Lukso Genesis Validator Smart Contract to Go Live on 4/20 at '4:20'

Lukso, a layer 1 blockchain for creative types that was co-founded by blockchain veterans Fabian Vogelsteller and Marjorie Hernandez, is opening a smart contract that lets “Genesis,” or original validators, participate in running the blockchain.

The smart-contract deposits will open on the Ethereum blockchain on April 20 (4/20) at 16:20 UTC (or as the team put it, 4:20 p.m. UTC), and will be running for three weeks. According to the team, the choice of time is a reference to "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" book series, television program and movie. Perhaps not entirely coincidentally, it's also a staple of cannabis-culture slang that ranks highly among crypto memes.

Anyone can become a Genesis validator if they contribute 32 LYXE (about $439 worth) to secure the network. (LYXE is Lukso’s native token, based on the Ethereum blockchain, which will convert to LYX once the Lukso blockchain is live.)

The Genesis validators will generate the Genesis files, which will run the new blockchain.

“So the community basically just runs the network with these Genesis files and starts the Lukso network,” Vogelsteller told CoinDesk.

Read more: Inventor of Ethereum’s ERC-20 Token Standard Plans New Blockchain ‘LUKSO’ for Creative Types

Genesis validators on Lukso will have an important role in establishing the supply of the LYX token, as well as how involved the Foundation (the Foundation for New Creative Economies) will be in the ecosystem. As part of the smart contract deposit, Genesis validators will vote on how many LYX tokens should exist when the network starts. They will vote on whether 35 million LYX will be in circulation with the Foundation holding 11.8% of the token supply, 42 million LYX in circulation with the Foundation holding 26.5% of token supply, or 100 million LYX in circulation, with the Foundation holding 69.1% of token supply.

Lukso’s Genesis deposit smart contract will run as long as it obtains 4,096 validator keys to start safely. Once enough validator keys are created, Lukso will freeze the smart contract, and the Lukso blockchain network will start running.

Lukso is a new layer 1 project aimed at blockchain creatives, and what the project's co-founders call the “creative economy.” The blockchain is centered around “universal profiles,” which gives users the ability to create an on-chain identity to be used in all sorts of places (NFTs, decentralized social media, payments), making activity of users integrated under one roof that is more than just a wallet address.

“When we started exploring the idea you had a community that was very developer centric,” said Marjorie Hernandez, a co-founder of Lukso. Hernandez said that she is excited to see what others use the blockchain for. “I really look forward to people building implementations of the universal profiles that are superior to ours, and marketplaces and more.”

The LXYE price had gained 9.7% over the prior 24 hours at the time CoinDesk broke the news of the timing of the launch, but it has since climbed another 8.8% – one of the day’s best-performing tokens among those with market capitalization of at least $100 million, according to Messari.

The token’s price has roughly doubled since CoinDesk wrote of the plans for the launch on April 5.

CORRECTION (April 20, 2023 16:04 UTC): After publication of this story, Lukso contacted us to correct numbers on token supply and how long the window will be open for those looking to join the smart contract. This story has been updated to include the correct information.

UPDATE (April 18, 2023 16:26 UTC): Adds information about LYXE price.