Written from scratch in Rust and approaching its mainnet launch, the patent-pending Layer 1 combines three consensus mechanisms, post-quantum signatures from its first block, and on-chain guardrails for AI agents.
Many new blockchains begin as someone else’s code. A team forks an established network, adjusts its parameters, and inherits its architecture along with its assumptions.
XerisCoin took the harder route. Developed by Xeris Technologies under CEO Zachary Winkle and CTO Tristen Cole, the network was written from scratch in Rust and builds security into the protocol itself: how blocks are produced, how they are signed, and what autonomous software is allowed to do once it is on-chain.
Three Mechanisms, One Slot
Where most blockchains rely on a single consensus mechanism, XerisCoin runs three inside every four-second slot, a design that is the subject of pending US and international (PCT) patent applications.
Each has a distinct role. Proof-of-History acts as the network’s clock, ordering events within the slot. Federated Proof-of-Stake selects the slot leader in proportion to stake, with a minimum of 1,000 XRS required to validate. Scrypt Proof-of-Work then seals the block. Because the Proof-of-Work hash commits to the Proof-of-History hash, and the leader’s signature binds the two together, forging a block would mean defeating all three mechanisms at once.
The layered design has not come at the expense of throughput. On testnet, live since January 2026, the network has sustained 10,000 transactions per second, with room for 40,000 transactions per block and finality in four seconds.
Post-Quantum From the First Block
Sufficiently powerful quantum computers could one day break the elliptic curve signatures that secure most blockchains today. Rather than scheduling a migration for later, XerisCoin will launch ready. Every mainnet block will carry a hybrid signature that pairs Ed25519 with CRYSTALS-Dilithium3 (ML-DSA-65), the lattice-based scheme NIST standardized as FIPS 204. The requirement holds from block one, and a valid forgery would require breaking both schemes.
Guardrails for AI Agents
As AI agents begin transacting on their own, XerisCoin gives them native infrastructure through the Ari Protocol. An owner delegates authority to an agent and defines its boundaries on-chain: a per-transaction maximum, a daily spending cap, whitelists of permitted contracts and operations, and an expiry. Sub-agents can never hold more authority than their parent, and a single transaction revokes an agent entirely. The chain, not the application, enforces every limit.
Real-World Assets and DeFi
The Alexandria Protocol brings real-world assets on-chain through Ricardian contracts, which bind legal terms to executable code, and applies compliance rules at the moment of transfer. Alexandria also houses the network’s native DEX and automated market maker, a bonding curve launchpad, and the block explorer. On-chain governance is built into the protocol.
Zero-Knowledge, Scoped With Intent
The XerisCoin runtime includes a native Groth16 verifier for attestations. Because Groth16 is not quantum-resistant, the network keeps it away from any operation that moves funds, consistent with its post-quantum posture. Zero-knowledge private transfers and identity proofs are slated to return on a post-quantum foundation in a future release.
CertiK Audit and Partnership
CertiK has published final audit reports on XerisCoin’s consensus module and its cryptography, Merkle tree, and transaction pool modules. Across the two reports, CertiK raised 109 findings: 101 were resolved, 8 were acknowledged as intentional design decisions, and none were declined. The consensus report identified no launch blockers, and XerisCoin holds an AA rating on CertiK Skynet with a score of 88.34.
Audits also set the pace of the rollout, with every promotion from testnet to devnet to mainnet gated on a completed audit. The final module, covering network.rs, contracts.rs, and genesis.
rs (the networking layer, native contracts, and genesis configuration), is nearing completion.
The relationship now extends beyond auditing. Xeris is partnering with CertiK, with details to be announced soon.
Mainnet and XRS
XerisCoin mainnet is set to launch soon as a decentralized Layer 1. At launch, holders of the existing Solana-based XRS will be able to migrate to native XRS at a fixed 5:1 ratio.
XRS carries a hard cap of 700 million tokens. Of that supply, 500 million will be emitted as mining, staking, and attestation rewards, and 200 million are held in treasury.
Security as the Starting Point
XerisCoin rests on a single conviction: security is not a feature to add later. Three consensus mechanisms guard block production, post-quantum signatures protect the chain from its first block, and AI agents operate within limits set at the protocol level. Every layer was written in-house, without forking another network’s codebase.
