Dev Release-200

We’re thrilled to announce our 200th Developer Release, marking a major milestone in our journey to reshape the blockchain landscape. This release brings a powerful wave of updates across the blockchain node, explorer, and miner systems, showcasing the unstoppable momentum behind the BlockDAG network. From boosting system scalability and backend stability to refining miner integration and frontend usability, we're charging full speed ahead. And this is just the beginning we’re committed to delivering even more groundbreaking updates as we continue building a next-gen blockchain ecosystem for our community.

• Stratum server implementation for miner and node interoperability.
• Concurrency improvements in sync services for high-load environments.
• Frontend design upgrades to align explorer UI with Figma specifications.
• Archive device logic added to the X10 miner application for better device lifecycle management with the integration of x10 Hardware device.

These updates address real-world performance challenges and prepare our ecosystem for greater operational scale. The Stratum integration represents a key milestone toward supporting distributed mining, while the explorer updates improve transparency and usability for end-users. Backend improvements ensure our systems remain responsive even under high traffic, laying the foundation for a robust production environment.

1. Stratum Server Implementation for Miner node Integration
   We're developing a basic Stratum server compatible with our custom miner and blockchain node. Stratum is a widely-used protocol for pooled mining. This initial integration focuses on enabling the fundamental communication channel between miners and nodes, including:

• Job assignment and result submission.
• Secure communication using minimal overhead.

Impact: This allows miners to begin test mining in a simulated environment, enabling real-world validation of mining jobs, difficulty adjustments, and job result tracking. This step is crucial for onboarding third-party miners in the future.

2. Sync Service Improvements under High Load

We’ve addressed critical issues around sync performance during high RPC read loads by implementing a custom Prioritized Read-Write Mutex (PrioritizedRWMutex). Key changes include:

• Detecting when a writer (e.g., block syncing) is pending.
• Temporarily pausing new readers (e.g., API queries) for 1 millisecond to allow the writer to proceed.
• Replacing default RWMutex structures across critical sections of the node's codebase with the prioritized version.

Why This Matters:
Under high traffic, previous implementations led to “writer starvation,” where sync operations stalled due to constant reads. This enhancement guarantees continued syncing and block production without requiring major architectural changes. It keeps nodes stable and efficient, even under pressure.

Status: Implementation is complete, and internal testing is underway to validate stability and responsiveness under realistic conditions.

Work on the blockDAG Explorer continues to bridge the gap between back-end functionality and front-end clarity. This sprint includes both UI design alignment and API integration tasks.
 

Tasks In Progress:

• UI/UX Design Consistency
  • Fix layout inconsistencies on token detail and transaction pages to match the latest Figma mockups.
  • Add sections for logs and token state status to improve visibility of token behavior and internal events.
     
• Feature Enhancements
  • Integrate advanced filtering for explorer data, such as filtering by transaction type, contract interactions, or internal calls. Improves end-user data navigation and developer debugging.
  • Add analytics section to contract detail pages, providing insights like gas usage, function call frequency, and transaction volumes.
  • Resolve mismatches between internal transaction list and the corresponding detail views to ensure data integrity.

Upcoming Features:

• Autocomplete Search & Navigation
  • Implement an autocomplete search bar with navigation buttons for a seamless user experience. Backend and frontend components are being developed in tandem.
• Address Highlighting
  • Improve user readability by highlighting active or known addresses on list and detail pages.

As part of extending mining hardware support, we are rigorously testing X10 hardware integration with the X1 Miner Application. A key feature introduced this cycle is archive device management, designed to improve flexibility for miners managing multiple devices.

Highlights:

• When a user removes a mining device with residual balance, the device is moved to an “Archived Devices” list instead of being deleted.
• Users can later reactivate archived devices, restoring them without losing prior configuration or balance.
• Helps support seasonal or on-demand miners who may wish to pause mining without losing historical data.

Why It Matters:
This gives users greater control over their mining operations, especially those who operate across multiple physical locations or devices. It also prepares the app to handle more complex device lifecycle events in future hardware deployments.

