Nimbus eth2 0.6.0 is the first externally audited and stable release of our beacon node software. When compared to the 0.5x series, it features significant reductions in storage and memory requirements, a faster sync speed, and a plethora of usability and security enhancements across the board. Under normal network conditions, the delivery rate of attestations and block proposals is expected to be above 99%. Going forward, our release schedule will start to accelerate, with multiple new releases expected before the Eth2 mainnet launch.
Changelog highlights include:
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Full support for the 1.0 Eth2 phase0 spec and the monitoring of the mainnet validator deposit contract.
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LibP2P and GossipSub fixes which drastically improve the delivery of attestations and blocks (nearly 100% expected rate of delivery).
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Fixes for all major resource leaks: you no longer need to restart your node to improve its performance.
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Efficient caching and storage mechanisms: ensures our memory consumption remains comparatively low both during smooth and turbulent network conditions.
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Several storage and networking optimisations leading to an order of magnitude improvement in beacon chain sync speed.
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Audits to our codebase by ConsenSys Diligence, NCC Group and Trail of Bits. More than 60 of the security findings have already been addressed. The remaining items will be resolved before mainnet launch.
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Support for pairing with a locally running Geth instance to allow for decentralised monitoring of the validator deposit contract.
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An extensive user guide for managing the beacon node.
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Slashing protection mechanisms + database.
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Support for storing the validator signing keys in a separate process, isolated from the network, with a minimal attack surface.