Argonmine documentation
Argonmine is a proof-of-work blockchain whose coin, ARG, can be mined from a phone or a laptop browser. The proof of work is Argon2id, a memory-hard function, so ordinary hardware stays competitive. The rules are a small, fully specified subset of what Bitcoin does, with every known Bitcoin design flaw closed by construction. Every coin is mined. There is no premine, no founder reward and no developer fee.
At a glance
| Aspect | Value |
|---|---|
| Coin | ARG. 1 ARG = 100,000,000 units. |
| Supply | Capped at 21,000,000 ARG, all of it mined. |
| Block reward | 50 ARG, halving every 210,000 blocks (about four years). |
| Block interval | 600 seconds target. |
| Proof of work | Argon2id over the 120-byte block header: 8 MiB of memory per hash, one pass, one lane. |
| Difficulty | ASERT, adjusted every block with a one-day half-life. |
| Reward lock | A mined reward can be spent 100 blocks later (about 17 hours). |
| Signatures | BIP-340 Schnorr on secp256k1, 32-byte x-only public keys. |
| Addresses | bech32m. arg1… on mainnet, targ1… on testnet, rarg1… on regtest. |
| Transactions | UTXO model. Two output types: pay-to-public-key and an 80-byte data output. No scripting language. |
| Assets | Version-2 transactions carry a 32-byte asset id, so tokens issued by a key can move on the chain. ARG itself is never issued, only mined. |
| Node software | One Go module, no cgo, builds on every platform Go supports. |
How it works
Mining. A miner takes a block header, tries nonces, and hashes each attempt with Argon2id. The result is read as a 256-bit number and compared with the current target. An attempt below the target is a valid block. Each attempt needs 8 MiB of memory and a few milliseconds of CPU, which is why a browser tab can mine and why specialised hardware gains little. The browser app does exactly this in WebAssembly, fetching block templates from the explorer and submitting solved blocks back. Whoever solves a block receives the whole reward at their own address. Nothing is pooled and nobody holds funds in between. See Mining.
Difficulty. ASERT recomputes the target for every block from how far the chain is ahead of or behind its schedule since genesis. Hashrate that doubles overnight is absorbed within a day, and the schedule has no drift and no time-warp attack. See Specification §5.
Supply. The reward starts at 50 ARG and halves every 210,000 blocks. The sum of all rewards is just under 21 million ARG. Fees are paid in ARG and go to the miner of the block. See Mining.
Transactions. Coins are unspent outputs locked to a public key. A transaction spends outputs with Schnorr signatures and creates new ones. The signature commits to the amount and key of every input, the chain itself, and the asset ids involved, so a transaction cannot be replayed on another chain or altered after signing. There is no script engine to attack. See Specification §3 and §6.
Assets. Besides ARG, the chain can carry assets identified by the key that issues them. Each asset is conserved per transaction; only the issuer key can create units, and fees are always paid in ARG. The first asset is uARG, a dollar-backed token issued when USDC is deposited into the bridge vault and redeemed one to one when burned. See Assets and Bridge.
What runs where
| Service | What it is for |
|---|---|
| The app | Creates a wallet in the browser, mines, shows balance and history. Works on phones and desktops. Nothing to install. |
| The explorer | Every block, transaction and address, network charts, a JSON API, and the work server that supplies block templates to browser miners. |
| The bridge | Deposits USDC on an EVM chain and receives uARG on Argonmine; burns uARG to receive USDC back. |
| Nodes | argonmined keeps a full copy of the chain, validates everything and relays blocks and transactions. Anyone can run one. A node earns nothing by itself: there is no masternode reward or staking. Mining pays, and every desktop-app miner is a full node. |
Where to go next
- Getting started: create a wallet, mine, and read every figure the app shows.
- Mining: the proof of work, difficulty, rewards, the work protocol and referrals.
- Run a node: install, configure, the RPC, the wallet and the explorer.
- Consensus specification: every rule, in full.
- Assets and Bridge: uARG, wARG and how value enters the chain.
- FAQ: short answers to the questions people ask first.
Status
The consensus rules, node, wallet, desktop app, browser app and explorer are implemented and tested. An internal security review of the consensus and network code found 15 issues, all fixed (Security review). The mainnet genesis block is mined for 2026-10-25 00:00 UTC. Before mainnet opens, public seed nodes go live and an external audit is commissioned; the steps are in the Launch runbook. Until then the public network is testnet, whose coins have no value.