Alaya is the meta-network of PlatON, a privacy-preserving computing network and infrastructure for a distributed economy. It also serves as the foundational prototype and "business sandbox" for next-generation financial infrastructure. The Alaya network launched on October 24, 2020, at 10:24 AM, establishing itself as a global "pilot zone" for next-generation privacy-preserving computing architecture and data-asset computation infrastructure.
Alaya's launch marks PlatON's official transition from its R&D and technical testnet phases into the application validation stage. PlatON will now provide more tools and applications to facilitate the issuance and trading of data assets powered by privacy-preserving computing. This aims to encourage broader participation from data owners, consumers, and algorithm providers, working together to build the infrastructure for full data-factor circulation.
However, Alaya is not a conventional "testnet." It is an independent "digital lifeform," designed to persist autonomously with its own community governance and ecosystem. Alaya is neither subordinate to nor an extension of PlatON. While they share the same underlying technology stack, they maintain different levels of openness and activity. They are united by a common vision and philosophy but follow distinct evolutionary paths and functional divisions based on their respective development stages.
Therefore, Alaya is intended to exist indefinitely. All technological innovations, experimental products, and community governance models will first be deployed on Alaya, allowing genuine order to emerge organically from complexity. It will continue until the community collectively decides it is no longer needed.
ATP Issuance
Alaya adopts the same economic model framework as PlatON, with some localized adjustments. Its native token is called ATP. ATP has no hard cap and consists of an initial issuance followed by inflationary issuance. All ATP is allocated exclusively to incentivize ecosystem participants, fostering robust growth for the Alaya network and its community.
ATP has no initial market price. It functions solely as a unit of account for distributed infrastructure services and resource consumption within the Alaya network. Like other utility tokens, ATP fundamentally quantifies the "measurable" and "institutionalized" transaction cost of a decentralized financial infrastructure—the essence of "trust." Alaya uses ATP to formalize the meaning of "trust," but this does not imply ATP can be explicitly valued in any external manner. It is intended solely for internal network use and measurement.
The initial ATP issuance excludes allocations for the founding team or private sale participants. Instead, ATP is distributed across the Ecosystem Development Fund, Node Incentive Fund, Community Operations Fund, and Technology Fund, each subject to corresponding lock-up mechanisms. To safeguard staked account rights, locked ATP may be used for validator node staking and delegation.
ATP inflation primarily incentivizes nodes to maintain the distributed ledger and encourages sustained participation from ecosystem actors in Alaya's development. Alaya employs batch-based inflation, with a single annual issuance (one inflation cycle) per year. Inflation is calculated based on the expected number of blocks produced annually. Each inflation cycle increases the total ATP supply by a fixed 5% relative to the prior cycle's total issuance.
Consensus Mechanism
Alaya implements the same PPoS (Practical Proof-of-Stake) consensus mechanism as PlatON. It randomly selects validators from a small pool of candidate nodes to participate in BFT consensus, balancing validator count against performance. Any ATP holder can become a candidate node by staking ATP as a security deposit. Other ATP holders can then vote via delegation, maintaining a dynamic, compact list of candidate nodes. From this list, several validators are randomly selected—using VRF and probabilistic distribution—to produce and verify blocks.
VRF ensures selection randomness, reducing the risk of validator-targeted attacks while enhancing decentralization. Probabilistic distribution increases the likelihood that candidates with higher stakes are selected, incentivizing them to increase their stake. As the total amount of LAT staked across the system grows, overall network security improves. This method narrows the validator selection pool to ensure consensus efficiency while effectively avoiding excessive centralization.
Node Election
Any ATP holder can become a candidate node by staking a minimum of 10,000 ATP as a security deposit. There is no upper limit on the total number of candidate nodes. Candidate nodes may accept delegations. At the settlement block of the current cycle, if a candidate ranks within the top 101 based on total staked amount (self-stake plus delegated stake), they qualify as a candidate node for the next cycle. All candidate nodes may increase their staked ATP at any time to improve their ranking.
