LP-0: Lux Network Architecture & Standards Framework

Abstract

LP-0000 is the genesis document for Lux Network — establishing our mission, the standards process, and the technical architecture that makes it possible.

Lux is a multi-chain blockchain platform designed for institutional-grade applications requiring quantum-resistant security, sub-second finality, and seamless cross-chain interoperability. The network achieves this through a modular architecture where specialized chains handle distinct workloads (execution, bridging, AI, threshold cryptography) while sharing security through unified consensus.

This document defines:

Mission & Ethos: Why Lux exists and our core principles
Standards Process: How LPs (Lux Proposals) govern the network's evolution
Architecture Overview: The multi-chain topology and consensus model
Research Domains: The technical subjects that LPs address

Motivation

Every blockchain ecosystem requires a canonical reference document that establishes foundational principles, governance processes, and architectural decisions. Without such a document:

New contributors lack context for design decisions
Standards become inconsistent across proposals
Architectural evolution lacks coordination
Mission alignment drifts over time

LP-0000 addresses this by serving as the genesis specification — the document from which all other LPs derive authority and context. It establishes:

Why we build: Mission, principles, and impact commitments
How we coordinate: The LP standards process and governance
What we build: Multi-chain architecture and chain responsibilities
Where knowledge lives: Research domain organization

This document is intentionally comprehensive. Other LPs can be terse, referencing LP-0000 for shared context.

Part 1: Mission & Ethos

Why Lux Exists

Blockchain infrastructure today faces four fundamental challenges:

Quantum Vulnerability: Existing networks rely on cryptography that quantum computers will break
Fragmentation: Different chains for different use cases with no secure interoperability
Institutional Gaps: Missing infrastructure for compliance, custody, and enterprise integration
Impact Blindness: Networks that ignore environmental sustainability and social responsibility

Lux addresses these by building infrastructure-first — treating consensus, cryptography, bridging, custody, and impact as foundational systems rather than afterthoughts.

Impact-First Development

Lux integrates environmental and social impact into its core architecture, not as an afterthought but as a design principle:

Sustainable Consensus: Quasar achieves finality without energy-intensive proof-of-work
Carbon Transparency: On-chain accounting for network energy consumption (see LP-801)
Green Compute: Validator incentives aligned with renewable energy usage (see LP-810)
Public Goods: Treasury allocation for ecosystem grants and community development (see LP-920)
Financial Inclusion: Infrastructure designed for global accessibility (see LP-930)

The complete Impact Framework is defined in the ESG LP series (LP-750 to LP-930), including:

LP-760: Lux Network Impact Thesis
LP-800: ESG Principles & Commitments
LP-900: Impact Framework & Theory of Change

Financial Inclusion Mission

Nearly 800 million Muslims worldwide remain unbanked — excluded from traditional financial systems that conflict with Islamic finance principles (prohibition of interest/riba). Billions more across marginalized communities lack access to banking infrastructure entirely: the rural poor, refugees, the undocumented, and those in economies with unstable currencies.

Lux addresses this through:

Sharia-Compliant DeFi: Native support for profit-sharing (Mudarabah), cost-plus financing (Murabaha), and Islamic lending patterns without interest
Low-Barrier Access: Sub-cent transaction fees and mobile-first wallets enabling participation without bank accounts
Stablecoin Infrastructure: Censorship-resistant value storage for populations facing currency collapse or capital controls
Remittance Corridors: Near-instant, low-cost cross-border transfers for migrant worker communities
Identity Primitives: Self-sovereign identity enabling the undocumented to build financial history

Beyond access, Lux invests in human capital development:

Web3 Training Programs: Partnership-funded bootcamps for blockchain development, smart contract auditing, and DeFi operations
Protocol Scholarships: Grants for underrepresented developers to contribute to core protocol development
Regional Developer Hubs: Infrastructure support for tech communities in underserved regions
Open Educational Resources: Free, multilingual documentation and tutorials

Our thesis: financial infrastructure and technical education together create compounding opportunity — access to capital enables entrepreneurship, technical skills enable economic mobility, and both together transform communities.

See LP-760 (Network Impact Thesis) and LP-930 (Financial Inclusion Metrics) for detailed frameworks.

Ecosystem Partners

Lux operates alongside two aligned organizations that extend the network's capabilities:

Zoo Labs Foundation (zoo.ngo) A non-profit open research network advancing decentralized AI and decentralized science (DeSci). Zoo operates a flagship Layer 2 on Lux Network, providing:

ZIPs (Zoo Improvement Proposals): Governance at zips.zoo.ngo
Zen LLM Family: Open-source large language models (built on Qwen3+)
Frontier AI Research: Cutting-edge experiments in DeAI
DeSci Infrastructure: Tools for reproducible, transparent scientific research
Impact Research: ESG methodologies and measurement frameworks

Zoo Labs' L2 demonstrates Lux's multi-chain architecture while advancing mission-aligned AI research.

