In the latest Neo Core meeting, developers made progress on testing for execution fee and whitelist changes, discussed plans for Ethereum-compatible BLS support in the CryptoLib native contract, and explored a new governance mechanism for handling blocked funds. The meeting also delved into strategies to ensure validator candidates are running real nodes, including staking- and slashing-based designs.
Verifying Validator Candidates
The discussion began with how to verify that Council candidates are operating functional nodes, a requirement for adjusting GAS rewards. Two approaches are being considered: a lightweight proof-of-work scheme or a staking and slashing model where candidates lock NEO and can be penalized for failing liveness checks within a set timeframe.
Since consensus nodes already demonstrate liveness through view change behavior, the new mechanisms aim to verify candidate authenticity. More details will be fleshed out in the corresponding issue.
Progress towards Neo v3.9.0
Developers noted that the v3.9.0 branch is nearing completion. They discussed the potential inclusion of arbitrary message signing support from Flamingo, pending final documentation and a clear specification for signed message semantics.
NEP-25 will not be included in v3.9.0 due to expected delays in development. Contributors agreed to defer it to prevent holdups in the release.
Testing Updates: Execution Fees and Whitelist
Changes to execution fee factors and whitelist-based free transaction support have been merged for v3.9.0. A test checklist will be defined for these features before the final release.
Developers encouraged broader review from multiple contributors to ensure consistency across explorers, wallets, and node implementations post-update.
Revisiting Ethereum-Compatible BLS Support
Discussions also revolved around adding Ethereum-compatible aliases for BLS12-381 in the CryptoLib native contract. Efforts will focus on aligning Ethereum support with current API design for efficiency and consistency.
Governance Tool for Blocked Funds
The group examined a governance change allowing the Neo Council to unfreeze funds from blocked accounts after a specified period with 19 of 21 signatures. This mechanism aims to address funds frozen in compromised wallets, not to recover assets for lost private keys.
A vote will determine the default blocking period, offering options like six months, one year, or two years. Once implemented, the feature will streamline the process for handling sanctioned addresses.
The complete meeting recording is available here:
https://youtu.be/yhIhtkJHesw?si=bLxEPyBO_aa3Zpr