🗺️Overview

The Oxen blockchain is a private payments system that enables the creation of many privacy-preserving applications

The Oxen blockchain and the $OXEN token are at the heart of Oxen. Together they bring privacy, incentivisation, and decentralisation to the Oxen tech stack.

Oxen's blockchain is maintained by the Oxen Service Node network, a network of blockchain nodes operated by members of the Oxen community. Running a service node requires staking — which means voluntarily locking — a certain amount of $OXEN tokens.

The staking requirement to run a service node is currently fixed at 15,000 $OXEN or 3,750 $OXEN for a shared node.

In exchange for maintaining reliable and trustworthy blockchain nodes, node operators periodically receive rewards in the form of $OXEN tokens.

Oxen was originally forked from Monero, and it's still based on the CryptoNote protocol. From these beginnings, Oxen has inherited world class privacy and security features — including ring signatures, stealth addresses, and ring confidential transactions. Just like $XMR, $OXEN is fungible, private, and untraceable.

The Oxen blockchain got started in 2018, with its first ever block being confirmed on March 5 of that year. Ever since then, the blockchain has been successfully and securely operating. On October 15 2019, we made the transition to Pulse — making Oxen one of the first ever Proof of Stake CryptoNote projects. The entire history of the Oxen blockchain can be easily viewed via this block explorer. As for the future, you can stay up to date on the project by checking out our Oxen Labs Updates.

The Oxen blockchain also boasts Blink — truly private, instant transactions. Blink allows you to make transactions with all the confidence Monero enthusiasts love, but with a 1 second transaction time. Blink gives $OXEN the potential to be used as a true means of value exchange — not just storage — in a way no other coin can match.

Thanks to the incredible power of Oxen Service Nodes, Oxen is climbing to heights most blockchain projects can't dream of reaching. Get involved now by downloading the Oxen Wallet, running your own service node, or trying out some of the products built on top of the Oxen blockchain — like Session and Lokinet.