Hanzo AI (hanzo.ai | hanzo.network) A Techstars '17 backed AI company building frontier AI infrastructure, including:

Hanzo Network: AI-native blockchain for model verification and inference consensus
LLM Gateway (HIP-4): Access to 100+ LLM providers via unified API
MCP Infrastructure: Model Context Protocol for AI agent coordination
Jin Architecture: Unified multimodal AI framework
Agent Frameworks: Enterprise-grade AI agent orchestration

Hanzo provides the AI infrastructure that powers LP-5106 (LLM Gateway Integration), enabling smart contracts to access AI inference, validators to leverage AI monitoring, and developers to use AI-assisted tooling.

Together, Lux (blockchain infrastructure), Zoo Labs (open research), and Hanzo (AI infrastructure) form a vertically-integrated stack for building the decentralized intelligent economy.

Core Principles

1. Security by Default

Post-quantum cryptography (ML-KEM, ML-DSA, SLH-DSA) as first-class primitives
Threshold signatures for distributed custody without single points of failure
Formal verification where possible, extensive testing always

2. Modularity

Chains are specialized, not monolithic
Consensus, execution, and cryptography are cleanly separated
Components can be upgraded independently

3. Interoperability

Native cross-chain messaging via Warp protocol
Asset movement through dedicated bridging infrastructure
No "walled garden" — chains communicate trustlessly

4. Open Development

All specifications are public LPs
Reference implementations are open source
Community governance through structured proposal process

5. Institutional Grade

Sub-second finality for real-world applications
Compliance primitives (attestations, identity, audit trails)
Enterprise-ready custody and key management

6. Impact & Sustainability

ESG-compliant by design, not by accident
Carbon-aware consensus and compute allocation
Public goods funding through protocol-level mechanisms
Measurable impact metrics aligned with UN SDGs

Part 2: The LP Standards Process

What is an LP?

An LP (Lux Proposal) is a design document describing a feature, standard, or process for Lux Network. LPs are the primary mechanism for:

Proposing new technical standards
Documenting design decisions
Collecting community input
Coordinating network upgrades

LP Types

Type	Purpose	Examples
Standards Track	Technical specifications requiring implementation	Consensus protocols, token standards, precompiles
Meta	Process and governance	This document, contribution guidelines
Informational	Guidelines and best practices	Security recommendations, design patterns

Standards Track Categories

Category	Description	LP Range
Consensus	Agreement, finality, validators	100-199
Network	P2P, messaging, topology	200-499
P-Chain	Platform coordination	1000-1199
C-Chain	EVM execution, precompiles	2000-2499
X-Chain	Asset exchange	3000-3999
Q-Chain	Post-quantum operations	4000-4999
A-Chain	AI and attestation	5000-5999
B-Chain	Bridging	6000-6999
T-Chain	Threshold cryptography	7000-7999
Z-Chain	Zero-knowledge proofs	8000-8999
DEX	Trading infrastructure	9000-9999

LP Lifecycle

 Draft ----> Review ----> Last Call ----> Final
   |           |             |
   v           v             v
Withdrawn   Stagnant     Superseded

Draft: Initial submission, open for revision Review: Formal technical and community review Last Call: 14-day final comment period before finalization Final: Ratified and ready for implementation

Creating an LP

cd ~/work/lux/lps

# Create new LP via interactive wizard
make new

# Validate LP format
make validate FILE=LPs/lp-N.md

# Run all pre-PR checks
make pre-pr

Required Sections

Every LP must include:

Abstract: ~200 word summary
Motivation: Why this LP is needed
Specification: Technical details
Rationale: Design decisions explained
Backwards Compatibility: Migration considerations
Security Considerations: Risk analysis
Test Cases: For Standards Track
Reference Implementation: Recommended

Governance

Discussion: Forum at forum.lux.network
Submission: PR to github.com/luxfi/lps
Review: Technical editors verify format, community evaluates merit
On-chain: Critical changes require governance vote (10M LUX threshold, 75% approval)

Part 3: Network Architecture

Multi-Chain Topology

Lux implements a heterogeneous multi-chain architecture where each chain runs a specialized Virtual Machine (VM) optimized for its workload.

