Cardano: New testnet wallet enables staking functions
- IOHK has published the Daedalus wallet V. 1.2.0-STN1 for the Cardano Shelley testnet, introducing the delegation and staking functions.
- Users can now download the wallet and use the testnet faucet to test the new features.
Even though the Cardano Virtual Summit is history and the Shelley code was already implemented in the Cardano mainnet last week, the process of activating Shelley is not yet complete. With the Shelley hard fork on June 29th and the activation of the ITN rewards on August 3rd as well as the staking functions on August 18th, important dates for the mainnet are still to come.
IOHK releases Cardano wallet with staking functions
However, IOHK has made yet another important step forward yesterday by announcing the release of a brand-new Daedalus wallet for the Shelley testnet. With the new version 1.2.0-STN1, users of the wallet can try out the new Shelley functions in a sandbox environment using test-ADA. Via Twitter IOHK wrote:
The new Daedalus wallet (1.2.0-STN1) is now available from the Cardano testnets site; remember, for your own security, only download Daedalus from official IOHK or Cardano sites. […] We hope you enjoy trying these features out!
The new version adds delegation features to the Daedalus test wallet, including a delegation center, stake pools and rewards, and various features to simplify the staking process. Users of the Shelley testnet can now create the Shelley wallet, finance it through the testnet Faucet and delegate ADA from their wallets to a stake pool.
The delegation center displays details of the current epoch and the countdown to the start of the next epoch. While the epochs take 5 days on the Cardano mainnet, they only last 6 hours on the testnet to allow for faster testing. Changes in delegation preferences will only take effect when the current and the next Cardano epoch are completed.
So with the new wallet, users will be able to earn testnet ADA to see how real rewards will work in mainnet later this summer. In a short video IOHK gave a short overview of the new wallet, a detailed tutorial on all features will follow later this week.
IOHK will also gradually add new Daedalus Testnet features in the coming weeks. These features include the expansion of stake pool functionality with the ability to display stake pool ranking based on the amount of stake a user plans to delegate, support for old Byron wallets that allows the transfer of funds from old Byron wallets to new Shelley wallets, claiming ITN rewards, and a new automatic download update system that will be integrated into the news feed feature.
The ranking list of the stake pools simplifies the process of selecting a stake pool. The ranking is based on a game theory study that calculates which pools yield the best return if a user delegates his ADA to this pool.
With this release IOHK also warned of fraudsters. The development company behind Cardano emphasized several times that no real ADA is involved at the moment and warned:
Remember, no ‘real’ ada is involved on the testnet. But please always be vigilant against scammers. Never respond to ‘giveaways’ and never send your real ada to anyone claiming they are a stake pool. Delegation happens within your own wallet – your ada never goes anywhere.
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