Luxcore Algorithm Change to RX2
(a RandomX Derivative)
Attention Luxcore Community! We’re excited to announce Luxcore’s mining algorithm switch from PHI2 to RX2 in the coming weeks. To stay competitive in today’s blockchain ecosystem, it’s extremely important to adapt to the latest and best security, privacy, and efficiency practices, and we believe our switch to RX2 furthers our overall goal of positioning Luxcore at the forefront of the decentralized world.
Let’s take a deeper look at RX2, how it differs from Luxcore’s current mining algorithm, and what this means for the Luxcore ecosystem and LUX users going forward!
Important Note: For purposes of this article and going forward, we will be referring to the Loki hashing algorithm as RandomXL and Luxcore’s version (which boasts small modifications to the RandomX parameters) as RX2. We are extremely thankful to the developers who worked on RandomX, including Tevadaor, SChernykh, and Hyc. To find a full list of contributors, we recommend checking out this link.
Table of Contents:
- Benefits of RX2
a. A Brief History of ASIC Miners
b. What is RX2?
c. RX2 Advantages
d. What This Means For LUX Users
2. Final Thoughts on RX2
1. Benefits of RX2 — ASIC Resistant Proof-of-Work (PoW)
Before getting into the benefits of RX2 and Luxcore’s decision to switch over to it, let’s take a brief look at the rise of ASIC miners and why they pose a threat to a truly decentralized ecosystem.
A Brief History of ASIC Miners
Short for ‘Application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC)’, ASIC miners boast an integrated circuit customized for a very specific use — Bitcoin mining. As blockchain interest and overall market cap exponentially increased (reaching USD $1 billion in 2013), ASIC miners became the logical next step in the world of cryptocurrency mining due to general-purpose GPUs, CPUs, and FPGAs not cutting it speed and efficiency-wise. ASICs quickly caught on, garnering praise for their “turnaround time” and increased attention from investors.
By 2013/2014, a swath of ASIC start-ups and companies began to compete for their piece of the Bitcoin market, all striving to best previous generation miners, energy efficiency, cost, and performance. However, with market volatility and increased hash rates, 2017 and 2018 saw the market decide upon two clear forerunners: BitFury and Bitmain.
With just several mining companies (some eyeing billion dollar IPOs) controlling high percentages of computational power on the Bitcoin network, threats to the Bitcoin network’s immutability and decentralization grew all too real. Most notably, Bitmain’s 2018 IPO prospectus claimed it had captured a roughly 70% market dominance.
Cue RX2, a hedge against centralized mining pools which have come to dominate the Bitcoin network and crypto mining hash rates.
What is RandomX and RX2?
Primarily designed for the privacy-focused Monero, and scheduled to be implemented in their next network update, RandomX is a new Proof-of-Work (PoW) algorithm designed for ASIC resistance and as a safeguard against specialized mining hardware through its simulation of a virtual CPU.
RX2 is Luxcore’s version of RandomX, which boasts small modifications to the RandomX parameters to suit the Luxcore network.
Over the last several years, cryptocurrency mining has unfortunately fallen prey to monopolistic mining farms and billion dollar companies, concentrating mining in the hands of a select few. This ultimately poses a serious threat to the very essence of public blockchain technology — decentralization.
RX2’s utilization of a virtual machine to execute programs in specific instruction sets (ex. Integer math, floating branches) is easily translated into a CPU’s native machine code, meaning it’s:
- Optimized for general-purpose CPUs,
- More widely accessible and egalitarian,
- Conducive to more participants joining the network, and
- Enjoys a higher degree of decentralization.
Below is a list of Luxcore’s new mining algorithm RX2 and its respective advantages.
Still not convinced about RX2? Check out this article detailing the four independent audits of the RandomX code and their findings.
What This Means For LUX Users Going Forward
The rollout of RX2 stands to benefit LUX holders and users in several key ways:
- Adds security to LUX blockchain by encouraging more participants (decentralization of hash power across the network)
- Rewards long-time LUX miners with GPU hardware by eliminating any advantage specialized hardware may have
- Safeguards against price manipulation by distributing block rewards to more participants
- Keeps LUX at the forefront of mining community by continuing to push for less centralization
Feel free to reach out to us in the Luxcore Discord chat or via Telegram for any questions concerning the RX2 algorithm switch.
Final Thoughts on RX2 & Luxcore’s 2019/2020 Ahead
Luxcore’s switch to RandomX is set to bring the security of the Luxcore code and network to unprecedented levels, while giving you, the LUX community, a change to have a direct hand in securing the network. Make sure to follow our Luxcore blog and social media channels for implementation date and other important information surrounding the RX2 rollout!
Finally, make sure to keep an eye out for the impending release of LuxGate beta, a zero-downtime, truly decentralized P2P trading exchange.
