UNION BUILD - The Interoperability Protocol (V2.5 Testnet Guide)

Over the course of a year we've been hearing about Union Build... You might've had questions like: what exactly is Union building, what are the changes that comes with the testnet v2.5 that makes it different from the previous testnet 8 and testnet 9

Well keep reading to find out more about Union Build, and how best to interact with it's testnet 👇

What is Union Build:

It is an Hyper-efficient interoperability protocol. Union connects all blockchains and rollups, across any ecosystem.

At a high level, Union may be described as a modular, next-generation interoperability protocol that is designed to connect Appchains, Layer 1s, and Layer 2s using a hyper-efficient zero-knowledge (zk) framework. Unlike traditional blockchain bridges that rely on centralised relayers or multi-signature mechanisms, Union leverages zero-knowledge proofs to provide a secure, scalable, and trust-minimised solution for cross-chain communication.

Core Components of Union:

In this section we are going to explore Union’s core architecture, which is mainly made out of the following components:

CometBLS
Galois
Voyager

CometBLS:

CometBLS is a consensus mechanism that is designed to make secure blockchain bridging more efficient by improving upon Tendermint. Tendermint is fast, but also makes it difficult to bridge with block space-limited chains like Ethereum for example, but by making zero-knowledge proofs cheaper and faster, CometBLS allows for better scalability.

Here are the key features of CometBLS

BLS Signatures: Enabling efficient verification, BLS Signatures reduce the size of the transaction compared to ECDSA verification by aggregating signatures, meaning that less data would need to be transferred. This also allows for lower computation costs, as instead of verifying all the signatures, only the aggregated signatures need to be verified. Furthermore, zero-knowledge proof verification is also much faster, therefore making the entire bridging process more efficient. CometBLs is the main reason why Union is able to support and scale to hundred and thousands of validators without slowing down performance.

MiMC Hashing: The hashing algorithm used in Tendermint is the SHA-256. Within CometBLS, this is replaced with the MiMC hashing algorithm, which is more efficient in zero-knowledge circuits. Additionally, MiMC Hashing also improves the speed of proof generation while maintaining a high level of security.

Epoch-Based Validator Rotation: Inspired by Polkadot’s consensus and Cosmos’ governance and security models, Epoch-Based Validator Rotation reduces unnecessary updates to light clients, therefore making the system more cost-effective, while it also helps relayers save money and make the system cheaper for users.

In the future, CometBLS will incorporate Verkle Trees, a new way to store blockchain data by improving storage efficiency over Merkle Trees while efforts to reduce proving times and costs are ongoing.

Galoris

Galois is Union’s Zero-Knowledge (ZK) Consensus Proving system that ensures fast, low-cost, and censorship-resistant proof generation for blockchain consensus. Galoris key features are essentially 4.

Fast Proof Generation: Galoris can generate consensus proofs for 128 validators in 7 seconds, therefore ensuring quick bridging and a smooth user experience.

Low Cost: Unlike traditional ZK-proof systems that require expensive cloud computing, Galoris is designed to be cheap and efficient.

Censorship-Resistant: Galoris allows anyone to generate proofs on their own machine while requiring only 5GB RAM to generate proofs for 128 validators, making it possible to run on entry-level consumer laptops.

Decentralised: Given that there is no need for complex cloud setups, anyone has the ability to operate a relayer or prover, increasing the number of possible participants in the system.

How Galoris work:

Union sends an IBC packet.
Galois generates a zero-knowledge proof of Union’s state at a specific block.
The counterparty chain updates its state using the proof.

Voyager

Voyager is Union’s advanced relayer that is able to solve all of these problems. It ensures reliability using a finite state machine model that allows for fast recovery, guaranteed data accuracy and parallel processing for increased speed and maximised efficiency.

Now that we have a good basic understanding of what Union is and how it works, let’s have a quick look at how we can participate in the Testnet of this product and potentially qualify for rewards.

How to Participate in the Union Testnet:

To get started on the Union Testnet, there are a few wallet's we are gonna need in order to interact with the various EVM and Cosmos chains.

