The Road to Aleo Mainnet

Five years ago, our Aleo journey began with the ambitious goal of implementing a novel paradigm for decentralized applications. Drawing inspiration from the privacy-preserving technology of Zcash and the smart contract revolution led by Ethereum, our founding team embarked on a mission to merge these innovations. We aim to create a platform that offers developers and users a unique blend of programmability, privacy, and permissionlessness. These principles are what make Aleo “ZK by design.” We are steadfast in our dedication to launching a network with features we deem crucial for empowering the next generation of Internet applications. And we stand unwavering, refusing to compromise on these principles when launching mainnet.

As with any startup, our path has been marked by successes and failures, with twists and turns along the way. The evolving landscape of zero-knowledge cryptography has influenced our vision for Aleo, and our growing community has brought diverse interests into the fold.

Achieving all three states — programmable, private, and permissionless — in a single decentralized blockchain takes significant effort and time, and our launch is dependent on establishing the integrity of each. We’re playing the long game to ensure an ecosystem that meets these principles — and being radically transparent about our progress. 

To that end, we’re opening up a direct channel for communication to keep you, our community members, up to date on mainnet readiness so you will know how close we are to launching in real time. Consistent with our values of transparency and egality, we call this communication plan Road to Mainnet.

Road to Mainnet communication will happen in two ways:

1. Robust test plan: Programmable, private, and permissionless — each state has unique elements that must come together harmoniously to fulfill our criteria for mainnet. This test plan will outline those elements in detail while providing a time estimate for completion. When all requirements are met, we will know we are ready for our mainnet launch.

2. Status updates: Regular communication regarding the test plan criteria. These updates will give the broader community context on how close we are to mainnet launch.

Aleo has transcended its startup roots to become a vibrant ecosystem. At its core, our responsibility is to represent and safeguard this ecosystem’s principles, intricately woven into the technology we are developing. 

Aleo’s journey extends beyond mainnet — it marks the beginning of our long-term vision. Mainnet is not the conclusion; instead, it is the commencement of Aleo’s larger story.

We extend our gratitude to our community and collaborators. In the coming weeks, we will share more details about our mainnet roadmap, offering transparency and clarity regarding our plan for the future.