Offchain Labs is thrilled to introduce a groundbreaking advancement: the launch of the Arbitrum Bold testnet is now live. Powered by fraud-proof rollup systems, Arbitrum Bold heralds the future of dispute resolution mechanisms. It marks a significant milestone in validating the robustness of the Arbitrum blockchain, fortified with fraud-resistant features.

The innovative team at Arbitrum is dedicated to crafting a highly secure dispute resolution ecosystem, prioritizing effectiveness, scalability, and safety. Through meticulous testing by Offchain Labs' technical experts, BOLD emerges as a design of utmost robustness.

BOLD-enabled public testnets validate Ethereum Sepolia claims, serving as an avant-garde dispute resolution process, with a proposal underway for BOLD activation on Arbitrum Sepolia.

Permissionless validation plays a pivotal role in both decentralization and Arbitrum. On Ethereum, it allows any user to verify claims about the state of Arbitrum, ensuring the accuracy of withdrawals to Ethereum by making them verifiable by any entity.

BOLD eliminates the need for a permissioned validator roll, typical for Arbitrum validators. This democratization of validation enhances network security and flexibility, contributing to the system's decentralization and adaptability.

Tailored for the Arbitrum community, BOLD offers features like permissionless validation, heightened security, pooled funding for collective challenges, and solid mathematical foundations. This allows participants to manage their own validator nodes and contribute to consensus.

In addition to network security, BOLD verifies Ethereum withdrawals. Offchain Labs, with its expertise in interactive protocols, is leading the development of the new Arbitrum system.

Pooled funding in BOLD enables users to aggregate funds via smart contracts, fortifying Arbitrum against invalid claims. After a year of rigorous development, Offchain Labs' research team has ensured formal safety assurances for BOLD, with smart contracts undergoing thorough audits by Trail of Bits.

The introduction of BOLD marks a crucial step towards mainnet readiness, with significant potential. A question-and-answer session on April 18, 2024, will feature BOLD's creators, including Senior Software Engineer Raul Jordan, Research Scientist Mario Alvarez, Smart Contract Engineer Daniel Goldman, and Principal Research Scientist Victor Shoup, addressing inquiries.

Undoubtedly, BOLD is pivotal for advancing permissionless verification and decentralization on Arbitrum. Offchain Labs will initiate voting on activating BOLD on Arbitrum Sepolia.