Radix (XRD)

What Is Radix (XRD)?

Radix is a layer 1 smart contract platform that started from the problem of how to create a radically better global financial system and worked backwards from that objective.

After more than ten years of research, testing, and development, Radix is poised to take the world of DeFi by storm with Scrypto, its intuitive asset-oriented programming language; Radix Engine, the world’s first programmable “DeFi Engine”; and Cerberus, a consensus algorithm that provides atomic composability with linear scalability.

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Who Are the Founders of Radix?

Dan Hughes, based in the UK, discovered Bitcoin in 2012. With his background in developing telecommunications technology, he could see the tremendous impact that blockchain could have on global finance and more. Having researched Bitcoin for a year, he started eMunie (later renamed Radix) on Bitcointalk in May 2013.

For the next five years, Dan focused on solving the biggest problem of the day: scalability. He invented and tested multiple consensus architectures, including Blocktrees, Directed Acyclic Graphs (DAGs), Channelled Asynchronous State Trees (CAST), Tempo, and Cerberus.

In 2017 Piers Ridyard joined as CEO, the project was renamed Radix, and funding was raised from Taavet Hinrikus the co-founder of TransferWise; and LocalGlobe, a leading European VC.

The breakthrough of Cerberus in 2020 created the world’s first cross-shard atomically composable consensus protocol – capable of providing unlimited linear scalability.

2020 also saw the launch of Radix Tokens (Jersey) Limited, the Jersey (Channels Islands) entity that issued XRD and holds the Radix Foundation treasury. The RTJL CEO is Andrew Jarrett.

In July 2021 the first iteration of the Radix Public Network, “Olympia”, went live.

The game changing DeFi development language, Scrypto, was released in early access form in December 2021.

Radix’s “Babylon” release, that brings production smart contracts written in Scrypto onto mainnet, is scheduled to go live in the first half of 2023.

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What Makes Radix Unique?

Radix is unique across every level of its technology stack, providing:

• A unique asset-oriented programming language, Scrypto, that aims to substantially improve the Web3 and DeFi developer experience by providing assets (tokens) as a native first-class feature of the language.
• A unique virtual machine Radix Engine (the world’s first “DeFi Engine”) that promises to do for DeFi what game engines did for games development.
• A unique consensus algorithm, Cerberus, that “braids” consensus across a massive “shardspace”. With every transaction being cross-shard and atomic, this is what gives Cerberus its unique combination of atomic composability with linear scalability.

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How Many Radix (XRD) Coins Are There in Circulation?

The RADIX token is the native token of the Radix Public Network, with ticker XRD.

Purpose: XRD is used to secure the Radix Public Network by staking it as part of Radix’s Delegated Proof of Stake system. XRD is also the only token that is used to pay transaction fees on Radix, which are burnt.

Supply & Allocation: XRD has a maximum supply of 24Bn tokens:

• 12Bn was allocated at the genesis of the Radix Public Network. 9.6Bn of these tokens are unlocked. * At least 4.62Bn XRD are circulating in the hands of the public, an amount that will continue to grow due to network emission rewards as part of Radix’s Delegated Proof of Stake system. 2.4Bn are indefinitely locked in the stable coin reserve.
• 12Bn XRD is being minted by the Radix Protocol as network emission to reward stakers and validators over an approximately 40 year period. Network emission commenced with the genesis of the Radix Public Network in July 2021.

For the allocation of XRD, please see: How was the XRD token allocated?

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How Is the Radix Network Secured?

Radix uses a unique BFT-style consensus algorithm called Cerberus. It took seven years of research, starting in 2013 and culminating in the Cerberus Whitepaper in 2020.

In its final form, Cerberus represents a radically different paradigm in the design of decentralized Distributed Ledger Technology systems. It is the only protocol that is designed so that all transactions are atomically composed across shards. This is a critical feature if DeFi is to ever scale to billions of users.

Cerberus is also supported by the Radix network’s Delegated Proof of Stake (DPoS) system to protect against Sybil attacks. This is where holders of the XRD token can delegate stake to validator node-runners.