An experimental proof-of-work cryptocurrency built around modern GPU hardware, with a long-term goal of Monero-style privacy.
DISCLAIMERTenero is currently an
experimental alpha testnet.
The project is developed by one person and has not received independent cryptographic, security, or hardware review. It should not be considered a finished cryptocurrency.
Nothing on the Tenero test network has monetary value.The network may be reset during development, and testnet coins may be lost.
The current proof-of-work is new and has
not been independently analyzed for ASIC resistance.
Tenero is inspired by CryptoNote and Monero, but it is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or part of the Monero project.
1. WHAT IS TENERO?Tenero is an open-source proof-of-work cryptocurrency written in
Rust.
The project focuses on two main areas:
- GPU-oriented proof-of-work*
* - Monero/CryptoNote-inspired transaction privacy
The first public alpha is mainly for testing the blockchain, mining algorithm, networking, and wallet software.
The goal at this stage is not to present a finished currency. The goal is to build the system, test it, find problems, and improve it.
2. PROOF-OF-WORK: MATMULHASH V2Tenero currently uses a proof-of-work algorithm called
matmulhash v2.
The algorithm is built around operations that are highly parallel and well suited to modern GPUs.
Each mining attempt:
- Uses the block header and nonce as input*
*
- Generates a 64 × 8192 INT8 matrix with ChaCha20
- Selects a 16 MiB slice from the proof-of-work dataset*
* - Performs exact integer matrix multiplication against that slice
- Folds the result into the final proof-of-work hash
Current dataset parameters:
Dataset size: 4 GiB
Number of slices: 256
Slice size: 16 MiB
Matrix: 64 × 8192 INT8
Epoch length: 100 blocks
The dataset uses a data-dependent construction and must be generated sequentially.
The intended workload combines:
GPU compute throughput and memory bandwidth
The design is aimed at modern GPUs with high memory bandwidth and hardware optimized for matrix operations.
3. ASIC RESISTANCETenero does
not claim that matmulhash v2 is ASIC-proof.
The current design is testing the following idea:
If each mining attempt requires a large memory read as well as substantial matrix computation, a specialized miner may still need a large amount of high-bandwidth memory and compute hardware to outperform commodity GPUs.
Each mining attempt reads a complete 16 MiB dataset slice.
At the current measured GPU performance, this represents hundreds of GB/s of equivalent dataset reads.
On an RTX 5070 Ti, the current CUDA implementation has measured approximately:
~33,000–36,000 attempts/sec
~550–590 GB/s equivalent slice reads
These figures come from one GPU and one system. They are not proof of ASIC resistance.
The project welcomes criticism, FPGA implementations, hardware analysis, and attempts to find more efficient ways to perform the computation.
4. NETWORK AND CONSENSUSBlock target: approximately 60 seconds
Difficulty adjustment: per block using a weighted LWMA-style calculation over the previous 30 blocks
Starting reward: 20 TNR
Halving interval: 525,600 blocks
Main emission: 20,000,000 TNR
Tail emission: 0.5 TNR per block
Premine: none
The alpha genesis block creates no premine. Coins on the network are created through proof-of-work mining.
Block size uses a dynamic median-based model with a penalty for oversized blocks, following design ideas used by Monero.
5. PRIVACYThe long-term privacy design is inspired by CryptoNote and Monero.
The planned transaction system includes:
*
- Ring size 16
- Pedersen commitments*
*
- Bulletproofs+
- Hidden transaction amounts
The current alpha wallet is
not Monero-level private.
It currently uses an interim CryptoNote-style output scheme while development continues toward the planned privacy architecture.
The current implementation does not yet provide all of the protections intended for the final design.
The cryptographic implementation is also unaudited.
6. NETWORKINGTenero uses a peer-to-peer network for blocks and transactions.
Peer communication currently uses an encrypted channel based on the
Noise protocol.
The alpha network includes a built-in seed server for peer discovery.
The long-term goal is to support multiple independently operated seed nodes and a more decentralized network bootstrap process.
The current alpha network is small and experimental.
7. SOFTWAREThe current release includes:
- tenerod — Tenero full node*
* - tenero-miner — GPU/CPU miner
- tenero-wallet — command-line wallet*
* - tenero-wallet-gui — graphical wallet
- tenero-seedcheck — seed verification utility
The GPU miner currently supports
NVIDIA GPUs through CUDA.
The GPU implementation uses CUDA, NVRTC, and cuBLASLt.
AMD GPU mining is not currently implemented. Alternative miner implementations are welcome.
