Early blocks

For 2,000 blocks, once miners have upgraded, anyone can mine ARG in the early blocks: 20 ARG for 1 uARG, up to 500 ARG a block, 1,000,000 in all. Then ARG comes only from block rewards.

How it opens

Upgraded software marks every block it mines with /EB1. Blocks are counted in rounds of 144, from block 3,024. When 130 blocks of a round (90%) carry the mark, early blocks open 144 blocks after that round. If no round reaches 130 by block 15,984, they do not open. The explorer's Early blocks page shows the count live.

History. On 2 November 2026 early blocks first opened at a fixed block, 2,925 (release 1.2.0). Most nodes and the largest miner still ran 1.1.0. In block 2,928 a miner on 1.1.0 included a request as a plain payment, which 1.2.0 rejects, and the chain split. Release 1.2.1 withdrew the window: nothing was minted, waiting requests were dropped, and one 0.1 uARG test request went to the treasury as a plain payment. Release 1.3.0 brings early blocks back, opened by miner signal, so they open only once most of the hashrate runs the new rules. A node still on an older release stops following the chain when they open, so every node should run 1.3.0 by then.

How it works

While early blocks are open, send uARG to the treasury address above with the memo EARLY1, from the address that should receive the ARG, or use the app at app.argonmine.com/early. The next block that takes the request pays 20 ARG per uARG from its coinbase, spendable 100 blocks later. A request is at most 25 uARG and a block mints at most 500 ARG; the uARG goes to the treasury. A request of 1 uARG or more needs no ARG for the network fee, so a wallet that has only just bridged dollars in can take part.

Why it is built this way

• Nothing is set aside. ARG is minted only when asked for, block by block, from the coinbase, like a mining reward.
• One rate for everyone, written in the rules.
• The uARG is paid on the chain, to an address anyone can watch.
• It opens only once miners have upgraded, so the chain stays one chain.
• It ends. Outside the 2,000 blocks the memo is refused, so no uARG leaves your wallet for coins no block can make.

Node runners: run 1.3.0

Early blocks change the consensus rules: an older node stops following the chain at the first early block that mints. Every node must run release 1.3.0 before they open (Run a node, Upgrades); the 144 blocks after the round that locks them in are the notice. Solo miners should run 1.3.0 so their blocks count. Pool and browser miners need nothing. The rules are SPEC §3.3.2 and §3.3.3.

For developers

The explorer serves these endpoints (GET, JSON, CORS open); the page /early shows the same.

A node's getmintinfo reports the window and the current round, and getblocktemplate lists who the next coinbase must pay under mint (Run a node, RPC). Testnet and regtest have no early blocks unless node and explorer get the same -mint, fixed (start:end:perBlockARG:rateARG:asset:key) or by signal (signal:from:until:period:threshold:delay:length:perBlockARG:rateARG:asset:key).

A node refuses a request in these cases, with the answer the code prints; the app refuses each before it is sent.