Embark on the Conflux Tech Odyssey: Mapping Out the Next 3–5 Years!
Big Reveal: The Conflux tech roadmap for the next three to five years has arrived!
As we conclude Q3 and enter the year’s final stretch, we are thrilled to present our tech roadmap for the coming years. From enhanced blockchain solutions to pioneering AI integrations, our roadmap is designed to push the boundaries of what’s possible.
The primary goal of Conflux’s roadmap is to develop a superior Layer 1 platform that supports widespread adoption and introduces innovations in the Web3 ecosystem. This vision aims to make Conflux the preferred choice for developers and users seeking a fast, secure, and cost-effective blockchain solution.
Conflux’s roadmap is the result of thorough research focused on identifying existing bottlenecks in blockchain systems that deter developers and users, and leveraging cutting-edge technological advancements to overcome these challenges, unlocking new possibilities for blockchain applications.
This roadmap targets a diverse range of communities, each benefiting uniquely from its innovative features. For instance, Conflux’s introduction of Proof of Useful Work (PoUW) aims to improve miners’ profitability through additional income streams provided by PoW task publishers.
Here’s What’s on the Horizon
Advanced Authenticated Storage — (Time 1–1.5 years)
Conflux is undertaking a transformative update of its internal data structures to enhance data management efficiency. The current landscape of blockchain storage, particularly seen in Ethereum’s Merkle Patricia Trie (MPT) structure, faces significant bottlenecks due to heavy Input/Output (I/O) operations that affect transaction speed and network reliability. Conflux aims to address these challenges by adopting innovative ideas from multi-Layer Versioned Multipoint Trie (LVMT) and RainBlock.
“LVMT is a novel high-performance blockchain storage with significantly reduced I/O amplifications. LVMT uses the authenticated multipoint evaluation tree (AMT) vector commitment protocol to update commitment proofs in constant time. LVMT adopts a multi-layer design to support unlimited key-value pairs and stores version numbers instead of value hashes to avoid costly elliptic curve multiplication operations. “
The implementation of LVMT will revolutionize how data is managed by targeting a tenfold increase in Input/Output Operations Per Second (IOPS). IOPS measures how quickly a storage system can read or write data, and optimizing this metric is crucial for blockchain scalability. By increasing IOPS, Conflux will be able to handle more transactions per second (TPS) and support data-intensive applications, thus significantly boosting overall network performance.
In practical terms, this means a more responsive and efficient blockchain network, capable of accommodating high-demand applications without compromising speed or reliability. For developers, this translates into an environment where complex dApps can run smoothly, and for users, it ensures fast and stable interactions with the blockchain.
Potential Impact:
- Enhanced TPS: Improved transaction throughput means more transactions can be processed in a shorter time, facilitating real-time applications.
- Reduced Latency: Faster read/write operations ensure a smoother user experience, with minimal delays in transaction confirmations.
- Increased Network Stability: A robust data management system reduces the likelihood of network congestion, maintaining reliability even under heavy loads.
This storage upgrade is a pivotal step in ensuring that Conflux remains at the cutting edge of blockchain technology, capable of supporting the next generation of Web3 applications with efficiency and ease.
L2 Support Extension—(Time 1.5–2 years)
Conflux will be extending its support for Layer 2 solutions with built-in native support and first-party multi-chain architecture. This initiative enhances scalability, interoperability, and security across various blockchain applications.
By providing built-in solutions and native support for Layer2 extensions using diverse trust models (e.g., PoS, federated voting, fraud proof, ZK proof). This enables scalability, adaptability, and endogenous interoperability across various blockchain applications.
Conflux’s Multi-Chain Architecture
The first-party multi-chain architecture is designed from a top-down perspective, considering both Layer 1 chain consensus and Layer 2 verification and cross-layer communication. This approach ensures seamless integration and communication between different layers, setting the stage for a more scalable and connected blockchain ecosystem.
Enabling Third-Party Layer 2 Deployments
Conflux’s technology upgrade will provide a Layer 2 tech-stack, allowing third parties to deploy their Layer 2 solutions on Conflux with full native support. This capability empowers developers to create scalable and efficient dApps that leverage Conflux’s robust infrastructure.
Efficient ZK Verifier
Zero-Knowledge Proofs are cryptographic methods that enable one party to prove to another that a statement is true without revealing any additional information. This capability is key in maintaining privacy and security within blockchain transactions, as it allows sensitive data to remain confidential while still providing necessary verification.
Conflux will integrate the fundamental operations required for Zero-Knowledge (ZK) verification algorithms into a precompiled contract, boosting efficiency and security for ZK-rollup-based Layer 2 and various privacy protection applications.
Multiple Virtual Machines (VMs) Support — (Time 1–2 years)
Conflux is breaking new ground by planning to introduce more VM spaces (besides its eSpace and Core) and then merge all spaces into a single unified space, or SuperVM, allowing multiple VMs to operate on the same state space. This architectural shift simplifies the development process, enabling developers to build complex applications without deploying and maintaining contracts in multiple spaces. Users, on the other hand, will benefit from seamless account management and unified liquidity.
Customizable Spaces and Scalable Contract Platform
Conflux has designed multiple spaces to specifically address the diverse requirements and characteristics of markets both in China mainland and globally. Conflux plans to offer this feature for purchase and customization, allowing other ecosystems to tailor functionalities to their unique needs, thereby fostering innovation and expansion.
