Conflux is a first-layer hybrid blockchain utilizing PoW and PoS consensus, designed for decentralized applications requiring high speed and scalability without compromising decentralization. The network was founded by Fan Long, Ming Wu, and Yuanjie Zhang. ^[1]

Overview

Conflux is a public blockchain known for its high performance, novel consensus mechanism, and dual-space design, which is suitable for decentralized finance and gaming applications. The hybrid consensus mechanism of Conflux combines Proof of Work (PoW) and Proof of Stake (PoS) to ensure security, high throughput, and decentralization. The PoW consensus uses the Tree-Graph ledger structure and GHAST algorithm, achieving up to 3,000 transactions per second (TPS) with confirmation times within 1 minute, maintaining decentralization comparable to Bitcoin and Ethereum. The PoS consensus provides network finality, reducing the risk of a 51% attack and allowing Conflux to handle numerous transactions efficiently. ^[5]

Conflux has two spaces: Conflux Core Space and Conflux eSpace. The Core Space utilizes the hybrid consensus mechanism and includes a contract sponsorship feature, enabling users to interact with contracts without needing a balance. The eSpace is compatible with the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM), allowing developers to migrate Ethereum smart contracts to Conflux eSpace and benefit from its performance and scalability. The CrossSpaceCall contract enables communication and atomic operations between Core Space and Space. ^[5]

Technology

Spaces

The Conflux v2.0 (Hydra) upgrade introduced Spaces through a CIP-90 governance proposal. Spaces is an abstract concept used to distinguish Conflux-format transactions from Ethereum-format transactions. It allows for the virtual creation of a sub-chain of the original Conflux network, known as Space. Core Space refers to the original Conflux network, while eSpace is a virtualized Ethereum chain running on top of Core Space. The two spaces are logically independent and do not affect each other. ^[6]

Spaces can be considered a virtualization technology, whereas eSpace is a virtualized Ethereum chain operating on Conflux. This setup reduces migration costs for projects and users and provides the benefits of Conflux’s low fees and high TPS. ^[6]

Core Space

Conflux Core Space is the native space of the Conflux network. It features a Tree-Graph ledger structure and consensus algorithm that performs better than Bitcoin and Ethereum without sacrificing decentralization. This supports the development of the Conflux ecosystem. ^[6]

Core Space is a smart contract platform that evolved from EVM. It allows development using Solidity with various optimizations, including contract administration and transaction fee sponsorship mechanisms. Core Space also includes built-in contracts for PoS staking, cross-space communication, and on-chain governance. The account address format in Core Space uses base32 encoding, which is different from Ethereum addresses, and provides unique JSON-RPC interfaces. Interaction with Conflux Core Space requires proprietary wallets and SDKs. ^[6]

eSpace

Conflux eSpace is a fully EVM-compatible chain of Conflux with lower gas fees and higher TPS than Ethereum, independent of Core Space. The experience of eSpace for developers and users is similar to Ethereum. Ethereum dApps can be deployed to eSpace without modification. Ethereum development tools (Remix, Hardhat, Foundry), SDKs (ethers.js, viem, web3.py), wallets (Metamask, Taho), and services (TheGraph) can be directly used in Space. ^[6]

eSpace functions similarly to BSC, Polygon, or Aurora for Ethereum developers. Core Space and eSpace share the same ledger for data storage, with transactions from both spaces in a single block but distinguished by their encoding. Each space operates independently with its transactions, account statuses, and contracts, while an internal bridge allows for specific atomic calls between the two spaces. ^[6]

Bitcoin Layer 2 (BTC L2)

In January 2024, Conflux Network introduced an EVM-compatible Bitcoin Layer 2 solution, leveraging Bitcoin’s strengths and integrating features like PoS-based staking. This enhances interoperability between blockchains and provides more channels for interacting with decentralized applications. ^[7]

The PoS consensus infrastructure, with over 300 nodes, uses Verifiable Secret Sharing (VSS)-based key sharing for decentralized BTC asset management. It distributes responsibilities across nodes to enhance security and prevent single points of failure. The PoS consensus protocol records the root hash of the latest ledger state onto the Bitcoin network. It is a reliable Bitcoin Oracle that provides blockchain-related metadata through internal contracts. This allows on-chain contracts to access events on the Bitcoin blockchain. ^[7]

With EVM compatibility, Conflux enables seamless management of Bitcoin-based assets like BTC and xRC20 tokens through smart contracts. It supports decentralized finance (DeFi) and blockchain applications, including complex financial instruments, yield-generating protocols, and interactive gaming experiences. ^[7]

