Aurora Engineering Recap July 2024

Read about Aurora's July 2024 engineering progress, featuring key infrastructure updates, research advancements, security improvements, and product updates.

These updates and improvements are part of our continuous effort to enhance the Aurora ecosystem, making it more efficient, secure, and user-friendly. Stay tuned for more exciting developments in the coming months!

Apps Team Updates

Web3Wallet: Staking support for all validators and reward claiming has been added to the UI, along with automatic whitelisting of NEP-141tokens.
Oracle for Virtual Chains: The Pyth-based oracle was dockerized and refactored, with added Sentry logging and simple API key authentication. An Oracle page was also added to the Aurora Cloud Console.
Aurora Pass V2: The redesign for Aurora Pass has been initiated.
Aurora Plus: The Bring Cashback program page has been added to the Aurora Plus page.
RainbowBridge: The ETH-connector migration for the Rainbow Bridge Client has been implemented on the testnet, with a mainnet release planned for August.

Product Updates

Aurora Cloud: The new Aurora Cloud Homepage was launched, along with developer onboarding documentation that includes an intro to Web3 development on Aurora and examples of smart contracts.
Partnerships: Collaborations with RaceOfSloths for gamification of open source development in GitHub and the launch of the EggoQuest game.

Engine Updates

Aurora Controller: The Aurora Controller contract and near-plugins have been upgraded, and documentation for future updates has been completed. These changes have been deployed to the testnet, with a mainnet deployment planned following the ETH-connector split.
ETH Connector: Split on testnet with a planned mainnet release in August.
BTC Light Client: Final improvements and fixes were made to the BTC LC contract.
Other Updates: A new version of sputnikvm was released, along with proof of correct sha256 function behavior and updated dependencies in the Aurora Engine.

Infrastructure Updates

Near RPC Speedup: Collected metrics and onboarded new validators. Analyzed latencies with block headers and chunks, with results expected by late August to early September.
Infra Research and BAU: Updated Blockscout version, resolved RPC method filter issues on mainnet/testnet relayer, and finished refiner and relayer reindex. Blockscout reindex is expected mid-August.
Web3Wallet: Developed the mempool and worked on estimateGas function, resolving compatibility issues with Brave, Rabby, and Zerion wallets. Automated Redis Sentinel deployment with Ansible.

Research Initiatives Updates

Web3Wallet: Implemented contract audit fixes and developed a NEAR Enhancement Proposal for protocol changes.

Security Updates

AuditOne Report: Added to audits page.
Bug Bounty Reports: Addressed various small-scale reports and confirmed sha256 security.
PipeFlare: Delivered the repo for the FLR token bridge.
BTC Light Client Audit: Preparations are underway, scheduled for August 5-16.

That's a wrap for this month! Got tech-related questions? Join our Discord community here, where you can discuss all things tech with us.

About Aurora

Aurora is a network of Virtual Chains that combines NEAR’s scalability with powerful infrastructure for the easy deployment of preconfigured blockchains. By integrating a high-performance EVM, the trustless Rainbow Bridge, and advanced Cross Contract Call technology, Aurora goes beyond full Ethereum compatibility, opening the doors to a multichain world.