strictly private team tesnet to an invite-only testnet. The invite-only testnet now includes nearly ten validator participants, including Sommelier investors and leading Cosmos validators with established expertise on a number of other networks. Our goal with the testnet is to ensure the stability and smooth operation of the gravity bridge and the Sommelier chain.

Will the Sommelier Testnet be public?

Unlike traditional testnets, Sommelier is going to do something different. The current running Sommelier testnet will not be made public. Instead, Sommelier will take its current invite-only testnet and upgrade that directly to a Sommelier mainnet in the coming weeks with the same validator set. Our hope is to move quickly to mainnet for additional testing and preparation for additional validator onboarding.

When will Sommelier go Mainnet?

The Sommelier team is currently planning to upgrade to mainnet on or around August 13th of 2021 with a small selection of the testnet validators. At that time, Sommelier will present a roadmap to onboard additional validators moving forward.

Will the Sommelier token be live at Mainnet?

The Sommelier token will be live at mainnet, but the SOMM token on the Cosmos chain will neither be transferable or liquid. Onchain governance will host a proposal to enable transfers of the Sommelier token. Sommelier will conduct a rolling mainnet to launch the network and will prepare for governance to active token transfers once the community considers the mainnet ready. Our experience with the Sommelier testnet informs us that there will continue to be daily updates and fixes to the Sommelier codebase. Therefore, we should allow some time to achieve satisfactory mainnet performance before launching the token.

How do I join the Sommelier mainnet as a validator?

Please express your interest to join our Sommelier mainnet valiator onboarding process by completing our form here: https://forms.gle/D1N3ym4XtajL9Sbn9. The more information you are able to share about your activity as a validator, the easier will be the path to be an early onboard validator on the Sommelier network. Our objective is to onboard early validators that will contribute substantially to the success of the Sommelier network and ecosystem.

We are rolling out the onboarding of new validators in an approach where established and experienced validators will be able to onboard more quickly than less experienced validators as we upgrade to mainnet and deliver further upgrades before launching the token.

Conclusion

If you are a professional validator, we welcome you Sommeliers. We are excited to have you onboard with us as we launch mainnet with our testnnet validator set. Please join our Discord and introduce yourself and your validator team on the #validator channel. Please complete our mainnet validator interest form and join us on the road to mainnet. We look forward to connecting with you!