This cycle included targeted debugging and refinements across blockchain, explorer, and miner layers. These fixes directly improve system reliability, usability, and developer tooling:
 

• Explorer UI Consistency:
  • Fixed layout mismatches between Figma designs and production explorer pages, especially for token and transaction detail views.
  • Resolved spacing, typography, and component misalignment issues, ensuring visual clarity across devices and screen resolutions.
     
• Internal Transaction Data Mapping:
  • Addressed discrepancies between internal transaction lists and detailed views.
  • Now, all internal calls are correctly linked, sorted, and contextually grouped, reducing developer confusion during debugging.
     
• Concurrency Lock Fix (Blockchain Sync):
  • Implemented PrioritizedRWMutex to resolve sync delays under high RPC load.
  • Confirmed improved sync performance via stress tests on high-concurrency nodes.
     
• API Delay & Error Handling Improvements (Explorer):
  • Mitigated slow API response during explorer initialization.
  • Improved error messages for incomplete or corrupted contract metadata retrievals.
     
• X1 Miner Archive Edge Cases:
  • Fixed logic flaw where archived devices retained stale session states, preventing reactivation.
  • Ensured balance snapshots are correctly stored and restored upon reactivation.

Despite meaningful progress, the following technical areas are still being actively monitored, tested, or awaiting completion:
 

• PrioritizedRWMutex Stress Testing (Blockchain):
  • While initial results are promising, real-world simulations across geographically distributed nodes are pending.
  • Need to ensure lock handling doesn’t introduce edge-case deadlocks or impact long-read scenarios.
     
• Autocomplete Search Integration:
  • Backend endpoints for intelligent autocomplete are still under final schema validation.
  • Debounce, search result ranking, and navigation shortcuts need thorough testing for performance and user flow.
     
• Advanced Filtering Implementation:
  • API hooks for transaction type and function call filtering are partially integrated.
  • UI/UX behaviors (e.g., clearing filters, chained filters) need final design review and test coverage.
     
• Device Lifecycle State Management (X1 Miner):
  Testing the edge cases like:
  • Reactivating an archived device tied to an outdated firmware.
  • Handling miner restarts when devices exist in mixed states (active, inactive, archived).
     
• Analytics Module Scope Definition:
  • While the analytics panel is in development, KPIs and data granularity are being refined (e.g., gas cost trends vs. function-level aggregation).
  • Needs input from product and community on desired data visualization metrics.

Looking ahead, we are prioritizing the completion and rollout of key features, preparing for broader public testing and developer engagement:
 

• Stratum Testnet Trials:
  • Finalize the implementation of the Stratum server and deploy it within an isolated testnet.
  • Begin onboarding internal miners to validate work distribution, solution validation, and error handling logic.
     
• Explorer Final Design Pass & Deployment:
  • Conclude final UI/UX reviews for explorer redesign features.
  • Conduct user testing to ensure intuitive behavior for logs, state, autocomplete, and filters.
  • Prepare for a public demo.
     
• High-Concurrency Sync Benchmarking:
  • Scale test blockchain sync operations using simulated RPC load from multiple clients.
  • Validate sync speed, memory usage, and node uptime under stress.

We are actively building with and for our community. Your feedback helps us identify bugs, prioritize features, and refine user experience. Here's how you can contribute:
 

• Bug Reports: Encountered issues? Provide detailed reports with steps to reproduce, screenshots/logs, and environment specs.
• Feature Requests: Let us know what would make your experience better from API endpoints to UI enhancements.
• Technical Support: Reach out directly at [email protected] for any queries.

We aim to respond to support inquiries within 48 hours.

This release isn’t just another update it’s a bold step forward, reinforcing our long-term vision with core backend optimizations, enhanced explorer functionalities, and critical miner compatibility upgrades. These strategic improvements lay the groundwork for greater scalability, seamless user onboarding, and robust network resilience as we move into the next phase of growth.
 

This milestone reflects more than just code it’s the result of relentless innovation, tireless testing, and the unwavering support of our incredible community. To our developers, testers, and early believers: your insight and dedication continue to drive the evolution of BlockDAG.
 

Together, we’re not just building a blockchain we’re engineering a decentralized future at scale. And we’re only getting started.