Ravencoin rvn

Ravencoin (RVN) is an open-source, peer-to-peer blockchain focused on creating and transferring assets from one holder to another. It is based on a fork of Bitcoin's UTXO code and was launched on January 3, 2018, with no ICO, no premine, and no founder or developer allocation.

The network uses its native RVN coin for payments, mining rewards, transaction fees, and asset-issuance burns. Its asset layer lets users issue named assets and transfer them to Ravencoin addresses; assets can represent tokens, shares, tickets, gift cards, collectibles, licenses, or claims on physical or digital property.

Ravencoin is intentionally use-case focused rather than a general-purpose smart-contract platform. Protocol-level asset awareness is designed to make wallets and nodes recognize asset transfers and help prevent accidentally spending the underlying UTXO in a way that destroys an asset. The project emphasizes user control, privacy, censorship resistance, jurisdiction agnosticism, and open participation.

General-purpose payment chains do not necessarily treat token ownership as a native protocol concern. Tokens layered onto an unrelated chain can require special conventions, contract addresses, or client software; a normal wallet may not understand the embedded asset and can accidentally spend the carrier output. Ravencoin addresses this by making assets first-class, asset-aware objects in a Bitcoin-derived chain.

The project also targets fairer mining distribution. Its current KAWPOW proof-of-work algorithm is intended to use consumer GPU memory and compute capabilities and discourage ASIC-driven mining centralization. This is a distribution and decentralization goal, not a guarantee that specialized hardware can never be developed.

RVN is issued through public proof-of-work mining on a one-minute block schedule. Ravencoin's mainnet supply is 21 billion RVN; its original block reward was 5,000 RVN, and the first halving occurred at block 2,100,000 on January 11, 2022, reducing the reward to 2,500 RVN. Halvings recur every 2,100,000 blocks. Mainnet consensus code sets the subsidy-halving interval to 2,100,000 blocks and the target spacing to 60 seconds.

An issuer creates a uniquely named main asset, chooses its quantity and decimal precision, and may choose whether to allow future reissuance. Issuance requires burning 500 RVN; reissuance burns 100 RVN. Sub-assets, unique assets, messaging-channel assets, qualifier assets, and restricted assets have distinct burn amounts in the reference implementation. The whitepaper describes assets as transferable to Ravencoin addresses and usable for fungible, limited, or unique representations.

Ravencoin supports unique assets using a parent:qualifier-style name such as CAR:VIN, allowing an issuer to represent individual items or licenses. It also supports messaging channels for asset holders and restricted assets/qualifier mechanisms. Metadata can include a contract URL and hash, issuer, description, website, icon, contact information, and other fields; clients, explorers, and wallets are not required to display or use every metadata field.

Mining, transaction validation, and asset rules are performed by the distributed network rather than a central issuer. The reference client is released under the MIT license. Community development and releases are coordinated through the public GitHub repository, while the official site links to wallets, explorers, social channels, and other community resources.