PKT Cash

Use https://github.com/pkt-cash/pktd - this is not maintained here.

A blockchain utilizing PacketCrypt, a new bandwidth-hard proof-of-work algorithm

pktd

pktd is the reference full node PKT Cash implementation, written in Go.

pktd is the primary mainnet node software for the PKT blockchain. It is known to correctly download, validate, and serve the blockchain, using rules for block acceptance based primarily on Bitcoin Core, with the addition of PacketCrypt proofs to provide verification of the unique bandwidth-hard proof-of-work algorithm.

The PKT blockchain provides for a Network Steward, chosen by consensus, who receives a portion of the PKT mined from each block. The role of the Network Steward is to support the PKT blockchain and ecosystem, fighting for enhanced privacy and greater individual autonomy for all. Anyone holding PKT Cash is eligible to cast a vote to choose the Network Steward. The Network Steward's treasury account does not accumulate indefinitely - it "burns" any balance older than 129,600 blocks (~3 months), which encourages the Steward to use their PKT holdings to provide support and funding for worthy projects.

The pktd software is under active development - releases should be considered beta quality software. The unreleased code in the develop branch is highly experimental and of alpha quality - it has not yet been rigorously tested, and should not be used in production environments.

It is recommended that users run the most recent tagged release (or a checkout of the master branch) for production deployments.

The pktd full-node software utilizies peer-to-peer networking to relay newly mined blocks, as well as individual transactions not yet included in a block. It also maintains a local transaction pool, consisting of transactions that have been accepted, based on rules defined by network consensus. Transactions undergo strict checking and filtering based on miner-defined requirements, separating them into two classes: "standard" and "non-standard", allowing them to be processed accordingly.

Unlike most cryptocurrency software, pktd does NOT provide any "built-in" wallet capability. This intentional design decision was made to enhance overall security and software modularity. While this means you cannot make or receive payments using pktd directly; this functionality is provided by the bundled, but separate, pktwallet package. Additional alternative wallet packages are currently under active development.

Requirements

Go (Golang), release 1.14.1 or later, running on a supported 64-bit platform.
A somewhat recent release of Git (used to clone the repository, and by Go to download dependencies).

Building pktd

Using git, clone the project from the repository:
- git clone -b develop-johnsonjh https://github.com/johnsonjh/pktd
Then, use the do script to build pktd, pktwallet, and pktctl:
- cd pktd && ./do

Optionally, run extended tests and generate code coverage reports:

Using go get, install the gocov and gocov-html tools into your GOPATH:
- GO111MODULES=off go get -t -u github.com/axw/gocov/gocov
- GO111MODULES=off go get -t -u github.com/matm/gocov-html
Then, run the coverage generation script: (zsh, bash, ksh, or mksh required.)
- PATH=$(go env GOPATH)/bin:${PATH} ./cov_report.sh

Linux Distributions

It is highly recommended to use the official Go toolchain distributed by Google, available for download from the Go homepage.

Software built and packaged for Linux distributions is often compiled with different defaults and non-standard patches, often deviating significantly from the corresponding official upstream release. This usually done to meet distribution-specific policies and requirements, but presents a unique hazard for software software such as pktd, operating on distributed consensus. This class of software is unique, in that it must maintain bug-for-bug compatibility in consensus-critical codepaths. Nodes which incorporate their own changes, even well-intentioned "fixes", may not be able to properly interoperate on the main network, and, in sufficient numbers, these nodes could, unintentionally, create an isolated or 'forked' blockchain, usable only by other similarly broken nodes.

While not currently the source of any known issue, Red Hat will backport cherry-picked updates from unreleased versions (or produce their own patches) to fix specific issues in their releases. They are also known to currently ship a Go distribution with a much different linker configuration than the upstream. Debian is well known for making changes to upstream sources, often extensively, sometimes incorrectly.

For these reasons, support can only be provided for Linux when the software is compiled from unmodified source code, using the official toolchain. If you have any doubts about your installed Go software, Google provides an automated Go installer for Linux.

Documentation

Currently, documentation for pktd, pktwallet, and pktctl is a "work-in-progress".

GoDoc documentation is provided, but is mostly developer-focused at this time. It can be viewed by running godoc -http=:6543 in the directory containing the pktd source code tree, then loading http://localhost:6543/pkg/github.com/johnsonjh/pktd/ in a web browser.

The same GoDoc documentation is also available at pkg.go.dev/github.com/johnsonjh/pktd, which does not require a local copy of the source code, or the godoc tool installed.

There is also documentation in the docs directory of the source tree available for review.

Community

PKT.chat is a Matterfoss server providing real-time interaction for the PKT community.
Other options are available and listed on the PKT.cash web site.

License

pktd is licensed under the Copyfree ISC License.

johnsonjh / pktd-wip