[ANN][XKN] Krona Payment Network

Krona Payment Network
A decentralized payment network built for
instant Peer-to-Peer transactions

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The Next-Gen Cryptocurrency

Krona's XKN Ledger is a slightly different take on Satoshi's brilliant Bitcoin white paper, sharing the same principles and ideology as BTC: a decentralized Peer-to-Peer cash system; but running on a state-of-the-art consensus algorithm that allows for near instant transaction settlement time, on-chain governance with an election system, and a mechanism that assures a egalitarian token distribution. The project should be completely decentralized in its development and on-chain governance, with no ICO fund raising or pre-mined coins.

Krona’s XKN Ledger is a state-of-the-art blockchain
Unique egalitarian token distribution mechanism through RandomX proof-of-work
Unique dBFT (delegated byzantine fault tolerant) consensus algorithm with on-chain governance built-in
Near instant transaction settlement
Built from the ground up as a global decentralized payment network

The XKN Ledger is a next-gen blockchain because it uses the best of both worlds in regards to consensus algorithm and token distribution strategy in a never-seen-before fashion; combining the instant transactions from the dBFT consensus with the egalitarian and decentralized nature of RandomX proof-of-work for token distribution.

XKN Ledger

Delegated Byzantine Fault Tolerant (dBFT 2.0) consensus algorithm
5 seconds transaction settlement time
One block finality: transactions are confirmed and irreversible once they’re put into a block
Optional transaction fees; adding fee would make it higher priority
Transaction scripting with Smart Contracts
21,000,000 Kronas (XKN) maximum supply
Kronas (XKN) has 8 decimal places

Consensus Algorithm

Like all distributed systems, blockchain systems are challenged with network latency, transmission errors, software bugs, security loopholes and black-hat hacker threats. Moreover, its decentralized nature suggests that no participant of the system cannot be trusted. Malicious nodes may emerge, so does data difference due to conflicting interests.

To counter these potential errors, a blockchain system is in need of an efficient consensus mechanism to ensure that every node has a copy of a recognized version of the total ledger. Traditional fault tolerance mechanisms concerning certain problems may not be completely capable of tackling the issue that distributed and blockchain systems are faced with. A universal cure-to-all fault tolerance solution is in need.

Proof-of-Work mechanism, employed by the Bitcoin, addresses this issue rather brilliantly. But it comes with an obvious price, i.e. significant electricity cost and long transaction times. Further, with Bitcoin’s existence, new blockchains must find different hashing algorithms, so as to prevent computational attacks from it. For example, Litecoin adopts SCRYPT, rather than Bitcoin’s SHA256.

Byzantine Fault Tolerance mechanism is a universal solution for distributed systems. XKN Ledger proposes dBFT 2.0 (Delegated Byzantine Fault Tolerance) consensus algorithm based on PBFT (Practical Byzantine Fault Tolerance) algorithm, also used by Neo blockchain. The algorithm determines validator set according to real-time blockchain voting, which effectively enhances the effectiveness of the algorithm, bringing block time and transaction confirmation time savings with a 3-stage consensus as well as a recovery mechanism.

Network nodes can be classified in four groups: Regular, Standby, Candidate and Consensus Nodes

Regular Nodes

Most common nodes in the network
Used by exchanges, service providers, custodial wallets, and regular users that want to run their own copy of the blockchain
Mainly responsible for interacting with the blockchain by sending & receiving transactions, and computing the wallet balance in the Krona Payment Network
Does not contribute with network consensus

Standby Nodes

The first set of nodes present in the network during genesis
Contribute to consensus during the early stages of the network
A predefined set of contributors will be given the right to run a Standby node; defined prior to the network launch

Who has the right to run a Standby node?

Top 5 GitHub contributors from now until the mainnet launch
Top 10 donors to the Krona project from now until the mainnet launch

Candidate Nodes

Nodes willing to contribute with the network consensus
Not yet contributing to consensus; needs on-chain governance approval through Krona’s unique Election Mechanism
Anyone can vote, at anytime, with their Kronas (XKN) into a set of Candidate Nodes they feel deserves to participate in the network consensus

Consensus Nodes

Nodes effectively contributing with network consensus by validating transactions through the dBFT 2.0 consensus algorithm
Earn rewards in Krona (XKN) based on our unique distribution system
Must have 24/7 server availability to assure healthy transaction times. Gets gradually penalised if fails to contribute to consensus due to network inactivity or as a byzantine node

Election Mechanism

Anyone can apply as a Validator Candidate by paying an entry fee to the network and a decentralized election mechanism defines the next set of Consensus Nodes, in real time.

Consensus Nodes have the power to decide on the network transaction fees, maximum transaction per block and other variables. However, they can not change the election rules or the Validator Candidate entry fee for example.

Anyone can vote into a specific or set of Validator Candidates of their choice by allocating XKN to them, the vote weight being proportional to the amount of XKNs in the voter’s wallet. Funds never leaves your wallet when you vote, but spending the XKNs used to vote with removes your vote on the Validator Candidates by a proportional amount of XKNs being spent.

The election mechanism runs in real time, per block, assuring that the list of Consensus Nodes is always changing based on the network choice. This guarantee competitiveness among Consensus Nodes to provide the best user experience possible and punishes the ones with bad reputation.

Token Distribution

Egalitarian token distribution, anyone can participate in the distribution, at anytime. No Initial Coin Offerings (ICO) or pre-mined coins.

Distribution works by solving a RandomX Proof-of-Work problem every 60 blocks (approx. 5 minutes)

The problem is based on a key block hash and changes once someone finds a solution
The first to submit the PoW solution to the network gets a reward in Kronas (XKN)
75% of the reward goes to the user that solved the PoW problem
25% of the reward is split among all Consensus Nodes in the network
The difficulty of the RandomX PoW problem varies accordingly to maintain a constant emission of rewards every 5 minutes, on average

The token distribution phase should take 4 years to complete, with the maximum supply of 21,000,000 Kronas (XKN) in circulation by the end of the distribution phase.

Krona Development

The Krona Payment Network is already under advanced development.

What’s already done:

XKN Ledger with dBFT 2.0 consensus algorithm, and election mechanism
XKNL-VM to interpret Smart Contracts
Krona Wallet; a multiplatform GUI wallet

What’s still under development:

Token distribution through RandomX proof-of-work
Enhance election mechanism to apply penalties to Consensus Nodes with bad uptime and other undesirable behaviours

Mainnet expected to launch by late 2021

Contribute to Krona Payment Network

Technical contribution

Contribute to Krona project by heading to our GitHub page

Monetary Contribution to fund development

Donate to one of our donation addresses bellow to contribute with Krona development
Top 10 donors will be given the right to run Standby nodes at mainnet launch; 25% of the maximum supply of 21M will be split between the Standby/Consensus nodes during the 4-year token distribution phase

Links
Krona website: https://xknl.org
GitHub: https://github.com/krona-project/krona
Reddit: https://reddit.com/r/XKNLedger
Twitter: https://twitter.com/XKNLedger