Weekly Developer Update: December 18, 2025

[Nic_Dorman]

As we mentioned last week, for the final dev blog of the year we’re running a slightly different format. Below we’re going to revisit our goals and provide a brief run down on what we’ve achieved. Despite this being the final dev blog of the year, there are still two releases coming ahead of the Christmas, both of these will have release notes as usual. Finally, I would also note that the development update below is also included as part of a wider write up for the year -this can be found as an article on the newly refreshed Autonomi website - autonomi.com.

So jumping into it then - to recap these were the shared goals of our end of year missions:

• Improve network stability by reducing churn and make significant gains towards data permanence through the identification and ‘casting out’ of bad nodes.

• Move toward improving accessibility, for large data uploaders, supporting the utility of ANT and network scale through the release of an Indelible demo.

• Remove some of the friction associated with blockchain payments through the ‘best optimised’ deployment of Paymaster in both Dave and Indelible.

• Significantly reduce the cost of using the network (data uploading), by minimising the fees associated with EVM blockchain through the deployment of Merkle Tree payments.

• Optimise the way the team track, test, document and deploy, through role crossover, actionable insights, PR quality and streamlining of code.

• Get the fly wheel going to support the health of the Autonomi token - through demonstration of future utility and network potential/scale (this should be reflected in trading volume and token price)

And here is the status of each:

“Improve Network Stability”
Following on from previous updates (close group verification and chunk size for streaming of data), prior to Christmas we will be releasing two major updates for performance enhancement. These include:

• The delay of replication initiated by churn, to ensure that nodes have enough time to come back online ahead of data being unnecessarily reproduced to protect its permanence. In essence this update removes the creation of unnecessary load from The Network.

• A check of close group members to ensure that they are holding the data they are expected to be, with those not holding expected data being removed from the routing table. This update aims to ensure only ‘good nodes’ are interacting with other nodes and data uploaders, and that bad nodes have no incentive and no access to participate in the ecosystem.

Alongside these new updates, the team has also implemented Auto Updates which will be in use from today with the upcoming release being automatic for Linux and Mac users. Noting here that to stay eligible for emissions a node operator needs to be running either the latest or previous version (important for windows users who will not currently be automatically upgraded).

“Improving accessibility for large data uploaders”
Indelible is a locally deployed service that enables an organization to readily access the archiving and storage capabilities of Autonomi, without need for additional coding or complexity. A user interacts with a web UI (although there is a full REST API available),

Indelible allows for multiple users to access a centralized (or group of centralized wallets) so that they can upload documents and other data to Autonomi without having to worry about purchasing ANT (which will be the admins role). The service is ideal for those handling large amounts of data and/or significant file sizes, who want to secure and archive the same indefinitely. Where direct uploads to The Network are time consuming and prevent a user from being able to navigate away from the process, with Indelible a user is able to queue uploads and benefit from the service being asynchronous, meaning it works in the background, and informs the user of its status via configurable webhooks or API, while they continue on with their day.

There is now a fully working demo of Indelible, further refinements to the UI and UX will be made early in January, so that the service can begin being utilized by organisations (using SSO) in the New Year.

“Deployment of Paymaster”
Paymaster is currently available in Dave and will be deployed in Indelible in the New Year. The team will also be integrating Paymaster into Merkle Tree payments so that not only are blockchain fees low (for payments, other elements of The Network are non-blockchain), but they are easily integrated into the data upload payments which will only require a user to have ANT.

“Deployment of Merkle Tree Payments”
The MaidSafe team is introducing Merkle Tree as a structure for organising payments. The structure reduces the number of transactions by grouping them together in a way that means there is a single gas fee rather than multiple fees for uploads. The tree is limited to 4GB worth of data, beyond that size, a new tree is created and a second payment is added to the first (i.e. 2 payments grouped together). At the time of writing The Merkle Tree deployment has been partially released (for main-net testing only), and will be publicly available for use ahead of Christmas 2025.

“Optimise”
Moving into 2026 the MaidSafe team wants to remove some of the legacy dependencies and restrictions that naturally happen when there is a reliance on an individual or group - this also speaks to the fact that Autonomi should not be controlled or overly influenced by any person or party. From automatic node upgrades (churn management) and nodes from code (speed and diligence), to testing portal (a self-service for developers to run their own testnets, followed by MCP for AI deployment) and logging optimisation (easy validation of issues for early network troubleshooting).

“Health of the Autonomi Token”
Driven by the utility of and demand for ANT, the focus has been to create the services (indelible) and toolkits for builders to support data uploads. The Autonomi Foundation, once The Network is stable and data storage permanent, will be supporting both partnerships and promotion from early 2026.

