Acoin

A generic coin inspired by Bitcoin. In javascript. Meant to experiment with blockchains capabilities.

Install

Download, clone or fork the Acoin repository, then run: npm install

Run a node

To run a node that instantly uses HTTP_PORT=3001 P2P_PORT=5001 and listens to all available peers run:

npm run dev

Run Multiple nodes

Because you won't be able to test much without more than one node, use the same npm run dev command, but change the ports. Although the actual port names differ based on the amount of ports you're using, here's an example of the second port. HTTP_PORT=3002 P2P_PORT=5002 PEERS=ws://localhost:5001 npm run dev

Endpoints

Because Acoin currently has no front end interface to use the currency, using the currency is easier by using an API tool like Postman. Here's a list of endpoints to play with:

Get
  /blocks  
  /transactions
  /mine-transactions
  /public-Key
  /my-balance


Post
  /transact
    PARAMS:
      recipient: <recipients public key>
      amount: <int>

  /mine-transactions

Test Suite

Acoin uses Jest for testing of all it's code. Every acoin module has a file.test.js file that's used to test every function created. To run Jest test suite use:

npm run test

TODO

In order to make the generic Acoin into a product concept that spans beyond just another bitcoin clone, there're two different areas of interest that need to be worked on, in phases. Phase one will be focused on making the currency interface both easier to use (the user facing side of the currency) and more secure (the mining side). Task to do regarding both stages:

Phase One: Making the standard cryptocurrency

  Interaction:
    1. Assigned to PaulAndreRada: Create a mining Daemon for continuous mining.    
    2. Create a wallet CLI tool, include the mining deamon in it.

  Performance:
    1. Refactor the calculateBalance function to be more efficient.
    2. Refactor the calculateBalance function to be more full-proof of all the possible mining use cases:

  Security:
    1. Create a test suite with all of the penetration test possible.

  Possible:
      1. Design and create a proof of stake mining system.

Phase Two: Making it a product (beyond just a cryptocurrency)

  Interface:
    1. Create an easy to use client app for normies to interact with the currency
    2. Create an abstraction of the key and public key system to allow for the most basic possible email/password combination with a "forgot password" feature.

More to come on both phases.