Conflux aims to create a customizable and scalable contract platform with features like integrating multiple VMs with different programming paradigms into a single SuperVM, enabling seamless interoperability and execution efficiency.
This SuperVM would integrate multiple virtual machines (VMs) with different programming paradigms (e.g., EVM, Move VM, UTXO-based VM) into a single VM, and serve each VM’s ecosystem — development kits, contract codes, web-based codes, wallets — seamlessly without modifications. Additionally, it will enable interoperability among VMs within a single transaction and improves execution efficiency through parallel processing.
The integration of multiple VMs offers compatibility with different programming paradigms. It provides a flexible environment that supports various ecosystems, enhancing cross-VM interactions and reducing transaction latency through VM parallelization.
VM Parallelization
Virtual Machines in blockchain systems execute smart contracts and handle transactions sequentially, which can become a bottleneck as network activity increases. VM Parallelization tackles this issue by allowing the simultaneous processing of multiple transactions, akin to running several threads in parallel.
Conflux plans to enhance transaction processing efficiency by parallelizing operations within the VM, reducing transaction latency, and scaling up throughput for complex blockchain applications. This capability is achieved by restructuring how transactions are managed and executed within the VM, ensuring that they do not interfere with each other and maintain data consistency.
Architectural Changes
While the specific architectural changes remain under exploration, Conflux aims to execute transactions and contract calls sequentially, ensuring consistency and avoiding conflicts through authentication checks and message conversions during VM switches.
Multi-Party Contract Execution— (Time 2–3 years)
Multi-Party Contract Execution is a game-changer in enhancing privacy and security in blockchain transactions. This feature introduces a Confidential Virtual Machine (CVM) that allows transactions to be executed without exposing sensitive information such as private inputs or confidential contract codes. Note that even with most advanced ZKP technologies, the input instructions and contract codes are still exposed to at least one prover or so-called sequencer. This capability is particularly valuable in scenarios where the transaction execution needs to remain confidential, such as Decentralized Identity (DID) proof or Uniswap transactions that require protection from front-running attacks.
Privacy Enabled by Equipping MPC
Conflux is enhancing its privacy features by incorporating Multi-Party Computation (MPC) into its PoS nodes. This will provide Proof of Stake (PoS) nodes with Multi-Party Computation (MPC) capabilities, allowing them to manage Secret Shares and safely handoff shares between rounds, thereby establishing a robust decentralized privacy layer at the core of privacy features.
This enables decentralized privacy layers, confidential VM environments and conditional decryption, which supports the economic models of digital content distribution in Web3 ecosystems, such as pay-per-access content, while ensuring data privacy and security.
Performance vs. Privacy
Balancing privacy protection with performance overhead is a significant challenge in multi-party computation scenarios. In a public blockchain, where node uptime guarantees are less reliable than typical MPC systems, Conflux is implementing efficient recovery mechanisms to ensure stability and performance.
Conflux’s approach to MPC ensures that transactions can be processed securely without compromising on speed. By integrating MPC capabilities, Conflux can handle sensitive data more effectively, offering privacy solutions that cater to a wide range of applications.
Proof of Useful Work (PoUW) — (Time 3–4 years)
Conflux plans on transforming its Proof of Work (PoW) mechanism to solve computational problems with intrinsic value, such as AI and scientific research. The Proof of Useful Work approach redefines the traditional PoW model, aligning it with meaningful computations that benefit society and enhance productivity.
Criteria for Useful PoW
The intrinsic value of computational tasks is determined by financial endorsement. If someone is willing to pay for a computational task, it signifies its usefulness and value. Conflux focuses on highly parallelizable problems like AI inference and protein prediction, leveraging PoW for dual purposes.
AI Integrated VM
Conflux is integrating basic AI operations into its Virtual Machine (VM), enabling asynchronous task dispatch and result claims. This integration enhances the capabilities of smart contracts, enabling more complex and responsive functionalities across the blockchain ecosystem.
Computing Power Reuse Between AI and Consensus
Conflux’s innovative approach to PoW leverages AI computations to enhance productivity and commercial value. This dual-purpose use of computational resources extends the Universal Security Platform to side-chains, decentralized Layer 2 sequencers, and more, enhancing security infrastructure across blockchain platforms.
Conflux’s Vision for the Future
Conflux Network’s roadmap marks a major advancement in blockchain technology, focusing on key areas like privacy, scalability, efficiency, and interoperability. These efforts are laying the groundwork for a more connected and secure blockchain ecosystem. Conflux is committed to empowering developers, users, and miners with a platform that meets the evolving demands of the digital world.
Each initiative in this roadmap strengthens Conflux’s position as a leader in the blockchain space. By tackling the core challenges of today’s blockchain systems, Conflux is set to drive innovations that will shape the future of decentralized applications and digital interactions.
About Conflux
Conflux Network is a permissionless Layer 1 blockchain that connects decentralized economies worldwide. It utilizes a hybrid PoW/PoS consensus mechanism, ensuring a fast, secure, and scalable blockchain environment. Conflux operates without congestion, maintains low fees, and prioritizes network security.
Being the leading regulatory-compliant public blockchain in China, Conflux offers advantages for projects entering the Asian market. In its partnerships, Conflux collaborates with global brands and government entities including, the Shanghai government, China Telecom, Little Red Book (China’s Instagram), McDonald’s China, and Oreo. These noteworthy collaborations serve as a testament to Conflux’s unwavering dedication to driving blockchain and metaverse initiatives.
