X1 revolutionizes blockchain technology by integrating a hybrid Proof of Work (PoW) and Proof of Stake (PoS) consensus model, combining the best of both systems. This unique design enhances decentralization, security, and scalability, achieving lightning-fast transactions without compromising on network integrity. By merging the decentralized mining of PoW with PoS’s performance-driven validator selection, X1 delivers unparalleled efficiency, setting a new standard for blockchain performance and innovation. In this article, we describe X1’s consensus model, its improvements over existing frameworks like Solana, Ethereum, and Bitcoin, its novel approaches, and the broader implications for the blockchain industry.
The X1 Consensus Mechanism: A Hybrid Approach
X1’s consensus algorithm represents a hybrid system that merges PoW and PoS components, leveraging the benefits of both while mitigating their individual weaknesses. At its core, X1 utilizes XenBlocks for PoW and a Solana-inspired PoS, united by a decentralized hash verification system, creating a more robust and versatile blockchain infrastructure.
PoS Component Based on Solana
The PoS segment of X1 draws heavily from Solana’s design, which is renowned for its high throughput and low latency. Solana’s PoS system relies on validators who are selected based on their stake in the network. Validators are incentivized to act honestly as their staked assets are at risk in case of fraudulent behavior. Solana’s approach eliminates the need for a traditional mempool, allowing transactions to be sent directly to a leader validator who is responsible for processing and producing blocks.
X1 enhances this system by introducing a merit-based leader selection process. Unlike Solana, which primarily considers stake weight, X1 incorporates performance metrics into its validator selection. This means that validators can’t just buy their way in based on their stake but they also are evaluated based on their historical performance and reliability. This innovation aims to ensure that only high-performing validators are selected as leaders, reducing the chances of network inefficiencies and improving overall execution.
PoW Component Based on XenBlocks
X1’s PoW component, XenBlocks, is based on a memory-hard and quantum-resistant hashing algorithm, specifically Argon2id. Unlike traditional PoW systems that rely heavily on computational power, XenBlocks demands significant memory resources. This approach aims to reduce the advantage of specialized mining hardware, such as ASICs, which have dominated traditional PoW networks like Bitcoin.
Argon2id imposes substantial memory requirements, making it more resistant to attacks from powerful mining rigs. This design choice ensures a more decentralized mining process, allowing a broader range of participants to contribute to network security with minimum requirements compared to other PoW-based blockchains. The memory-hard nature of XenBlocks also contributes to energy efficiency, as it reduces the reliance on purely computational power. The mechanism of difficulty adjustment in Xenblocks has been specifically designed with a cap on the quantity of the global hashrate that can be achieved at any given moment. This cap is fixed at approximately 10 million hashes per second (10,000 K-hash/s). Difficulty rises proportionately to the miners joining the network exercising always more power on memory rather than on computational tasks, decreasing the need for electric energy.
The X1 voter and hash verifier
X1 hash injection and verification utilizes X1 Blockchain’s Layer 2 (L2) compressed rollup technology to efficiently bundle and inscribe hashes into the blockchain. Miners generate hashes, which are compressed and organized by everyone’s sequencer node, then submitted for decentralized verification. This process allows verifiers—anyone with a CPU (phone or laptop)—to participate by validating the hashes using a Distributed Controller smart contract, earning XN (native gas) as a reward. The system is highly efficient, handling up to 30,000 transactions per second (TPS) with significantly reduced gas fees and transaction times. By enabling permissionless, decentralized verification, the X1 network effectively merges Xenblocks and X1 and enhances scalability, reduces costs, and promotes broader participation while maintaining transaction integrity.
Enhancements and Innovations in X1
X1 introduces several key innovations over existing blockchain technologies, particularly in its adaptation and improvement of Solana’s codebase.