+=====================================================================+
|                         PRIMARY NETWORK                             |
+---------------------+---------------------+-------------------------+
|      P-Chain        |      C-Chain        |       X-Chain           |
|    (Platform)       |     (Contract)      |      (Exchange)         |
+---------------------+---------------------+-------------------------+
| - Validator mgmt    | - EVM execution     | - Asset transfers       |
| - Staking           | - Smart contracts   | - UTXO model            |
| - Chain creation    | - DeFi protocols    | - High throughput       |
| - Network config    | - Precompiles       | - Atomic swaps          |
+---------------------+---------------------+-------------------------+
                              |
            +-----------------+-----------------+
            |                 |                 |
            v                 v                 v
+---------------------+ +--------------+ +------------------+
|      T-Chain        | |   Q-Chain    | |     B-Chain      |
|    (Threshold)      | |  (Quantum)   | |    (Bridge)      |
+---------------------+ +--------------+ +------------------+
| - FROST/CGGMP       | | - ML-KEM     | | - Cross-chain    |
| - Ringtail          | | - ML-DSA     | | - Asset registry |
| - MPC custody       | | - SLH-DSA    | | - Teleport       |
| - Key management    | | - Quantum-safe| | - Message relay  |
+---------------------+ +--------------+ +------------------+
            |                 |                 |
            v                 v                 v
+---------------------+ +--------------+ +------------------+
|      A-Chain        | |   Z-Chain    | |     D-Chain      |
|  (AI/Attestation)   | |    (ZK)      | |     (DEX)        |
+---------------------+ +--------------+ +------------------+
| - Model verification| | - zkVM       | | - Order books    |
| - Training ledgers  | | - SNARKs     | | - Matching engine|
| - TEE attestation   | | - Validity   | | - Perpetuals     |
| - Confidential AI   | | - Private exec| | - HFT support    |
+---------------------+ +--------------+ +------------------+

Virtual Machine Implementation

Each chain runs a dedicated VM from the node codebase:

Chain	VM	Location	Purpose
P-Chain	platformvm	`vms/platformvm/`	Validator sets, staking, L1/L2/L3 chains
C-Chain	cchainvm	`vms/cchainvm/`	EVM-compatible smart contracts
X-Chain	exchangevm	`vms/exchangevm/`	UTXO-based asset exchange
T-Chain	thresholdvm	`vms/thresholdvm/`	Threshold signatures
Q-Chain	quantumvm	`vms/quantumvm/`	Post-quantum cryptography
B-Chain	bridgevm	`vms/bridgevm/`	Cross-chain bridging
A-Chain	aivm	`vms/aivm/`	AI attestation
Z-Chain	zkvm	`vms/zkvm/`	Zero-knowledge proofs
D-Chain	dexvm	`vms/dexvm/`	Decentralized exchange
K-Chain	kchainvm	`vms/kchainvm/`	Key management
G-Chain	graphvm	`vms/graphvm/`	GraphQL indexing

Quasar Consensus

Lux uses Quasar, a unified consensus protocol achieving sub-second finality through a physics-inspired multi-phase architecture:

PHOTON ------> WAVE ------> FOCUS
(Select)      (Vote)      (Converge)
                              |
                              v
 FLARE <------ HORIZON <---- PRISM
(Commit)      (Finality)    (DAG)

Component	Function	LP
Photon	VRF-based proposer selection weighted by stake and performance	LP-111
Wave	FPC threshold voting with phase-dependent thresholds	LP-113
Focus	Confidence accumulation through consecutive successes	LP-114
Prism	DAG geometry: frontiers, cuts, and slicing	LP-116
Horizon	Finality predicates: certificates and skip detection	LP-115
Flare	Cascading finalization in causal order	LP-112

Performance Characteristics:

Time to finality: 400-800ms
Message complexity: O(kn) where k=20 samples
Byzantine tolerance: f < n/3
Rounds to finality: 3-5 typical

See LP-110 for the complete Quasar specification.

Cross-Chain Communication

Warp Messaging: Native cross-chain message protocol

BLS aggregate signatures for efficient verification
Validator set attestation
Low-latency message delivery

Teleport Protocol: Asset bridging via B-Chain

MPC-secured custody
Asset registry for canonical mappings
Emergency recovery mechanisms

ICM (Inter-Chain Messaging): Application-level messaging

Standardized message formats
Relayer infrastructure
Fee abstraction

Part 4: Research Domains

LPs are organized by research domain — distinct knowledge areas that may span multiple chains.