The candidate node list is capped at 101 and is refreshed at the final block (settlement block) of each settlement cycle. Selection follows this priority order:
First, sorted by the running system version number (descending).
Second, sorted by total staked amount (descending).
If total staked amounts are equal, ranking is determined by the block height of the initial stake (lower height takes precedence).
If initial stake block heights are identical, ranking is determined by the transaction index within that block (lower index takes precedence).
Each consensus cycle produces 250 blocks. At block #230 of the cycle, several validators are randomly selected from the 101 candidate nodes using VRF and probabilistic distribution to produce and verify blocks. Validators for the first consensus cycle are pre-defined in the genesis block. To prevent newly selected validators from impacting consensus efficiency due to slow connectivity or synchronization issues—and to preserve fault tolerance—not all 25 validators are replaced simultaneously; only a subset is rotated each cycle.
Candidate nodes may voluntarily withdraw; validators may also be forcibly removed if penalized. To uphold network security, withdrawn stakes undergo an extended freeze period before release. This ensures malicious attacks remain punishable even if detected only after execution.
To incentivize node partners to sustainably support Alaya's operations, Alaya provides ATP rewards for initial staking to approved nodes and offers ongoing rewards for consistently operational nodes.
Delegation Rewards
ATP holders may delegate their ATP to candidate nodes to earn rewards. Delegated ATP becomes locked starting from the next settlement cycle and remains locked; the system does not support automatic redemption. Only ATP locked for a full settlement cycle qualifies to share in node rewards.
Through the PPoS consensus mechanism, delegators stake their ATP with candidate nodes, which directly affects the nodes' rankings. The top 101 candidates become standby nodes for each settlement cycle, earning Staking rewards. They also gain the chance to be selected as validators, produce blocks, and earn block rewards along with the transaction fees contained within.
Delegators play a crucial role in determining and maintaining a candidate node's rank. To climb the rankings and attract more delegations, nodes must offer competitive reward shares to their supporters. The specific percentage of rewards allocated to delegators is set by the node when it initially stakes to become a candidate.
Delegation rewards come from two primary sources:
Block Rewards: When a delegated candidate node acts as a validator and produces a block, it earns block rewards. A portion of these rewards is distributed to its delegators based on the node's pre-declared reward ratio.
Staking Rewards: When a delegated candidate node serves as a standby node, it earns Staking rewards at the settlement block. These rewards are also shared with delegators according to the node's specified ratio.
Ecosystem Rewards
The Alaya Ecosystem Development Fund is dedicated to fostering the growth of the Alaya network. This includes initiatives like the Alaya Grants+ program for DApp developers, forming ecosystem partnerships, incentivizing channels and user contributions, and supporting community building and education.
Through Alaya Grants+, the network actively encourages and funds innovative DApp projects. Developers can apply to the LatticeX Foundation; approved projects may receive grants in LAT and other currencies, plus additional ATP to support experimental applications on Alaya. Developers can also request further ATP allocations—customized to their project's needs and scale—to subsidize user transaction fees or drive user engagement.
Alaya is continuously expanding its network of ecosystem partners. We welcome partners and community members to co-host online and offline events and workshops. Significant contributions from partners and users will be recognized and rewarded.
LAT Rewards
The LatticeX Foundation will provide LAT to support the development of the Alaya network.
LAT incentive programs will be rolled out in phases. Each phase will feature specific rules tailored to Alaya's development stage, targeting developers, nodes, partners, and users to cultivate a vibrant and growing ecosystem.
Learn more about Alaya through our community channels:
Official Website: https://alaya.network
Forum: https://forum.latticex.foundation/c/Alaya-CN
Mobile Wallet ATON: https://www.platon.network/developer/?lang=zh#aton
Block Explorer: https://scan.alaya.network
Node Installation & Developer Documentation: https://devdocs.alaya.network/alaya-devdocs/zh-CN/