Flux January Round-Up!

January marked another pivotal month for the Flux ecosystem, with a surge of progress that lays the foundation for the year ahead. The ecosystem’s expansion was further catalyzed through noteworthy advancements and partnerships by implementing various upgraded features. This article serves as a comprehensive overview of all the latest Flux developments, keeping you informed on the progress and growth of the infrastructure.

Next-Generation PoW: Proof of Useful Work

1. LitePaper Release

We were thrilled to announce the release of the Proof of Useful Work (PoUW) LitePaper, representing the first iteration of our journey towards creating a more conscious and sustainable approach to computational resource utilization. The LitePaper provides a comprehensive guide that delves into our vision, goals, and methods for building Proof of Useful Work. As many community members are already aware, we have achieved 50% progress toward implementing the PoUW initiative.

In summary, the Flux PoUW is a unique approach to utilizing idle computational resources consciously and sustainably. In traditional PoW blockchains, miners perform arbitrary calculations to produce new blocks and receive rewards. However, using IT resources to execute these mathematical equations generates only some inherent value beyond achieving consensus. Instead of using these resources solely for transaction validation, the Flux platform pools them to solve real-world problems. Moreover, PoUW enables institutions and individuals to be more dynamic regarding computational resource usage by avoiding over-dimensioning or under-utilizing IT infrastructure.

We invite our community to explore the first version of our PoUW LitePaper to gain a deeper understanding of our initiative to create the world’s largest computational network for the people, by the people. Experience the first-hand results of our efforts and dive into our LitePaper on the Flux platform and our official website.

2. PoUW: Flux Deployment of Medical Application

Last year, Flux announced a strategic partnership with the Western Switzerland University of Applied Sciences in Geneva to explore the potential of PoUW and how computational resources could be utilized beyond validation. As a result, in January, we successfully deployed a new AI-Powered Medical application, X-ray/CT diagnosis. This app showcases the computational capabilities of Flux nodes and highlights the role of decentralized technologies in solving real-world problems and protecting user privacy. We are very proud of this feat as it marks another milestone for Flux and the future of blockchain technology. The significance of this deployment stems beyond just a win for the Flux network, as it demonstrates the potential for blockchain beyond mining and underlines the importance of decentralized solutions in many industries, including healthcare.

Key Events:

3. NOW Wallet Listing

We were excited to announce the addition of Flux to the NOW Wallet platform. This allows users to securely store, purchase, and trade Flux tokens in addition to its five parallel assets on various blockchain networks, including Solana, Avalanche, BCS, Tron, and Ethereum. Ultimately, this marks an important step towards increasing the overall accessibility and liquidity of Flux.

4. Fiat-Crypto On Ramp

We announced that the deployment of onboarding to Flux with the integration of Crypto.com and Coinbase.com as payment options is imminent. In the upcoming weeks, users will be able to purchase from the marketplace, deployments, and WordPress utilizing these established platforms. All transactions will be settled in Flux. This integration ultimately represents a substantial advancement for the adoption of Web3 and streamlines the process for new users joining the ecosystem.

5. Flux Marketplace Listing

This month, radiant and ElectrumX Radiant nodes have been integrated into the Flux marketplace. This development provides further ease of access to decentralization for individuals seeking to support Radiant and its associated technologies. Integrating these nodes into the Flux marketplace helps streamline the process of user contribution to a more decentralized future.

6. Climate-Positive Blockchain TechSprint

With great pride, the Flux team members attended the Climate Positive Blockchain TechSprint.This gathering of influential figures, trailblazers, and agents of change delved into developing a blockchain that positively impacts climate and an alternative consensus mechanism that could reduce energy consumption and even achieve a net-positive climate impact.

7. New Community Manager

We welcomed Darren Rieck (Crypto Ghostie) as our newly appointed Community Manager. With a demonstrated history of active engagement and support with the Flux community as a member and a moderator, he brings a wealth of experience and passion to this role. The community can expect more opportunities for interaction under his leadership, such as discord voice chats and community events.