8. CURRENT TEST STATUSThe project currently includes:
- Rust node and blockchain implementation*
*
- GPU and CPU mining
- CLI and GUI wallets*
*
- Encrypted P2P networking
- Independent Python reference implementation*
*
- Consensus test vectors
- Fuzzing targets*
*
- Approximately 900+ automated tests
The Rust implementation is checked against the independent Python reference implementation for bit-for-bit agreement on the relevant consensus and proof-of-work calculations.
The current alpha network has been run across Windows and Linux nodes, with proof-of-work being produced and independently verified by the nodes.
The network is still very small and has not been subjected to large-scale testing.
9. HARDWARE AND MINING REQUIREMENTSGPU mining:NVIDIA GPU
CUDA Toolkit 13.x
Approximately 4 GiB of GPU dataset storage is required. Additional memory is used by the mining process.
Only a limited number of GPU configurations have been tested, so compatibility with other cards should be considered experimental.
CPU mining:CPU mining is supported but is currently impractical compared with GPU mining.
Tenero is intended as a GPU-focused proof-of-work experiment.
10. DOWNLOADLatest releases:
https://github.com/zad112/Tenero/releases
The releases currently provide Windows and Linux packages.
The binaries are not code-signed.
Verify the SHA-256 checksum before running downloaded binaries.Users who prefer to verify the code themselves can build the project from source.
Source:
https://github.com/zad112/Tenero
11. BUILD FROM SOURCETenero is written in Rust.
Basic source build commands:
cargo build --release
cargo test --workspace
The repository contains the consensus specification, test vectors, benchmark information, threat model, network documentation, and testing documentation.
12. ROADMAPCURRENT: PUBLIC ALPHA TESTNETThe current phase is focused on public testing of the node, miner, wallets, networking, consensus, and proof-of-work.
The alpha period is intended to identify and fix issues before the permanent network launches.
NOVEMBER 1, 2026: PERMANENT MAINNETThe current plan is to launch the
permanent Tenero mainnet on November 1, 2026.
The mainnet launch is intended to mark the transition from the experimental alpha network to the permanent Tenero network.
Before launch, the priorities are:
- Expand public network testing*
*
- Test additional GPU architectures
- Improve mining performance and stability*
*
- Improve peer discovery and network resilience
- Continue consensus and security testing*
*
- Expand documentation
- Resolve known critical issues*
*
- Prepare the permanent mainnet genesis and network parameters
Longer-term development- Replace the interim wallet output system with the planned Carrot-based design*
*
- Continue privacy development
- Expand independent node and seed infrastructure*
*
- Encourage third-party miners and alternative implementations
- Pursue independent cryptographic and proof-of-work review
The November 1, 2026 mainnet date is the current target and may change if a critical security or consensus issue is discovered before launch.
13. COMMUNITY AND DISCUSSIONGitHub Discussions:
https://github.com/zad112/Tenero/discussions
Reddit: r/Tenero
https://www.reddit.com/r/Tenero/
Discord:
https://discord.gg/QzfqaGDVcm
Use the community channels for:
*
- Hardware testing
- Bug reports*
*
- Technical questions
- Protocol discussion*
*
- Suggestions
- Development discussion
For security vulnerabilities, use the repository's private vulnerability reporting instead of publicly posting sensitive exploit details.
14. LINKSGitHub:
https://github.com/zad112/Tenero
Releases:
https://github.com/zad112/Tenero/releases
GitHub Discussions:
https://github.com/zad112/Tenero/discussions
Reddit:
https://www.reddit.com/r/Tenero/
Discord:
https://discord.gg/QzfqaGDVcm
Consensus specification:
https://github.com/zad112/Tenero/blob/main/docs/CONSENSUS.md
Benchmarks:
https://github.com/zad112/Tenero/blob/main/docs/BENCHMARKS.md
Threat model:
https://github.com/zad112/Tenero/blob/main/docs/THREAT_MODEL.md
TESTNET → MAINNET
PUBLIC ALPHA TESTNET
Current phase: testing, benchmarking, bug fixing, and network development.
PERMANENT MAINNET — NOVEMBER 1, 2026
Nothing on the current testnet has monetary value.
The testnet may be reset.
The software is unaudited.
The proof-of-work is experimental.
There is no premine and no coin sale.
Do not treat the current testnet as an investment.
The current objective is simple:
Build it. Mine it. Test it. Break it. Improve it.
Then, if the network is ready:
Launch it.
Feedback, benchmarks, criticism, code review, hardware analysis, and bug reports are welcome.
