With the launch of the Taiko mainnet earlier this year, we also launched the Trailblazers program. This initiative was designed to inspire curiosity and exploration of the Taiko ecosystem, with the added benefit of rewarding our most dedicated network participants. Despite a few rough patches along the way, Season 1 has been a great success. We saw dozens of projects deploying on Taiko, including some native projects choosing Taiko as their home. Additionally, hundreds of thousands of participants answered the call of Taiko to discover what Ethereum's only Based L2 has to offer. We are proud of the growth we've achieved and are excited about what's to come.

If you wish to take a closer look at our journey so far, you can read our 3-month update article:

https://taiko.mirror.xyz/GsOLXZ9ClOUZabhhqFKUI4J1VKn96lpwJd5lVrj4HRg

With the end of the season in sight, we know you're wondering what to expect, so let's dive into the specifics...

The 8th and final Trail will end at this time, as will Season 1. This is your last week to earn 4x XP on designated pools announced in the Stargate article. Completing this Trail allows you to mint the 8th Faction badge just before the snapshot! To lock in multipliers earned from special NFTs (Taikoons, Snaefel, or 8 Faction badges), we'll take a snapshot of addresses holding these NFTs once the season ends. We’ll then apply the final multipliers and update the leaderboard to reflect each user's final XP total.

Nobody likes a cheater, but unfortunately, Season 1 has seen its fair share. We're not letting them win! That's why we've partnered with a third-party Sybil detection team to review the finalized list, using a fine-tooth comb to flag any suspicious activity. We'll also conduct our own screening to remove addresses based on our criteria. This process will take some time—up to four weeks. If we complete the process sooner and are confident we've removed the bad actors, we’ll immediately commence the reward claim window.

Once we have the finalized list of eligible participants we will then apply the percentile system that determines what Level each user falls into. Note that with fewer overall participants each of the Level rewards will be split by a smaller group of people, so each person in that group will get more.

When we remove the bad-faith players, some eligible participants may notice changes in their ranking. This is expected, as the removal of cheaters will allow everything to fall into its fair place. We will then open up the claim window to allow the eligible participants to claim their Season 1 rewards. Rest assured, Trailblazers will have ample time to claim. More details will be shared about the duration of the claim window in a later announcement.

...And with that Season 1 will successfully be completed.

Like in nature, where one season flows into the next, Trailblazer Season 2 will follow immediately after the snapshot is taken for Season 1. This means Season 2 officially begins on September 17, 2024, at 00:00 UTC. However, similar to how Season 1 started without the ability to track XP on the dashboard, not all Season 2 features will be available on day one. These will be rolled out as the season progresses.

We understand some community members are concerned about Season 2 starting before Season 1 rewards have been distributed. While we appreciate your perspective, the Trailblazer program is designed primarily to reward users who naturally engage with the network in ways they find valuable. The rewards should be seen as a reimbursement for exploration or gas spent. It’s okay if you decide to wait for the Season 1 rewards distribution before continuing with Season 2. Naturally active users will gain the advantage they deserve for Season 2.

More details about what Season 2 will look like will come in another article, but here are some hints of what to expect:

1. A slight reworking of the XP system, designed to reward actions that bring the most value to the ecosystem.

2. Expect more snapshots throughout the season—stay tuned to find out why!

3. Remember those Faction badges you collected? They will gain added utility and play a new role in Season 2.

That’s a lot to digest, but Season 1 has been huge, and we’ve covered a lot. We’re excited to wrap up Season 1 and move forward with distribution, as well as implement new features in upcoming seasons. If you have any questions, feel free to ask us on our Discord server.

Thank you for your amazing participation, we look forward to seeing you in Season 2!

Explore open positions on our job board.

Get the latest from Taiko:

• Website: https://taiko.xyz.

• Discord: https://discord.gg/taikoxyz.

• GitHub: https://github.com/taikoxyz.

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/taikoxyz.

• Community forum: https://community.taiko.xyz.

• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@taikoxyz.

• Warpcast: https://warpcast.com/taikoxyz.

Contribute to Taiko on GitHub and earn a GitPOAP! You will also be featured as a contributor on our README. Get started with the contributing manual.