A deep dive into Parallax’s security model: signatures for authorship, PVM for semantics, Proof-of-Work for time, and Nakamoto consensus for canonical history.
Parallax weaves cryptography, deterministic execution, proof-of-work timekeeping, and neutral fork-choice into a single verifiable pipeline.
ECDSA decides who may act (valid authorship).
Defines what actions do (state transitions).
Establishes when actions occur (ordered by PoW).
Selects which history prevails (heaviest chain).
Who can act: ECDSA over secp256k1 authenticates state transitions.
// Pseudocode: PVM-side validation sketch
verify(tx):
msg = keccak256(encodeTxForSig(tx))
pub = ecrecover(msg, tx.v, tx.r, tx.s)
require(address(pub) == tx.from)
require(tx.nonce == account.nonce)
// gas accounting & state updates proceed
What actions mean: Deterministic EVM-compatible execution under Bitcoin-like monetary rules.
// Conceptual block processing
for (tx of block.txs):
result = PVM.execute(tx, state)
commit:
stateRoot = MPT(state)
receiptsRoot = MPT(receipts)
header.stateRoot = stateRoot
header.receiptsRoot = receiptsRoot
When actions occur: PoW turns time into a cryptographic resource and orders events.
// Block header sketch
header = {
parentHash,
stateRoot,
txRoot,
time,
nonce,
difficulty,
mixHash, // XHash result
}
assert(block.parent.hash == parentHash)
assert(XHash(header) < target(difficulty))
Which history prevails: the heaviest valid chain by cumulative work is canonical.
// Choose chain with max cumulative work
best = argmax(chains, sum(block.work for block in chain))
A signed transaction enters the mempool → the miner proposes a block → the PVM executes deterministically → the header commits to state/receipts → XHash proves work → the network adopts the heaviest valid chain. Scarcity (21M, halvings) underpins all execution.