Proof of Work (PoW)

Conflux employs the PoW consensus mechanism for network security. Utilizing the Tree-Graph ledger structure and the GHAST chain selection rule, Conflux maintains the same level of decentralization and security as Bitcoin and Ethereum while achieving significantly higher transaction throughput and reduced confirmation latency. ^[8]

Tree-Graph

Conflux's core is the Tree-Graph ledger structure and the GHAST chain selection rule. In distributed ledgers, handling concurrent blocks, or forks, is essential. Traditional blockchains like Bitcoin and Ethereum use the longest chain rule to select one fork and discard the rest, which does not contribute to security or throughput. This creates a conflict between scalability and security. Conflux addresses this by incorporating all concurrent blocks into its ledger, enhancing security and performance. Conflux replaces the longest chain rule with the GHAST chain selection rule, which selects a fork based on the mining power working on its subtree rather than just on a chain, making the selection more robust. This allows for a block creation rate of up to 2 blocks per second and can withstand liveness attacks. ^[9]

The Tree-Graph ledger structure in Conflux features each block having a single parent edge and a list of reference edges to previous blocks, introducing new information about the before-after relationship between blocks. This structure, a directed tree embedded within a DAG, is named Tree-Graph. To process transactions, Conflux first selects a pivot chain in the Tree-Graph using GHAST. Then, it orders the ledger into a linear sequence of blocks using the pivot chain and reference edges, and finally, it executes transactions following this linear order. ^[9]

GHAST (Greedy-Heaviest-Adaptive-SubTree)

The Conflux Research Group developed the GHAST mechanism to address the "liveness attack" issue by modifying the block weight system used in the heaviest chain rule. GHAST determines the block type at the miner's discretion rather than its historical tree-graph structure. The heaviest chain rule is implemented by selecting the child block with the highest weight from the current last main chain block's child tree. Block weight calculation now considers both block count and the sum of weights. By allowing miners to generate special blocks, GHAST increases block difficulty and reduces block production speed, mitigating the "liveness attack" issue. ^[10]

Proof of Stake (PoS)

To counter 51% attacks, Conflux will implement a stand-alone PoS chain. Participants in the PoS consensus will regularly sign the pivot of the tree structure, and PoW miners must follow the pivot with sufficient signatures, even if its sibling blocks have higher weights. This ensures that if the PoS consensus votes on a pivot block, any attempts by 51% attackers to reverse the block will not be recognized by the PoW nodes. The PoS consensus specifies pivot blocks in a restrictive manner, requiring blocks to be confirmed for a few minutes under PoW rules before PoS nodes sign them. Thus, block sorting and confirmation remain the responsibility of PoW miners. ^[11]

The PoS chain's sole purpose is to address 51% attacks. It features only pivot block voting and voting committee elections, without general blockchain functionalities like transactions and contract executions. These features are integrated into Conflux nodes; there is only one external program: conflux-rust. The Conflux chain refers to the running blockchain, while the PoS chain refers to the newly introduced chain, generating approximately one PoS block per minute. ^[11]

Ecosystem

Conflux Network is a blockchain ecosystem with a novel tree-graph consensus mechanism that enhances scalability and efficiency. It includes various projects that contribute to the network's diversity and utility. ^[12]

Swappi

Swappi is an Automated Market Maker (AMM) decentralized exchange (DEX) on the Conflux network, enabling users to swap, stake, and earn yields on their crypto assets. Swappi is the first DEX to launch on eSpace, an EVM-compatible environment that allows Ethereum-native dApps and smart contracts to operate within the Conflux ecosystem. As an AMM-based DEX, Swappi allows users to trade without registering or creating an account, facilitating quick and decentralized trading. ^[12][13]

Nucleon

Nucleon is a liquid staking solution for Conflux PoS, which leading staking providers support. Nucleon allows users to stake CFX without locking assets or maintaining infrastructure, addressing issues of illiquidity, immovability, and accessibility in Conflux PoS staking. This makes staked CFX liquid and enables participation with any amount of CFX to enhance network security. ^[12][14]

Users staking with Nucleon receive xCFX tokens representing their staked CFX. xCFX balances can be used like regular CFX to earn yields and lending rewards, with daily updates reflecting CFX staking rewards. There are no lock-ups when staking with Nucleon, and the minimum deposit is 1 CFX to reduce DDoS risk. Staking rewards are compounded in real-time, allowing secure participation in Conflux without associated risks. ^[12][14]

