Ravencoin Mineable Assets and Grafted-PoW

Proposal to add functionality to the Ravencoin network

Jesse Empey and Tron Black

Abstract. Mineable Assets would be a new type of digital asset/token on the Ravencoin network that could be created and issued over time to the RVN miners on the Ravencoin blockchain. This would provide new and unique features to the Ravencoin blockchain that don’t exist in any other blockchain project. These features could be utilized to support projects utilizing Ravencoin in ways that haven’t been possible with the current Ravencoin feature set.

Similar to merged mining, co-mining with Grafted Proof of Work (G-PoW) is analogous to a botanist grafting a branch of one plant to the root strength of another, creating a unique symbiotic relationship that is stronger than the disparate plants could achieve on their own. The new branch provides additional energy to the root, and the root provides the necessary strength and nutrients for the branch to create the energy. Mineable Assets would employ the security of the Ravencoin blockchain and its network of miners to distribute the new asset. A successful RVN co-miner would also receive the specified amount of the newly minted Mined Asset. This would provide the crypto community with a far better decentralized distribution method of digital assets that, like all other asset creation and distribution features of Ravencoin, is simple to implement and deploy by anyone without the need to write code.

The State of Digital Assets

There are many ways to create trusted digital assets available to us today thanks to blockchain technology and those that have created it. From Ethereum, Cardano, and of course Ravencoin, an individual can now trust that what they have created or purchased digitally can’t be replicated. This new capability and mindset have launched the NFT craze which has allowed some amazing new digital asset companies to thrive. As of this writing however, there are no known technologies that allow digital assets to be created (mined) right alongside a blockchain’s native asset/coin. Traditionally, if a project would like the ability to have an asset that is mineable in order to allow for a fair, decentralized distribution of their asset, they have needed to either create a new blockchain or fork an existing project to create their asset. Unfortunately, with this approach comes an entirely new blockchain that has to be adopted by users, maintained by developers for as long as the project is viable, creates additional energy demands for mining, and requires specialized knowledge and skill that is too costly for many projects to bear.

Fair Distribution

Mineable Assets on the Ravencoin network would allow for the fair distribution of the co-mined assets without all of the overhead associated with creating, maintaining, and promoting an entirely new blockchain. Each Mineable Asset type that is created would be able to utilize the security and decentralization already afforded by the Ravencoin network and the efforts of the Ravencoin community and miners. Mineable Assets utilizing G-PoW would be minted and delivered to the winner of the RVN coinbase when the Ravencoin block is solved.

Energy Efficient

All Mineable Assets utilizing G-PoW would not require additional mining power. Computer equipment and electrical power that is already employed by Ravencoin miners mining RVN would be utilized to mint and distribute the Mineable Assets. Co-miners would receive the Mineable Assets right alongside their RVN rewards in the RVN coinbase.

Symbiotic Relationship with Ravencoin

Mineable Assets have the potential to bring exciting new projects and their followers into the Ravencoin community thus increasing the popularity and usage of the Ravencoin network. The new projects would also gain the aforementioned benefits of being built on top of the Ravencoin framework. As Ravencoin continues through its normal halving process, Mineable Assets can continue to add life to the root RVN project even when RVN is no longer being issued.

Known Hurdles

Development — Building this solution will take in-depth knowledge of the Ravencoin core code. We hope to recruit the help of those that already have this expertise to build out these new features.

Community Acceptance and Adoption — We are actively working with the Ravencoin community to show the value that Mined Assets can bring to the table and are excited to see this project succeed. This will likely be a hard fork of the Ravencoin network which always brings a level of concern, but with experienced Ravencoin developers and a planned security review we feel these concerns can be mitigated.

Security Review — We understand that these level of changes will require a security review of the new features and code. We plan to do our part to help support the cost of a future security review.

Creating a Mineable Asset

Utilizing the official desktop wallet any individual could create a Mineable Asset with the required amount of RVN. Similar to restricted assets an owner of a main asset could create a Mineable Asset of the same name. At creation time, the issuer would determine the following parameters:

• Total number of mineable assets to create.
• Number of units (decimal places) the asset will contain.
• IPFS hash pointing to immutable content describing the Mineable Asset
• Number of Mineable Assets to issue each block to the winner of the RVN coinbase
• Number of the Mineable Asset coinbase reward to be provided to the issuer or current holder of the ownership token

Conclusion

Mineable Assets, G-Pow and co-mining would be additional technological enhancements that Ravencoin could add to its list of blockchain innovations. It would provide a solution to projects that want fair distribution of their assets, as well as create additional funding mechanisms that haven’t existed without creating a new blockchain. Ravencoin has been an amazing blockchain project, providing fertile ground for new ideas to grow which have changed the world of digital assets. Our hope is that the Ravencoin community will consider this new idea and be willing to vote with its mining power to graft in additional energy into an already amazing blockchain project and community.

Questions and Answers

How much would it cost to create a Mined Asset?

That’s currently being discussed and we would love your input. We are thinking it would need to be substantial enough that only serious projects would want to create a Mined Asset which would hopefully deter the efforts of spammers.

Why do you allow a percentage of the coinbase to go back to the ownership token holder?

This would be optional but it is a great way to provide funding back to the project that issued the token.

Why don’t you just fork RavenCoin?

Pigeoncoin… ’nuff said. Actually, this option was considered but we feel this is a much better solution and a win-win situation for our project as well as future projects and the Ravencoin community at large.

Did you consider merged mining with Ravencoin?

We definitely considered this option but if we’re going to put forth the effort to create a fork of Ravencoin that can be merged mined with Ravencoin why not expend similar efforts to create a solution that allows other creators/projects to co-mine with the power of the Ravencoin network?

How will I monetize Mined Assets?

The plan is to enhance ravend to easily allow exchanges to support all Ravencoin assets. There are also DEX solutions available that already support the listing and trading of Ravencoin assets.

What if I don’t want the Mined Assets that would be delivered alongside my RVN?

With the high cost of creating a Mined Asset our hope is that only serious projects would be taking advantage of this feature and owning an asset of that project would be beneficial for all interested in mining RVN. We believe there will be parties interested in these assets and they will have real value. Selling them on an exchange, sending them back to the issuer, or burning them are all options.