Here's a list of them and a link to get their extension:

Metamask: https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/metamask/nkbihfbeogaeaoehlefnkodbefgpgknn

Keplr: https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/keplr/dmkamcknogkgcdfhhbddcghachkejeap

Once you've installed these wallets, remember to back up your seed phrases in a safe place (Do not share it to anyone!!)

Let's continue with our Testnet interactions 👇

Step 1:

Go to: https://app.union.build/dashboard to sign up for the testnet.

You can sign up using either your X, Github or Discord (I recommend using X)

Step 2:

After signing up with either of the options above, make sure to link all your socials including your Github and Discord. We will be needing them while completing some testnet missions.

After which, Go to Wallet tab and add both your EVM and Cosmos wallets.

Now let's get to the fun part - Completing missions and gaining XP.

Step 3:

When you sign into your Union Dashboard, you'll see a section called Mission stats.

This shows all available missions. currently we only have 7 missions in total with 2 expired missions.

Linking your socials and wallet address in step 2, as helped you complete some missions already.

The remaining missions and quite simple:

Follow the Union X account here: https://x.com/union_build

Join their discord: https://discord.gg/CRE5EDEP

Star the Union Monepro here: https://github.com/unionlabs/union

Step 4:

Now we start interacting and making transactions.

Note: we are not making random transactions, as there are achievements and XPs attached to making a certain kind of transaction across various chains.

The chains available are XION, Holesky, Sepolia, Corn and Union.

Let's get started.

--> Claiming Faucets:

Go to https://app.union.build/faucet to get access to the Union faucets.

Once you've claimed the faucets, it's time to get started making some transfers.

--> Making Tranfers/ Transactions:

Go to : https://app.union.build/transfer?source=bbn-test-5&destination=xion-testnet-2&asset=0x7562626e&receiver=0x87413fc7381c84ae7e191f1cdbac6125b2c06b3e&amount=0.02

Connect both your EVM wallet (MetaMask, Rabby or Zerion) and your Cosmos wallet ( Leap or Kelpr)

Select the source chain (chain you're sending from) and the Destination chain (chain you're sending to)

Once done, put the amount of tokens you want to transfer and proceed with the transaction confirmations.

In the image below, I sent from Babylon Testnet to Xion Testnet.

Currently right now, the only available chains to transact with are:

Babylon
XION
Holesky
Sepolia
Corn

But more chains will be added soon, including SEI and the Union chain will be resumed soon.

P.S Before making interactions/ transactions for the day, First go to your dashboard... Under Achievements, you will see a series of transaction tasks you must complete to earn XPs.

The most important factor of the Union Testnet is XP.

These XPs will be converted to tokens and how union makes it better is that each XPs ranges in a certain class.

Step 5:

This is for those who have the funds.

Here we get some NFTs and become part of those communities... holding this NFTs can help position you for the upcoming Union build $U token. You also earn XPs depending on the NFT you're holding.

Now we can't talk about NFTs without first mentioning the Genesis NFT project of Union Build called Wandering Whale Sharks.

Wandering Whale sharks current floor price is set at 174 TIA (~$381)

Other NFT collections that you can get includes:

ZK Goblin Mode --> current FP = 50M Stargaze (~ $64k)
Mad scientists --> current FP = 635 OSMO (~ $135)
V- Vana --> current FP = 0.083 ETH (~ $211)
Bad Kids --> current FP = 144 ATOM (~ $623)
Mammoth Overlord --> current FP = 80 TIA (~ $175)
Celestine Sloth Society --> current FP = 226 TIA (~ $495)

Each of these might play a role in increasing your $U allocation on Claim and TGE. For now each of these NFTs, gives around 10 XPs on the Union Testnet.

Like I mentioned earlier, Union Testnet XPs will be converted to $U tokens on TGE.

More info on Union here:

Final Thoughts:

The Union Build testnet isn't as easy as some other testnets but the great part of it , is the fact that the tech works, the team are active and the project is likely to perform really well on TGE.

It's more about consistency, Stay Consistent and stay positioned.

For more projects I'm bullish on and how to interact with them, check these articles:

UNION BUILD - The Interoperability Protocol (V2.5 Testnet Guide)

What is Union Build: