SVM Testnet Milestone: v0.0.5 Successfully Activated (Validator Identity Hardening & EVM Staking Restored)

Hi everyone,

I am thrilled to announce that the coordinated software upgrade has successfully executed. The Steem Virtual Machine (SVM) testnet is now officially running on v0.0.5.

You can view the release branch and codebase here:
🔗 SteemVirtualMachine-EVM v0.0.5 Release

This upgrade marks a significant step forward in both the security and usability of the SVM ecosystem.

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What Changed in v0.0.5

This coordinated upgrade introduces three critical improvements to the network:

1. Strict Validator Identity Hardening: Every route to creating or editing a validator now enforces the Steem-identity rule. This requires an ACTIVE Steem name owned by the validator, with owner, active, and posting keys properly registered in the details. This enforcement now applies universally across direct transactions, authz, interchain accounts (ICA), and the EVM staking precompile.
2. EVM Staking Precompile Re-enabled: The staking precompile (0x0000000000000000000000000000000000000800) is switched back ON, but now with the Steem-identity check built directly into it. This restores the ability to delegate and manage validators directly from MetaMask and other EVM wallets, which was temporarily disabled in Proposal 3 because it previously bypassed this critical check.
3. Hardcoded 1 Gwei Gas Floor: The 1 gwei minimum EVM gas price is now a permanent, hardcoded part of the chain's logic, ensuring the fee-burn mechanism remains active and protected.

Note: Your keys, stake, and existing validator identities are completely untouched by this upgrade.

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Current Network Status & Validator Alert

The network has successfully transitioned to the new binary and is producing blocks normally. However, as expected with any coordinated state-breaking upgrade, validators who did not stage the new binary prior to block 620,500 have halted and been temporarily jailed for downtime.

Currently Jailed Validators:

• @cur8
• @steem-agora
• @happycapital

If you are operating one of these nodes, this is a normal part of the upgrade recovery process. You simply need to update your node to the v0.0.5 binary, sync to the current height, and unjail.

Urgent Recovery Instructions

To get your validator back online, run the following commands from your SteemVirtualMachine-EVM directory:

# 1. Fetch the latest code and checkout the release branch
git fetch && git checkout release/v0.0.5-validator-identity

# 2. Run the automated update script to stage the binary and sync your node
./update.sh

# 3. Once your node is fully synced (catching_up: false), unjail your validator
docker exec steemvm-node /root/go/bin/steemvmd tx slashing unjail \
  --from <your_moniker> \
  --home /root/.steemvm \
  --chain-id steemvm \
  --gas auto \
  --gas-adjustment 1.5 \
  --gas-prices 1000000000asteem \
  -y

Verification Details:

• Docker Image: steemblazer/steemvmd:v0.0.5
• Staged Binary SHA256: 5915bf669c390d3f6e08c81961d8aec2818145e1a9155e26a88b080a507d334f
• Important: Anyone who staged a v0.0.5 binary prior to September 29th must run these commands again, as the binary was updated.

For comprehensive, step-by-step instructions, please refer to the official documentation:
🔗 Instructions/UPGRADE_v0.0.5.md

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Looking Ahead

With v0.0.5 now live, the SVM testnet features hardened Steem-identity enforcement across all validator creation routes and a fully functional, secure EVM staking precompile for MetaMask users.

Once the active validator set is fully restored to 100% capacity, we will continue our momentum toward the public beta release of the SVM App and the broader adoption of the Sherpa Protocol DeFi suite.

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Testnet Disclaimer

Important Reminder: The Steem Virtual Machine (SVM) is strictly in its testnet phase. All bonded STEEM, transactions executed, and tokens generated are purely for testing the consensus and EVM execution layers. There is no real-world monetary value attached to this chain or its assets.

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Thank you to the validators who successfully prepared for this upgrade, and to those currently working through the recovery process. Your diligence in maintaining and updating your nodes is what keeps the SVM ecosystem robust, secure, and moving forward.

If you value proactive engineering, rigorous security standards, and transparent development for the STEEM ecosystem, please consider supporting my witness: blaze.apps

Vote for blaze.apps Witness

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