Subjects (Research Domains)

Subject	Description	Key LPs
Consensus Systems	Agreement, finality, validators	LP-110 to LP-116
Threshold Cryptography	FROST, CGGMP, Ringtail, distributed signing	LP-7100+
Multi-Party Computation	General secure computation	LP-7000+
Key Management	K-Chain, HSM, policy engines	LP-7300+
Post-Quantum Cryptography	ML-KEM, ML-DSA, SLH-DSA	LP-311, LP-312, LP-313
Zero-Knowledge Proofs	SNARKs, STARKs, zkVM	LP-8000+
Cryptography	Curves, hashes, signatures	LP-200+
AI & Attestation	Model verification, training ledgers	LP-5000+
Bridging Systems	Asset movement, Teleport	LP-6000+
Interoperability	Warp, ICM, message formats	LP-600+

Product Areas

Area	Description	Key LPs
Markets & DeFi	AMMs, lending, derivatives	LP-2500+
DEX & Trading	Order books, matching, HFT	LP-9000+
Assets & Tokens	LRC-20, LRC-721, LRC-1155	LP-20, LP-721, LP-1155
Wallets & Identity	Multisig, AA, DIDs	LP-2600+
Governance & Impact	DAOs, voting, ESG, sustainability	LP-750 to LP-930
Privacy	FHE, TEE, confidential compute	LP-8300+
Developer Platform	SDKs, CLIs, testing	LP-5100+
Security	Audits, bug bounties	LP-5400+

Impact & ESG Framework

Lux maintains a comprehensive impact framework documented across dedicated LPs:

LP	Title	Purpose
LP-750	Vision Fund ESG Framework	Investment criteria and screening
LP-760	Network Impact Thesis	Why impact matters for Lux
LP-800	ESG Principles	Core sustainability commitments
LP-801	Carbon Accounting	Methodology for emissions tracking
LP-810	Green Compute	Energy-efficient infrastructure
LP-820	Energy Transparency	Public reporting standards
LP-830	ESG Risk Management	Risk assessment framework
LP-840	Anti-Greenwashing	Authenticity verification
LP-900	Impact Framework	Theory of change and measurement
LP-920	Grants Program	Community development funding
LP-930	Financial Inclusion	Accessibility metrics

Standards Progression

The LP system defines standards from low-level primitives to application protocols:

+=================================================================+
|                    STANDARDS HIERARCHY                          |
+=================================================================+

  Layer 5: Applications
    - DeFi protocols (AMM, lending, derivatives)
    - DEX specifications (orderbook, matching)
    - Consumer apps (wallets, identity)

  Layer 4: Token Standards
    - LRC-20: Fungible tokens
    - LRC-721: Non-fungible tokens
    - LRC-1155: Multi-token standard

  Layer 3: Chain Standards
    - C-Chain precompiles (secp256r1, PQC, threshold)
    - Cross-chain messaging (Warp, ICM)
    - Bridge protocols (Teleport, asset registry)

  Layer 2: Consensus & Network
    - Quasar consensus (Photon, Wave, Focus, Prism, Horizon)
    - P2P networking (gossip, peer discovery)
    - Validator management (staking, delegation)

  Layer 1: Cryptographic Primitives
    - Post-quantum (ML-KEM, ML-DSA, SLH-DSA)
    - Threshold (FROST, CGGMP, Ringtail)
    - Classical (BLS, Ed25519, secp256k1)

+=================================================================+

Implementation

Repository Structure

LPs Repository: github.com/luxfi/lps

lps/
├── LPs/                 # All LP specifications
│   ├── TEMPLATE.md     # Template for new LPs
│   └── lp-*.md         # Individual proposals
├── docs/               # Documentation site (Next.js)
├── scripts/            # Validation and management tools
└── Makefile            # Common operations

Node Implementation: github.com/luxfi/node

node/
├── vms/                # Virtual machine implementations
│   ├── platformvm/    # P-Chain
│   ├── cchainvm/      # C-Chain (EVM)
│   ├── exchangevm/    # X-Chain
│   ├── thresholdvm/   # T-Chain
│   ├── quantumvm/     # Q-Chain
│   ├── bridgevm/      # B-Chain
│   ├── aivm/          # A-Chain
│   ├── zkvm/          # Z-Chain
│   ├── dexvm/         # DEX chain
│   └── ...
├── consensus/          # Quasar consensus engine
├── network/            # P2P networking
├── chains/             # Chain management
└── genesis/            # Network genesis

Quick Start

# Clone and explore LPs
git clone https://github.com/luxfi/lps
cd lps
make help

# Run documentation site
cd docs && pnpm dev

# Create new LP
make new

Security Considerations

Multi-chain Isolation: Chains are isolated; bugs in one VM don't affect others
Consensus Security: Quasar achieves BFT guarantees with f < n/3 Byzantine tolerance
Cryptographic Agility: PQC support enables transition before quantum threats materialize
Review Process: All consensus-critical LPs require external audit

References

[1] Lux Network Documentation: docs.lux.network
[2] LP Repository: github.com/luxfi/lps
[3] Node Implementation: github.com/luxfi/node
[4] Consensus Library: github.com/luxfi/consensus
[5] Ethereum EIP Process: eips.ethereum.org
[6] NIST Post-Quantum Standards: FIPS 203, 204, 205

Lux Network Architecture & Standards Framework