Rocket Pool node operators utilized their Smart Node Upgrade POAPs they had earned from January to April 2024 for a chance to win RPL tokens and their name featured on the commemorative POAP. woh.eth, deukey.eth, corethereum.eth, and haloooloolo.eth were victorious during the raffle! This POAP was given to all raffle participants.

All clients have been updated to their latest Dencun-ready versions, including Geth (v1.13.11), Besu (v24.1.1), Nethermind (v1.25.3), Nimbus (v24.2.0 with regression fixes from v24.1.2), Lodestar (v1.15.0), Teku (v24.1.1), Prysm (v4.2.1, causing potential failures on certain older CPUs without AVX support on Holeski testnet after Deneb fork, but not affecting Mainnet), and Lighthouse (v4.6.0, a medium-priority release with new features, performance enhancements, and bug fixes for Mainnet users). Smartnode changes include Nimbus pruning mode defaulting to "Prune" for new users, with existing users needing manual configuration via rocketpool service config. The deprecated Prater testnet has been entirely removed from Smartnode, and Nethermind's automatic pruning threshold increased from 250 GB to 300 GB. Rocket Pool node operators that updated their software within 24 hours received this POAP.

In this Smartnode update, Geth has been hotfixed to v1.13.8 to address a regression impacting v1.13.6 and v1.13.7. Besu is now at v23.10.3-hotfix, fixing a bug on the mainnet at block 18947893, while Nimbus is updated to v24.1.1 to resolve an issue introduced in v24.1.0. Smartnode changes include the implementation of RPIP-30 rewards calculation changes starting at interval 18. Notably, the update removes the web3.storage dependency and introduces a new "Rewards Tree Custom Download URLs" configuration field. Smartnodes will automatically download missing rewards tree files from trusted sources, but users can now specify additional sources. The update also eliminates the envsubst dependency, adopting a new standard for template files with credit to the contributor Patches. Rocket Pool node operators that updated their software within 24 hours received this POAP.

In 2023, Rocket Pool node operators actively engaged in prompt smart node updates to qualify for a POAP. These timely upgrades not only facilitated the testing of new software but also motivated node operators to ensure the continuous maintenance of their nodes. Node operators used their POAPs to enter a raffle to crown a champion. [object Object] was victorious and was awarded 5 RPL and his name on the POAP. This POAP was awarded to all raffle participants.