Summary 

• Core DAO is set to release Network upgrade 1.0.4 on October 15, targeting community-requested improvements.
• The primary focus of the upgrade is to enhance the $CORE staking experience for users.
• Notable upgrades include eliminating reward loss during redelegation and introducing Split Delegation for more staking options.
• The upgrade also addresses Miner Extractable Value (MEV) attacks, with measures to prevent attackers from exploiting relayers in the network. 
• Further improvements in block production, smart contracts, and validator contracts are expected in Core DAO's forthcoming upgrade.

Core DAO Announce Network Upgrade 

Core DAO has announced its upcoming upgrade for members of its community. The new upgrade, according to the protocol’s blog, will tackle numerous challenges outlined by the community. 

Core DAO disclosed that many community members “requested certain amendments to the protocol,” and the Network upgrade 1.0.4 will introduce several fixes. 

The Layer One blockchain will release the network upgrade on October 15 after block 8020000. In light of the new development, this article underlines the improvements, as stated in the blog 

New Staking Upgrades

Core Network upgrade comprises numerous improvements and a few fixes. However, as seen on the Core blog, the primary objective is to improve users' $CORE staking experience. 

Improvement in CORE Staking 

The network upgrade aims to improve $CORE staking after identifying a notable flaw in the delegation and redelegation of $CORE. The upgrade aims to tackle the issue users face when losing rewards after redelegating $CORE to validators: 

“Previously, users could delegate and redelegate CORE to different validators at any time, but they would lose rewards for one day while the redelegation was processing. This prevented users from optimizing their delegation strategies in real-time,” Core DAO wrote. 

With the upcoming upgrade, users’ rewards will not be lost when they redelegate their CORE holdings to validators. Thus, they can delegate and undelegate seamlessly without losing their rewards. Further, Core Network disclosed that users would not lose their rewards when they restake to a different validator, offering flexibility and transparency to CORE staking for users. 

Introducing Split Delegation 

Split Delegation is a new feature that will be accompanied with the upcoming upgrade. This feature allows users to split their delegated $CORE to different validators, offering users the license to “delegate to one validator and redelegate part of their staked CORE to a different validator.” 

Presently, users can only stake CORE to a single validator, but with the Split Delegation feature, more staking options will be available, including a wider exposure for validators. 

“The new split delegation feature, combined with continued rewards during redelegation, will create a more efficient market for delegators and validators,” the blog read. 

Fix on Miner Extractable Value (MEV) Attacks

The Core upgrade will fix the “persistent Miner Extractable Value (MEV)” attacks that have affected its relayer network. Relayers are in charge of sharing information from the Bitcoin to CORE network. 

As per the blog, these attackers have copied relayers’ transactions, replaced their signatures, and used a higher gas fee to earn excess rewards. The upgrade will implement a solution to prevent subsequent attacks from happening: 

“Our solution is to set an upper limit on the gas price of relayer transactions, preventing attackers from stealing their work and submitting it first. Once the system detects a relayer transaction with a gas price above this limit, it discards the transaction.”

The fix on MEV attacks will not be the last improvement added to the upgrade. Core DAO’s forthcoming upgrade will also improve block production, smart contracts, relayer syncing, and validator contracts.

What is Core DAO: 

Core DAO Network is a new Layer one blockchain project, backed by the Satoshi Plus Consensus mechanism, which aims to solve the blockchain Trilemma—Scalability, Security, and Decentralization. The project is new after launching mainnet in early 2023. 

Core DAO is EVM-compatible, looking to provide the ability to migrate and deploy contracts and dApps or transfer tokens between chains. The protocol is backed by its native $CORE token. As with any crypto asset, $CORE is volatile, and carries risk. Users are advised to undertake their own thorough research before investing in $CORE or interacting with its Layer one ecosystem.

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