[aatonnomicc]

I’ll do it here first and we’ll done to all the team.

I’m ready for this release can’t wait to kick the hell out of Merkel!!!

[AlekseySolin]

Hello everyone!

[scottefc86]

@Nic_Dorman

There will also be an emphasis on what’s coming in 2026 Q1,

Was looking forward to this last week, guess I’ll have to wait another few weeks hope all the team get time for some well earned relaxation over Christmas but I have a feeling some won’t

[Mightyfool]

So to avoid any confusion. As stated in the yearly recap:

“The Foundation has recently secured a privately made donation - this was specifically gifted to support the team requirements that relate to Autonomi’s ongoing development over the next 3 years.”

When asked in the Discord if this is the BGF being reallocated or being a separate donation Bux mentioned: “it’s not a reallocation - it’s as it states in the post/article”

For me, and I’m sure many community members here. This is an extremely important and huge accomplishment. Putting it in the 2025 recap makes confirms my personal believe that the team really is all about delivering and anything else is noise. I would’ve announced this on 4 different occasions probably

[19eddyjohn75]

Thank you for your incredibly productive year super ants

Nice to see the new website with “Prompt your AI to understand Autonomi”

Do note that sometimes the AIs ask for a privatekey to make a upload to the Network. I gave mine, while knowing that I should keep that in a .env file

If I tease with 1 attos per prompt, I might as well tease them how it feels to be a quintillionaire

I don’t understand the negative vibes nowadays, the price could drop to 1 satoshi and I wouldnt care. We live in the best of times, with AIs to help us code, improve the Network and spread the word.

My data and ideas will only be on this Network, so I’m super charged with Indelible coming.

Maidsafe devs, community members do take your well deserved time with your family and friends and enjoy these days.

Thanks 4 being here and keep hacking super ants

[Southside]

Thanks to all involved - Avanti!!!

[Secretariat415]

Thanks so much to the entire Autonomi team and community for all of your hard work this year!

Here’s looking forward to a great 2026!

[DavidMc0]

Well done all at Autonomi for amazing work this year.

It’s been particularly rocky with the network challenges of recent weeks, but 2025 has been a landmark year for the project, with the public network launch and Impossible Futures first round.

It seems the ground work is being set for a lot more to come in 2026. I hope that encouragement is taken from the successes, lessons learned from the challenges, and that it all comes together even better going forward.

With Merkle getting the ERC20 cost bottleneck out of the way, assuming the performance holds up, the network will only be a few nice apps away from becoming a viable product for people to use… and once there are a few, I’m sure a multitude will follow. I’m excited to see that happen in the not too distant future!

Thanks again for all of the effort, both MaidSafe team, and the fantastic community members who have been plugging away on development & other support and testing despite the headwinds.

Merry Christmas all, and have a good break if you’re getting one

[TheGreatTit]

Cool to hear longer runway has been secured thru mysterious funding.

Wish you more productive ‘26 that’s finally worth all the automated “thank yous”.

[momahonyb]

My money’s on David as the mysterious investor!

[BambooGarden]

Been an epic 2025! Next year will be even better, mark my words

Is this refreshed Autonomi website permanent? I kinda miss the old one with the toggle “our future/their future”

[TheGreatTit]

Is the funding donation going to change anything in how the devs are hired/paid/managed?

If things remain the same, I’m afraid we’ll get more of the same – only for three more years instead of one.

Sure enough, next bullrun some might make enough dough on another, more profitable project to throw another million or two on MaidSafe, but what is the point of that if everything remains the same and things plod fast enough to make a cool tech for the world that’s gone for two decades?

[feinberg]

Indeed. The team has been doing good work but Q1-Q2 ’26 is a critical window for Autonomi. The donation is a godsend as one look at the market makes it clear we are not going to get another opportunity like this—ever. Should be all gas no brakes on completing the roadmap. Very exciting things ahead. David just made a major commit to his Ant-QUIC Github repo (pure PQC) today, which alone is worthy of some renewed enthusiasm and an example of things to come.

[DeusNexus]

Dear Autonomi and Community,

This year has been a remarkable journey—marked by extreme lows, moments of joy, renewed health, and steady progress. My deepest appreciation goes to the @maidsafe team, and especially to David , for believing in the vision and persevering despite relentless obstacles and criticism. Many would have walked away long ago; only a few have the resolve to come this far. That commitment is a true hallmark of your dedication and ambition.

