Conflux cfx

Conflux is a public, permissionless smart-contract blockchain whose native asset is CFX. The network was designed to improve throughput without abandoning an open validator/miner ecosystem: its ledger uses a Tree-Graph, a directed acyclic graph in which blocks have parent and reference edges. The protocol orders the graph into a deterministic transaction sequence rather than simply discarding every non-selected fork.

The current Conflux design combines Proof of Work for the main consensus path with Proof of Stake for finality. Official documentation describes the PoW layer as using the Tree-Graph and GHAST chain-selection algorithm, with throughput of up to 3,000 transactions per second and confirmation latency within about one minute; the PoS layer adds finality and is intended to mitigate 51% attacks.

Conflux has two connected execution environments. Core Space is the native Conflux environment and includes protocol-level features such as contract sponsorship, while eSpace is EVM-compatible so Ethereum-oriented contracts and tooling can be migrated more easily. A CrossSpaceCall mechanism enables atomic communication between the two spaces.

CFX is the network's native currency rather than a conventional application token. It pays transaction gas, transfers value, and participates in protocol mechanisms such as staking, storage collateral, and governance-related locking. The protocol specification defines CFX in Drip, with 1 CFX equal to 10^18 Drip.

Conflux targets the scalability trade-off created by conventional longest-chain blockchains. In a serial longest-chain design, concurrently mined blocks are usually orphaned; their transactions and much of their security contribution are discarded. Conflux's Tree-Graph and GHAST instead use concurrent blocks in ledger ordering and fork selection, allowing a higher block creation rate while retaining a permissionless consensus model.

The project also addresses the cost of persistent smart-contract state. Data written by contracts consumes resources that full nodes must maintain, so Conflux charges storage collateral and returns that collateral when the associated storage is released. CFX therefore gives the protocol an economic way to price both computation and persistent state, while sponsorship can pay gas and collateral for users who do not hold CFX.

These mechanisms do not remove ordinary blockchain risks. Throughput and confirmation figures are protocol documentation targets rather than a guarantee of application performance; users still face smart-contract bugs, bridge or cross-space integration risk, market volatility, issuance/inflation and staking-lockup risk, governance or ecosystem concentration, and the possibility that adoption does not meet expectations.

In Conflux's PoW layer, miners create blocks that form a Tree-Graph. Each block has one parent and may reference earlier blocks. GHAST selects a pivot chain using subtree mining weight rather than the ordinary longest-chain rule. Conflux then uses the pivot chain and reference relationships to produce a total order, so concurrent blocks can contribute to throughput and security instead of being automatically discarded.

The PoS component supplies checkpoint finality. Users lock CFX through the staking mechanism; the protocol specification includes staking state, accumulated interest, and vote-lock information in account state. Staking and governance lockups are distinct from liquid balance, and the exact reward, lock, and withdrawal behavior is governed by the network's current implementation and protocol rules.

Transactions use CFX-denominated gas and include a storage limit. Contract state additionally requires storage collateral measured in CFX/Drip; releasing state can return the collateral. Conflux's sponsorship contracts allow a sponsor to fund gas and/or collateral for selected contracts and accounts, lowering the requirement that every end user maintain a CFX balance.

Core Space and eSpace are linked by CrossSpaceCall. Core Space exposes native Conflux features, while eSpace executes EVM-compatible contracts. Developers can therefore deploy Solidity/EVM applications in eSpace and interact with native-space assets or contracts through the cross-space mechanism, while users can inspect activity through ConfluxScan.