Key Updates:

8. FluxOS v3.31.0 Update

The latest version (v6) of the Flux App Specification introduces new features and improvements to enhance security and usability. The ‘expire’ parameter allows users to determine the lifespan of an application, ranging from 5000 blocks to 264000 blocks, adjustable in 1000 block intervals. The Flux Foundation Application address has changed from a single signature to 3 of 5 multi-signature addresses consisting of core team members, increasing the overall trust and security of the FluxOS. Further, the foundation multi-sig address can initiate soft forks by sending transactions with soft-fork specifications, currently allowing for adjustments to application prices.

A blacklist has been extended to also support the blacklisting of ZelID and application hash for faster response to malicious applications. Test and temporary launches have also been introduced, allowing users to launch an application on a locally connected stratus node for a few hours, with only one test launch allowed per registration. Node owners can temporarily launch any application or prior existing application on the global network. For increased security, applications now have up to ten components, each with its flux docker network. Experimental support for multiple volumes has also been added, with the automatic addition of incoming connections and UI and backend improvements. The v6 specifications activated at block height 1,300,000; all nodes needed to update before this block height.

9. FluxBench v3.7.0. w/ beta Thunder Support Mainnet Release

FluxBench is a software tool that checks if a host has the required hardware and performance to run a specific FluxNode tier (Cumulus, Nimbus, Stratus). The latest version, 3.7.0, includes support for Flux Fractus Nodes, improved anti-cheating measures, better error descriptions, and increased efficiency. The Flux daemon starts FluxBench after it successfully loads and detects that it is a FluxNode; FluxBench then interacts with the Flux daemon and FluxOs. The benchmark runs every 30 minutes on success and every 5 minutes for 3 attempts if it fails, with a full system check performed on each subsequent try.

FluxBench measures several vital elements, including the public IPv4 address, ARM board, CPU cores and threads, amount of RAM, CPU architecture and performance, disk write speed and size, and network speeds (ping, download, and upload). These measurements determine if the host meets the requirements for a specific FluxNode tier. The anti-cheating measures are kept confidential. Fractus nodes must have two cores, four threads, eight gigabytes of RAM, 240 EPS, and a download and upload speed of 100 MB/s.

10. FluxOS v.3.32.0 Update

FluxOS v3.32.0 update brought many improvements and fixes across the board, including enforcing proper functioning of the Home UI, Syncthing, and app ports. It was important for users to make sure their Home UI and Syncthing were running smoothly and accessible from outside using the standard ports 16126 and 16129. The version also closely examined external firewalls, requiring users to ensure their firewall was correctly opened for all Flux app ports.

The update to FluxBench includes improvements for reliability and performance, such as more efficient handling of apps and UPNP mapping, a deterministic Docker Network for applications, and more accurate checks of app availability. There are also new features, such as support for development nodes and the introduction of the decryption key flag in preparation for “Trusted Nodes.” Other minor improvements and bug fixes have been made as well.

FluxLabs Updates:

The FluxLabs incubator program onboarded four projects in January and will provide them with Flux’s fully decentralized infrastructure, mentorship, support, and co-marketing. The new FluxLabs additions are Astrid, Secret Garden of Kadena, Swarm Finance, and the proof of work project, Radiant.

Closing Remarks:

January was another defining moment for the Flux ecosystem as it saw a wave of progress that set the stage for what’s to come this year. Notable advancements within the network and the development of our Proof of Useful Work initiative fueled the ecosystem’s growth, along with the rollout of upgraded systems and features. We are genuinely excited about the future of the Flux community and the development of the world’s largest computational network created by the people, for the people. This train doesn’t stop.

We invite you to learn more about the Flux ecosystem on our website, where you can find information on how to run Flux nodes, deploy your app, use our Flux Drive, and much more! You can also follow us on discord or Twitter and interact with our wonderful community.