The mission remains profoundly important: a better world, a fairer internet, and—most critically—the ability for people to dream, build, and innovate on foundations that stand in contrast to an increasingly privacy-invasive and censored public internet. From the SAFE Network to the newly rebranded Autonomi Network, the evolution has been significant. While the SAFE name had become deeply familiar to me, I now see Autonomi as a stronger and more fitting expression of where we are headed. In hindsight, it feels like the right step forward.

The Safe Network represents years of cumulative research and development, extensive community discussion, and patience while the necessary technologies matured. Autonomi builds directly on those pillars and, in doing so, marks the conclusion of a long research phase and the beginning of something tangible. The Autonomi Network exists today—it is live, learning, and growing. Every single one of you has played a role in making this a reality, and each contribution matters in bringing it to its fullest potential.

Over recent months, I have experienced moments of serious doubt and largely observed from the sidelines. Watching the ANT token price decline has not been easy, and it is understandable that some chose to step away. For many, this level of risk simply does not align with their tolerance, and they should do what is best for themselves.

For me, however, I have come to embrace this phase. The current price represents a rare opportunity to meaningfully increase my ANT holdings—something I never expected. The fact that one can acquire 100,000 ANT for roughly $2,000 USD is remarkable. Reading the end-of-year update was particularly encouraging, especially the confirmation that @maidsafe has secured funding to support operations for the next three years. Given the network’s current maturity—now focused on final refinements and stability—this is excellent news.

“The Foundation has recently secured a privately made donation—this was specifically gifted to support the team requirements that relate to Autonomi’s ongoing development over the next 3 years.”

If by 2026 we can achieve:

• True data permanence

• Simple, intuitive upload and download experiences (including ANT usage or a Payment Master)

• Strong public-facing communication that clearly explains the network’s fundamentals, how to use it, and the meaningful benefits it provides

—then we will be exceptionally well positioned for sustained growth.

All of this leaves me with a deep sense of optimism. I hope the team and the wider community can also see that beyond the clouds, there truly is a bright horizon. A wise person waits calmly, prepared to act when the moment arrives.

May that moment be the culmination of our shared knowledge, dedication, and passion: the Autonomi Network

[Toivo]

@feinberg

Very exciting things ahead. David just made a major commit to his Ant-QUIC Github repo (pure PQC) today, which alone is worthy of some renewed enthusiasm and an example of things to come.

Wouldn’t that lead us to a situation, where we have central piece of software that is understood and maintainable by one person only? Coded with cutting edge AI tools and meant to be used with safety critical software.

I’m not confident that it would be the best solution.

[feinberg]

I’m not so sure we haven’t always been there already to a large degree all these years. I don’t doubt that we need more hands on deck going forward, but I also don’t see how we have any other option but to keep advancing with quantum-proofing and maximizing connectivity. The recent capital injection couldn’t have come at a better time.

[jane]

I see anonymity has been removed as a listed feature on the main Autonomi web page. Why? This was supposed to be a major feature of the network.

[Toivo]

@feinberg

I also don’t see how we have any other option but to keep advancing with quantum-proofing and maximizing connectivity.

I’m not sure that maximizing connectivity is that important at the moment.

But I’m not complaining about the work done with Saorsa. I just don’t see it as a solution in the near future.

In general I’m worried about the general attitude towards the project from the management. It seems to be shifted from “it’s a clockwork, where every piece has to fit perfectly” and emphasis on privacy & security to a direction of “whatever works”, without clear view what that works mean.

I would expect things to be kind of solidifying, and being prepared for code audits etc. And having clear view on the privacy and security aspects stated out in a official manner. But it seems to me that it is just more and more creative ideas being explored. While that is great in the long run, I don’t see any clear view in the short / midterm. I don’t see things coming together as a “packaged product”, nor a roadmap to that.

Another example is a comment by David in Discord, that began as follows:

There will be a day when software crytographic attestation works. That will be explosive and will mean nodes can confirm other nodes are running exactly the code they should. No more no less.

At that time, our network, software and code is completely secure. In that space, native token or ANY software can convey any digital asset from node to node, form person to person wtih 100% integrity. No need for proof of work or stake, no blockchian, no smart contract, just pure simple software defined simple rules

So what’s wrong with that, you may ask? Well, in my view:

1. There is our leader leaning into some utopistic future scenario.
2. And starting a technical conversation in a channel we have been repeatedly told is not for technical talk.
3. And after people have engaged to that discussion, with inevitably imperfect understanding…
4. … he bows out with:

“Honestly folks, I am just confused, no slander or anything but I am lost and away back to my cave :: ::”

Yeah, well… OK.

@feinberg

The recent capital injection couldn’t have come at a better time.

That’s a great thing for sure. Let’s hope it buys as more than three years of “We are small team…”