Goledo

Goledo is a cross-chain lending and borrowing protocol where depositors earn passive income by depositing digital assets into the algorithmic liquidity market. Borrowers can access both overcollateralized and undercollateralized loans. Deployed on Conflux, a permissionless layer 1 blockchain with lower transaction costs, Goledo enables efficient lending and borrowing. ^[12][15]

Meson

Meson facilitates low-cost, zero-slippage cross-chain swaps across leading blockchains and layer-2 rollups. It operates on 16 high-performance chains, including Ethereum, BNB Chain, Tron, Avalanche, Polygon, Fantom, Aurora (NEAR), Cronos (Cosmos), Conflux eSpace, Moonbeam (Polkadot), Moonriver (Kusama), Aptos, and EOS, as well as layer-2 rollups like Arbitrum, Optimism, and zkSync. ^[12][16]

Meson's design and technology enable fast swap finality by processing swaps out-of-order from the origin to destination chains, with HTLC ensuring execution. This reduces reliance on cross-chain bridges and lowers costs, offering minimal fees. The Meson protocol is compatible with any public chain running smart contracts. ^[12][16]

Zero Gravity

ZeroGravity (0G) is an infinitely scalable and decentralized data availability layer with a built-in general-purpose storage layer. 0G provides a scalable on-chain database for any Web2 or Web3 data type, suitable for various needs, including on-chain AI. As a data availability layer, 0G allows seamless verification that data has been accurately stored. ^[12][17]

ConfluxHub

ConfluxHub is the main bridge between Conflux Core Space and Conflux eSpace.Users and projects can use this bridge or API for cross-chain communication or cross-chain DeFi. ^[12]

CFX Token

CFX is the native currency of the Conflux network, used to incentivize network maintenance and charge users for resource consumption. CFX ensures system stability by serving as the reward for consensus mechanisms, each transaction's fee, and DAO voting. Each CFX token is divisible into smaller units called drips, similar to Gwei on Ethereum or Satoshis on Bitcoin, with one CFX containing 10¹⁸ drips. A small amount of drip is paid as a transaction fee on the Conflux Network and awarded to miners. The network has built-in inflation, gradually adding more CFX to the total circulation over time. ^[18][19]

Tokenomics

In the initial phase, rewards are provided to direct builders and ecosystem contributors. The genesis block includes 5 billion pre-mined CFX tokens allocated as follows: ^[18]

• Private Equity Funders: 12% for private round investors, released over two years.
• Foundation Holdings: 4% plus any unsold tokens from the previous category, unlocked monthly over two years.
• Genesis Team: 36% for the founding team, including the IIIS team, Conflux Foundation employees, and advisors, released over four years.
• Community Fund: 8% for community users, unlocked within four years.
• Ecosystem Fund: 40% for community developers supporting DApps, unlocked within four years.

Funding

In December 2018, the Conflux blockchain project raised $35 million from backers, including Sequoia and Baidu. In January 2021, Conflux received a research grant of $5M from the Shanghai Science and Technology Committee and the Xuhui District government. ^[2]

"While the amount of money granted is important, it is the government’s signal to support a public permissionless chain like Conflux that matters the most for us,” - Conflux co-founder Fan Long told CoinDesk.

In March 2023, Conflux received a $10 million investment from DWF Labs, a digital asset market maker and investment firm. ^[2]

Partnerships

• KuCoin
• Oasis Labs
• Pancakeswap
• Injective
• ForTube
• DODO
• QCAD
• Certik
• Beosin
• NuLink
• Chainlink
• Fetch.ai
• Hummingbot
• bloXroute labs
• BlockSec
• SoQuest
• TaskOn
• Tristan Alliance

BitMart

In April 2022, Conflux announced a strategic partnership with Bitmart, a global digital asset trading platform. The alliance focused on cultivating a lasting relationship that can assist with projects that leverage what both platforms offer in a mutually beneficial way. ^[3]

"BitMart’s platform and expertise can provide added value to the Conflux Ecosystem in myriad ways, and we believe that listing Conflux Network’s native token CFX and other ecosystem tokens would benefit users from both ends profoundly."

Alchemy Pay

In February 2023, Conflux announced its partnership with Alchemy Pay to provide an easy fiat on-ramp payment solution that enables users to purchase cryptocurrencies using local fiat currencies. The partnership was aimed to increase Conflux Network’s accessibility to both newcomers and experienced users, resulting in increased mainstream adoption. ^[4]

"Alchemy Pay’s contribution will be essential to Conflux Network’s international growth. We’re looking forward to taking our long-standing relationship with Alchemy Pay to the next level. Alchemy Pay’s technology integration will enable the onboarding of millions of users into Conflux Network’s ecosystem in an effortless and regulatory-compliant way."