Dynamic Thread Scaling
One of the significant improvements in X1 is its dynamically scaling execution scheduler. This feature optimizes the utilization of modern multi-core processors by adjusting the number of banking threads according to the available CPU cores on a node. For example, a node with a 32-core processor can utilize up to 32 banking threads instead of just 6, greatly enhancing transaction processing capacity.
This adaptive thread allocation allows X1 to maximize parallel transaction processing, reducing bottlenecks associated with limited thread counts. As a result, transaction throughput increases, and confirmation times are minimized, particularly under high network loads. This dynamic scaling also future-proofs X1 by aligning with advancements in hardware technology, ensuring continued scalability as processor capabilities evolve.
Performance-Based Leader Selection
Solana’s leader election mechanism primarily relies on stake weight, which can sometimes result in inefficiencies when high-stake validators have poor performance. They can’t be rejected by the newtork, which reflects negatively by slowing down the operations. X1 addresses this issue by introducing performance-based criteria into its leader selection process. Validators are evaluated not only on their stake but also on their historical performance, ensuring that only capable validators are selected as leaders.
This performance-based approach aims to reduce the incidence of skipped slots and slowdowns caused by poorly performing validators. By incorporating both stake weight and performance metrics, X1 enhances the overall efficiency and reliability of its network, providing a more robust and responsive blockchain environment.
Scaling Through Reductionism
Most blockchains, like Bitcoin or Ethereum, adopt the Nakamoto style of consensus, where transactions are processed synchronously, leading to bottlenecks and high gas fees in times of peak demand. Fantom and Solana improved on that by adopting asynchronous block voting mechanisms; however, this method is a limitation in itself as it leads to scalability issues when more nodes join the network. ⅔ of all the nodes need to confirm transactions, which results in overhead with the growing number of nodes. Fantom solves this by having high validator costs for creating new validators and Solana by concentrating the stake. Both processes lead to centralization.
X1 addresses the complexity of consensus operations by employing subcommittees for voting and validation processes, which significantly reduces communication overhead and computational load. X1 introduces a concept borrowed from the HotStuX2 consensus model based on the subcommittee voting (x) mechanism to streamline consensus operations with an unlimited number of nodes (n) and maintain a constant time complexity, O(1), regardless of the number of nodes. By selecting smaller subsets of nodes for voting, X1 ensures faster consensus and improved scalability, addressing the inefficiencies of traditional consensus models. This improvement ensures that X1 can remain stable, performant, and scale indefinitely without experiencing bottlenecks when more nodes join the network.
Global and Dynamic Fee Market
X1 introduces a global fee market mechanism combined with dynamic fee scaling to address limitations in Solana’s fee structure. Solana’s current model has static base fees and a lack of global fee adjustment, leading to spam transactions, network congestion, failed transactions, and suboptimal resource allocation. This often reflects in a poor quality of service, especially under high demand for block space.
X1 innovates in the area of fees, introducing novel solutions to Solna’s original design. X1 eliminates the local fee market with a flat base fee of 5000 lamports and makes it global while also lowering it to 500 lamports and making it dynamic. This dynamic base fee adjusts based on the network’s overall load, which prioritizes only high-priority transactions in times of heightened demand. The innovation in X1 is a global block Compute Unit (CU) accounting system that continuously monitors the network’s total compute load, allowing transaction fees to scale in response to real-time usage. This dynamic fee scaling mechanism, inspired by Ethereum’s EIP-1559 model, helps prevent congestion and ensures efficient resource allocation by adjusting fees based on network conditions.
Lattice-based homomorphic encryption
Lattice-based homomorphic encryption is another critical feature of X1, enhancing data privacy and security, and it’s the holy grail of cryptography. As we move towards a more connected and data-driven world, lattice-based cryptography and homomorphic encryption will become the standard, as they’re key elements in ensuring post-quantum security.
