[ANN] Venera - PoW/Sharded ZK-SNARK backed PoS stablecoin payment layer

VENERA - A proof-of-work stablecoin ecosystem morphing into on a Layer1 zk-Proof-Backed Sharded Blockchain for Scalable and Decentralized Computation

The ecosystem is structured into two main layers:

1. The Venera PoW Layer – where VNR operates as a privacy-focused, Proof-of-Work cryptocurrency that provides the collateral base for stablecoins. These stablecoins are minted through an overcollateralized Proof-of-Work mechanism, ensuring stability and security.

2. The Venera Payment Layer – a sharded Proof-of-Stake blockchain designed for high-throughput settlement with the help of ZK-SNARKs. This layer1 will enable scalable stablecoin payments, fast transaction finality and settlement of VNR-backed assets.

Whitepaper: https://veneralabs.org/whitepaper

The Venera PoW Layer
The Venera Proof-of-Work layer is the foundation of the VNR token lying at the core of the ecosystem. This consensus mechanism was chosen due to its superior decentralization capability for a foundational layer, allowing anyone with a device capable of performing computation to become part of the distributed network. The codebase derives from the Cryptonote protocol and Monero.

Venera is not just a project; it is a process of evolution. The Cryptonote foundational base serves as the starting point, providing strong privacy and fungibility in the early phase of the network. From this foundation, Venera expands into a broader ecosystem centered around USDV and EURV, an overcollateralized stablecoin backed by VNR. Over time, the ecosystem evolves further with the introduction of the Venera Payment Layer, a sharded ZK-Proof Proof-of-Stake chain that enables scalable stablecoin settlements, high-throughput transactions, and privacy-preserving payments.

VNR (PoW) Tokenomics:
96,000,000 maximum supply + 2.5 VNR per block tail emission
7,500,000 genesis block allocation paritioned as follows:
• 2,000,000 allocated for fundraising token sales for venture capital or angel investors (or mining buybacks, read below)
• 3,000,000 to fuel staking rewards with up to 20% APY
• 750,000 development allocation
• 1,000,000 collateral emergency reserve
• 750,000 reward incentives
Block time: 60 seconds
Ticker: VNR
Algorithm: RandomX
Block Rewards: 70% miners, 30% Vault (necessary to keep social incentives and staking yields as genesis allocation gets distributed)

Our goal is to exhaust genesis funds by distributing them through various incentives.
The view keys to the Vault Wallets are available in our Discord server.

The Venera Payment Layer
The Venera Payment Layer is a Layer 1, sharded Proof-of-Stake blockchain using zk-SNARK proofs to enable scalable and verifiable transaction settlement set to launch in 2026. Validators process transactions in parallel within shards, with rotating leaders generating succinct proofs. Cross-shard verification is handled by a subset of shard leaders, ensuring atomic transfers and preventing double-spends without the need for a central beacon chain and data availability committees ensure rapid finality without full re-execution. The payment layer is tailored for VNR-backed stablecoins (USDV, EURV), providing a high-throughput, secure, and verifiable payment layer for decentralized finance and peer-to-peer transactions, with VNR serving as the native gas token to power transaction execution, block validation, and zk-proof verification. VNR tokens on the Proof-of-Stake chain have no total supply limit and inflation control mechanisms are kept in mind. Our protocol design localizes and isolates potential Eclipse attacks without affecting the global consensus or cause double-spends.

EURV and USDV Collateral Model
Once the Venera Payment Layer launches, users can mint and redeem USDV and EURV stablecoins using PoW-mined VNR as primary collateral. PoS-earned VNR, generated as block rewards, cannot be used directly for stablecoin minting initially, preventing inflation from destabilizing the peg. PoS VNR serves as the native gas token and validator incentive, creating real network demand without affecting stablecoin backing. If minting with PoS VNR is later enabled, it will be strictly controlled: only a discounted fraction of its value counts, or it must be time-locked, and the DEX dynamically calculates the maximum mintable stablecoins from the PoS pool based on current locked amounts, VNR price, and target collateral ratio. Redemption prioritizes PoW VNR first, ensuring that even if PoS supply inflates or market volatility occurs, the stablecoin remains fully backed.

Starting in 2026 Venera Labs will begin issuing Venera Prepaid Cards in EURV or USDV and Point-of-Sale payment terminals.

Links:
🌎 Website: https://veneralabs.org/
💼 Wallet: https://wallet.veneralabs.org/
🖥️ Github: https://github.com/veneraproject (closed until Layer1 development starts/during fundraiser)
🔄 Exchange: https://app.veneralabs.org/

🐦 Twitter/X: https://x.com/VeneraLabs
👥 Discord: https://discord.gg/TWeJP7UYvy
👥 Telegram: https://t.me/VeneraLabs

Mining:
Mining will be done through our Adaptive-Algo Venera Pool. The pool uses a modified xmrig-proxy as codebase with additional code to allow partitioning to mine multiple altcoins in parallel, or merge mined if compatible, on average yielding a higher return than mining most CPU PoW coins directly.
The pool uses profitable altcoins mined as liquidity to issue VNR buybacks on our exchange and pay out miners in USDT alongside VNR, in equal 1/1 proportion between buybacks and payouts.

The Pool only mines Venera PoW mainnet blocks periodically to process VNR payouts. The VNR paid is calculated based on flex-hashrate contribution and funds are drawn from The Vault. Users will be able to run their own nodes and pools once the fundraiser is over, as mentioned previously, the project is a gradual process from launch to final form.

⛏️ Pool: https://pool.veneralabs.org/

⛏️ Payout interval: 15 minutes
⛏️ Payout assets: VNR and USDT

Venera Exchange:
Our exchange supports instant swaps and limit orders with NO KYC, NO E-mail, only a Venera seed phrase.
Users can fund their VNR and USDT spot balances through the Venera Wallet. This Spot Balance will reflect on the exchange. It takes a few clicks to choose amount to transfer to Trading Balance in order to be able to place limit orders. The spot USDT balance does not use a centralized wallet, meaning users may restore their balance to apps like Trust Wallet.

USDT deposits/withdrawals are on Binance Smart Chain because of low fees, with TRC-20 and ERC-20 planned for integration. This means users need to deposit a small BNB amount to the same address within the Venera Wallet, generally a few cents, to pay for gas fees.

Other assets like XMR, ETH, BTC, LTC and many others will be listed in the future.

Important Note:
There are different stages for everyone to join Venera.
Small mining farms with low profitability due to costs cannot afford speculative mining. It's up to each miner to decide, our Venera Adaptive-Algo Pool can offset costs with USDT payouts, however, it depends on every miner's costs.
Venera is meant to evolve, therefore not every stage will be convenient or liked by everyone, from the initial distribution, to Proof-of-Work being phased out in favor of Proof-of-Stake.
The Venera PoW layer source code will remain closed until the fundraiser is over. This codebase contains only minor modifications from its Cryptonote/Monero origin. The Payment Layer will be built, funded and audited in public.

All future updates will be posted in this thread.
Enjoy your stay and happy mining to all :-)
- Yaron Kozak, Head of Development @ Venera Labs

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