RGB v0.11 Beta 8 is out

2024-09-05

LNP/BP Standards Association is happy to announce the eight beta release of RGB version 0.11.

Beta 8 comes just three weeks after Beta 7, and mainly finalizes on work which has started before, and contains bugfixes for the issues known before Beta 7 or discovered recently.

With Beta 8 RGB comes closer to API stabilization: we announce a freeze to any changes in API unless they are required by a fix of a security-critical bug, putting at risk client's funds. All other bugs and feature requests from now on will be deferred to v0.11.x maintenance versions, after the completed v0.11.0 release cycle.

All users of RGB protocol, developers and integrators are urged to update and test their software with Beta 8 as soon as possible. Due to the consensus-level changes contracts issued before this release would not be compatible with the released RGB version.

What's new in Beta 8

Consensus-level change

Beta 8 amends implementation of RCP-240731A, a new consensus-level feature we introduced in beta 7. Specifically, it changes the type of nonce from u8 to u64, in order to be able to support Lightning eltoo and other protocols which may have many more offchain state updates as a part of one transaction graph comparing to the modern-day Lightning BOLT approach.

Improved persistence

In Beta 7 we have introduced an improved persistence APIs. In Beta 8 we complete this epic by separating persistence providers from the data, such that users of RGB and BP libraries can now integrate blocking storage code into async apps by using dedicated threads abstracted away through these providers.

What's next

Beta 8 release continues a phase of preparation for a public preview of the RGB v0.11. All parties are strongly recommended switching to this latest beta, which contains a number of bugfixes and a consensus-breaking change, and provide us feedback their feedback.

Beta 8 starts a period of codebase freeze: only critical vulnerability changes will be accepted to the codebase. Once there were no critical vulnerabilities discovered, a Preview 1 version of RGB will be released.

Beta 8 was a result of internal audit and testing effort, we do together with [Bitfinex Labs], which will continue with external audit in the following week. In this way we plan to ensure the system security and safety before the final release.

You can track us on our journey towards v0.11 release with this GitHub dashboard.

About RGB v0.11

RGB v0.11 is an evolution of the protocol coming with a lot of bug fixes and improvements, further enhancing RGB smart contracting capabilities. It will be the first version which will be audited by independent auditors, after which it can be considered by third-party issuers for the use in production.

The main features shipping in v0.11 are:

  • Wallet integration right into RGB runtime and command-line tool;
  • Basic support for Liquid sidechain, with ability to add more alternative scalability layers in the future;
  • Scripting, with new contract state introspection codes and RGB assembly compiler;
  • Initial support for Contractum language;
  • Ability to inherit interfaces (multiple inheritance!);
  • Support of Electrum RPC and Mempool REST additionally to Esplora REST, present before;
  • Commitments to issuer and developer identities embedded into contracts, interfaces, libraries;
  • More compact consignments and better ASCII armoring.

Contributing

RGB is a free software and opensourc effort, built by community. The development is supervised by a non-profit LNP/BP Standards Association, which uses open approach: anybody from the community can propose a request for RGB change ([RCP]), ask a question in discussions, open an issue in GitHub, propose a pull request or review pull requests of others. The association also maintains public roadmap summarizing the current development progress and listing all issues and pull requests across multiple repositories and GitHub organizations related to the RGB.

Specifically, we are also looking for qualified auditors and penetration testers who can contribute into making RGB more secure and robust. We plan a grant program to facilitate this process; with any enquiries please contact us via info@lnp-bp.org.

Acknowledgements

We are grateful to Fulgur Ventures, continuing their multi-year support for our efforts in developing RGB, as well as other Association members, including Bitlight Labs, who had become a major contributor to RGB development. We are grateful to all commercial companies, building on RGB, and providing their support, contributions and feedback, including Bitfinex, Pandora Prime, and DIBA. We are also grateful for individual contributors, who do their small -- but still highly valuable and welcomed input in making RGB better.