A few quick updates:
Znodes is undergoing final testing.
Public testnet was launched and a few small bugs were squashed. We are now testing it on the main net in an local environment (meaning we use the mainnet chain and variables) to do our best for a smooth release.
A hard fork is required and once we release the binaries, there should be about 10-14 days for everyone to get their Znodes running before the hard fork and the Znode payments come alive which should give sufficient time for everyone to update. We will announce the exact block when we release as we are also being mindful of exchanges and the upcoming Christmas holidays.
As for MTP, we are expecting to hear from Dmitry and Alex (the researchers for MTP) quite soon as they are proof reading their paper on MTPv2. If you aren't aware, earlier this year we spent many months developing the MTP implementation from the academic paper only to have a paper by Dinur & Nadler released that highlighted that MTP had some flaws that made it less ASIC resistant than desired. This lead to us delaying the launch and funding a
MTP bounty competition where we had experts such as Marc Bevand and Fabien Coelho find ways to improve MTP. From our discussions with Dmitry and Alex, they are confident that this will be addressed in MTPv2 and as such we are also eagerly awaiting their results. Our bounty also lead to valuable discussions for the new
Itsuku PoW that also builds on the work on MTP. We will be able to estimate a new release date once we have received the updated MTPv2 paper.
Also, Znodes are often mentioned as PoS or Proof of Stake, but it is actually more accurately, Proof of Service. Technically, Znodes do not do work to secure the blockchain but offer their services in hosting the blockchain and verifying transactions including Zerocoin transactions. One way to think of it is that miners receive a block reward for securing the network while Znodes receive part of the block reward for maintaining and supporting the network.
We also got a nice little mention on
CNBC Fast Money at 6:24.