The shift to lattice-based cryptography isn’t just about staying ahead of quantum threats. It’s about building a secure, privacy-respecting foundation for all digital interactions. This tech is set to redefine how we interact online. Homomorphic encryption method allows computations to be performed on encrypted data without decrypting it first. The results of these computations, when decrypted, match those obtained from processing the original unencrypted data. This means that encrypted data can be processed and analyzed without exposing sensitive information, making it particularly useful in collaborative environments and for compliance with data privacy regulations. Homomorphic encryption offers several advantages, including privacy preservation, security enhancement, and regulatory compliance.
X1’s use of homomorphic encryption supports a wide range of use cases, such as encrypted on-chain intents, private governance, and censorship-resistant applications. The encryption’s efficiency, with linear bandwidth scaling and quick decryption times, ensures that it can be integrated effectively into blockchain operations. Blockchains are usually completely transparent, which makes them difficult to adopt in an enterprise setting where data privacy is desired. The integration of homomorphic encryption distinguishes X1 from other networks and makes it particularly useful to trading dapps builders for limit orders, stop-loss orders, or programmable trading implementation, bad-MEV protection, private governance, censorship, and front-running resistant shared sequencing, rollups, on-chain gaming, legal contracts, private data processing, randomness generation oracles, and any scenario where transparent information limits the use of a decentralized application.
— ⓧ Cyphereus Prime 🛞X1 (@mrJackLevin) August 25, 2024
Energy efficiency
Energy efficiency is a crucial consideration for blockchain networks, particularly those utilizing PoW. Traditional PoW algorithms, such as those used in Bitcoin, are notorious for their high energy consumption. X1’s PoW component, based on XenBlocks, offers a more energy-efficient alternative by focusing on memory-hard tasks rather than pure computational power.
The memory-hard nature of XenBlocks minimizes reliance on energy-intensive hardware like ASICs, promoting a more sustainable mining process. This aligns with growing concerns about the environmental impact of blockchain technologies, demonstrating X1’s commitment to energy efficiency.
Quantum resistance
As quantum computing technology advances, the need for quantum-resistant algorithms becomes increasingly important. X1’s use of the Argon2id hashing algorithm provides inherent resistance to quantum attacks due to its memory-hard design. This characteristic makes it more robust against potential threats posed by quantum computing, ensuring the long-term security of the blockchain.
Restaking
Although restaking program is not part of the technical improvement, it constitutes an important part in bridging the networks, providing yield, and increasing X1’s adoption. Restaking incentivizes jitoSOL stakers on Solana to stake their coins on the source chain and be able to earn yield both on Solana and X1. Stakers on Ethereum have the option to stake their ETH for xETH on X1 to earn yield in XN.
Democratization of access
X1 was designed as a chain besed on first principles and domocratization of access both for users and the validators. High hardware and staking requirements are often what hinders a broad adoption and X1 is changing that by allowing anyone with a GPU to mine, participate in hash verification with a simple computer or a phone or run a validator by staking just a few SOL. By lowering the barrier to entry for new validators X1 increases decentralization and network security. By removing stake weight and the introduction of credits to reach a minimum threshold to be able to obtain yield only the most performant nodes are rewarded for work and the underperforming nodes are automatically downgraded. This mechanism makes sure that no one can just buy their way in through a high stake or a vanity metric.
Conclusion
X1 represents a significant advancement in blockchain technology, combining the strengths of PoW and PoS systems while introducing several innovative features. Its hybrid consensus model, incorporating XenBlocks and a Solana-inspired PoS framework, offers enhanced security, scalability, and efficiency. Key improvements, such as dynamic thread scaling, performance-based leader selection, and global fee markets, address the limitations of existing blockchain systems and pave the way for a more robust and adaptable network. X1 was created to be capable of withstanding time and fast technological changes. It’s highly flexible and adaptable to new hardware production, mass user adoption, and regulatory requirements. With its focus on energy efficiency, quantum resistance, and advanced encryption techniques, X1 sets a new standard for blockchain technology.
Resources:
