Nervos Network ckb

Nervos Network is a layered blockchain ecosystem built around Nervos CKB (Common Knowledge Base), a public, permissionless Layer 1. CKB is intended to be a minimal, secure and highly decentralized foundation that reliably preserves on-chain data and assets while higher layers provide scalability.

The network's native asset is the CKByte (CKB). A CKByte represents the right to occupy one byte of on-chain storage, and it is also used for transaction fees and computation-related costs. Because storage capacity is represented directly by the native asset, application state and token ownership have an explicit resource cost rather than relying only on transaction throughput.

Nervos uses a generalized UTXO design called the Cell Model. Cells are immutable state containers; transactions consume existing Live Cells and create new ones. Lock Scripts control who may consume a Cell, while optional Type Scripts enforce application-specific rules. Smart-contract logic runs in CKB-VM, a RISC-V-based virtual machine.

CKB is secured by Proof of Work using the NC-MAX consensus design and is positioned as the security/decentralization layer in a multi-layer architecture. The official ecosystem includes wallets, developer SDKs, RGB++ and other applications, plus the Fiber Network for scalable, privacy-oriented payment and swap use cases.

Nervos addresses the tension among decentralization, security and scalability. Rather than forcing every property into one execution layer, CKB concentrates on durable state, permissionless verification and security, while Layer 2 systems and application protocols can handle high-volume or specialized activity.

General-purpose blockchains also need a sustainable way to pay for persistent state. Nervos ties storage demand to CKBytes: data occupying Cells requires capacity to be locked, and state-rent economics provide an ongoing incentive for miners to preserve data. This is intended to reduce the mismatch between the value stored by applications and the resources required to maintain it.

The design also targets developer and user flexibility. CKB-VM exposes a RISC-V execution environment and supports programs compiled from languages such as Rust, C and JavaScript toolchains. Cell transactions can separate computation from validation, execute independently in parallel, batch multiple operations, and allow a party other than the asset sender to cover fees.

CKB stores state in immutable Cells, conceptually extending Bitcoin's UTXO model into a generalized state-storage model. A Live Cell can contain CKBytes, arbitrary data, and scripts. To update it, a transaction consumes the old Cell and creates replacement Cells; consumed Cells become Dead Cells and cannot be spent again. The capacity field determines how much data the Cell can store, so users must hold enough CKBytes to cover the occupied bytes.

Every transaction is checked by scripts executed in CKB-VM. A Lock Script determines whether the transaction has authority to consume an input Cell, while a Type Script can validate how a Cell's data or asset state changes. CKB-VM uses the open RISC-V instruction set and counts execution cost in cycles. Blocks enforce a consensus-level cycle limit, preventing unbounded computation while retaining flexible on-chain logic.

Miners secure the chain with NC-MAX Proof of Work. CKByte economics cover computation cycles, transaction/security fees and persistent storage. Base issuance follows a predictable halving schedule and is capped at 33.6 billion CKBytes; secondary issuance is described as a fixed annual 1.344 billion CKBytes and is distributed among state-rent support, Nervos DAO depositors and the treasury.

For scaling, CKB is designed to serve as a settlement and verification base for higher layers. The Cell Model permits parallel validation of independent transactions and batching of operations. Users may lock CKBytes in Nervos DAO for rewards; CKBytes occupied by live state cannot simultaneously be deposited there, aligning storage usage with the network's state-rent mechanism.