# Ephemery incentivisation program [Ephemery testnet](https://ephemery.dev) has been running since December 2022 and providing Ethereum developers, users and validators with the easiest environment for testing. The Ephemery infrastructure has been steadily improving and growing over time. There are more genesis validators, block explorers, faucets, client implementations, auto deployers, deposit tooling and more. > To learn more about Ephemery and its usage, checkout the [repository with all resources](https://github.com/ephemery-testnet/ephemery-resources) To improve the Ephemery ecosystem even further, we are announcing the incentive program for providing infrastracture for the testnet. The goal of Ephemery is to become a sustainable testing enviroment which doesn't have to be deprecated in the future. Thanks to a generous donation and support from EthStaker, we can decentralize our network services, making Ephemery more resilient and usable. EthStaker is dedicating 12000 USD a year to support our testnet efforts. We are incredibly thankful for their dedication to Ephemery and the Ethereum testnet ecosystem. All donations to [Ephemery](https://etherscan.io/address/0x749155FCf33DB243631c077fCa328578A4642A98) will be vested and divided between infrastracture providers and contributors. ## How does it work The program is here for anyone contributing to Ephemery infrastructure. This means running relevant infrastructure like genesis validators, public blockchain tooling, building and contributing to tools or implementing Ephemery in clients. The cost of hardware to maintain Ephemery is very low but we value people who maintain good quality of service and are here for the long ride. The donation is distributed via vesting and split contracts ([Protocol Guild style!](https://trent.mirror.xyz/Lehny46ZMdxMEow0XE_RgowV2ntkp30chJRWPCEYbGQ)). Participants who run the necessary infrastructure will be added to the split. The donation from Ethstaker and every other support sent to the Ephemery address will be vested for 2 years and split between participants. The split share of each participant is determined by - the kind contribution or infrastracture they are running - how long they have been contributing - number of participants Based on these parameters, we are using modified [PG formula](https://protocol-guild.readthedocs.io/en/latest/02-membership.html#split-share) to determine weight and share of each participant: `weight` = `SQRT((start_date - months_inactive) * contribution_weight)` `share` = `(weight / total__weights) * 100` The `contribution_weight` multiplier is given by the kind of contribution. Genesis validators - 0.5-0.7, infrastracture 0.7 or client implementation 1.0. Note that this applies to square root function and doesn't have a linear effect. To start the vesting, the program needs at least 5 participants qualified in the split with the goal of reaching around 20 stable participants long term. This will ensure 5%-10% share of vested funds for each participant. Vesting model enables us to remove and add people based on their (in)activity. ## Participation To participate, you need to let us know about your contributions. Make sure the community is aware of your work by open a PR to add your tooling to [ephemery resources](https://github.com/ephemery-testnet/ephemery-resources), validators to [genesis repository](https://github.com/ephemery-testnet/ephemery-genesis/) and talk to us in the [Matrix channel](https://matrix.to/#/!axGcNhRqUUhWaJwbCO:matrix.org). Our goal is to incentivize a diverse and distributed network, therefore we encourage people to run a unique client pair. That means each participant needs to run a different combination of EL and CL clients on Ephemery. Spots in the program are limited to the number of available client pairs and existing infrastracture. ### Genesis validators As Ephemery resets every 28 days, the set of genesis validators necessary to start the network is maintained by a group of individuals. We invite you to become a genesis validator and earn small rewards for each reset you successfully participate in. To sign up for the program, you need to choose a unique client pair to run. Open a PR in the genesis repo that [claims a client pair](https://github.com/ephemery-testnet/ephemery-genesis/blob/master/client-pairs.md) and [adds validator keys](https://github.com/ephemery-testnet/ephemery-genesis/tree/master/validators) for that node. Deposit (at least some) of those validator keys during the current period to test your setup so we can verify it before merging the PR. Link active validators in the PR comment. If it's all correct, your validator keys will be in the genesis of the next network iteration. To qualify, you need to run at least 1000 validators per node with a maximum of 3 nodes per person (node=client combo). After a successful reset, a month of running the node, and verification from us, you will be added to the split. ### Public Infrastructure The funding is also available for providing another kind of infrastructure than validators. Ephemery resources repo[ lists public tooling](https://github.com/ephemery-testnet/ephemery-resources?tab=readme-ov-file#meta-network-info) for the testnet, and if there is anything missing or lacking, this is the opportunity to start it yourself. For example, this could be mean creating and maintaining faucets, explorers, tooling for validators or developers, deployment methods (Dappnode, Stereum, Nicenode, etc.), etc. Any missing piece of the infrastructure you identify in Ephemery compared to other testnets. This category is limited by the number of infrastructures there are. We are not looking for extra redundancy where there already is, but for categories that are lacking. Tracking of infrastracture category is in this [issue](https://github.com/ephemery-testnet/ephemery-resources/issues/13). ### Client implementations The mechanism behind Ephemery is defined in [EIP 6916](https://eips.ethereum.org/EIPS/eip-6916) and is being implemented in EL and CL clients. This enables the network to be bootstrapped by simply providing a flag in the client instead of manually importing the genesis. Your contributions towards these efforts can also be awarded if you are maintaining such an implementation. [This document](https://github.com/ephemery-testnet/ephemery-resources/blob/master/client-implementations.md) provides tracking of active Ephemery implmentations. Add yours by opening a PR and let us know via matrix channel! ### Disclaimer _The incentive program is an experimental and discretionary rewards program for our active Ephemery community to encourage and reward those who are helping to improve the platform. It is not a competition. You should know that we can cancel the program at any time, and awards are at the sole discretion of Ephemery founders. In addition, we are not able to issue awards to individuals who are on sanctions lists or who are in countries on sanctions lists (e.g. North Korea, Iran, etc). You are responsible for all taxes. All awards are subject to applicable law. Finally, your participation must not violate any law or compromise any data that is not yours and must be done in indicated way._