Releases
Aleph Zero Mainnet 15.2 is live: more decentralization and validator accountability
Apr 3, 2025
AI Summary
We’re pleased to announce the release of Mainnet 15.2, which introduces several important upgrades focused on increasing decentralization, strengthening validator accountability, and improving network transparency.
This update builds upon the progress made in Testnet 15.0 (Menard) and lays the foundation for a more permissionless and resilient validator ecosystem.
On-chain ABFT performance monitoring
Mainnet 15.2 brings on-chain reporting of validator performance scores based on Aleph Zero’s asynchronous BFT (ABFT) consensus. This feature enhances transparency and helps the ecosystem better understand validator behavior:
- Validators report how far other validators are lagging behind in the current consensus round.
- These scores are aggregated, multisigned, and submitted to the chain as unsigned transactions.
- The performance data is publicly viewable on azero.dev in the Staking → Performance section, providing nominators and observers with actionable insights into the health and reliability of validators.
This is a foundational step in ensuring that block finalization is not only decentralized but also based on measurable validator performance.
Improved censorship resistance in ABFT
To further secure the finalization process, this release enhances censorship resistance in the ABFT protocol. The changes make it significantly more difficult for any actor to manipulate the network by selectively excluding validators from participation, promoting fair and robust consensus.
Upcoming validator banning for low ABFT scores
A new mechanism is introduced that allows the network to automatically ban validators who persistently underperform according to ABFT metrics. This feature is disabled initially but is scheduled to be enabled after a short period of Mainnet testing to help maintain high standards of performance across the network.
Additional improvements and fixes
Mainnet 15.2 also includes several enhancements aimed at improving network security, stability, and user experience:
- NonTransfer proxies are now restricted from interacting with the Identity pallet, preventing unintended behavior.
- Validator committee selection is randomized per session, addressing slow block creation and improving overall liveness.
- Resistance to randomness attacks has been strengthened to further secure the consensus process.
- A new network sync metric has been introduced to improve monitoring and diagnostics.
- Bug fix related to communication between the latest nodes and validators on Aleph Node 14.2
A major step toward full decentralization
Mainnet 15.2 continues Aleph Zero’s progress toward full decentralization. By removing the dependence on reserved validator committee spots, and instead selecting any validator that meets performance standards, the network moves closer to truly permissionless validator rotation.To explore validator performance and the latest changes, visit azero.dev
Read the release notes
