Alephium: The Proof-of-Work Blockchain That’s Changing the Game

In a Web3 landscape saturated with EVM blockchains cloned from each other, Alephium stands out with a bold approach. This Swiss Layer 1 combines the security of Proof-of-Work, the scalability of sharding, a smooth user experience, and an innovative energy model. With Danube, its latest update, the project reaches a major milestone. To understand the stakes, we met Maud Bannwart, a central figure of the team and a true bridge between technology and usage.

Maud, the human face of Alephium

Maud Bannwart joined Alephium even before the project became public. “I was the first non-developer to join the team“, she confides. Today, she coordinates legal aspects, oversees partnerships, participates in conferences, and ensures that the needs of users as well as developers are well taken into account.

Her cross-functional profile brings a global vision, valuable in a technical universe where solutions multiply without always meeting concrete expectations in the field. She acts as the spokesperson for a project that does not seek to revolutionize everything but to correct the structural flaws of existing solutions.

Danube: a structural upgrade

The Danube update is the most ambitious evolution of Alephium to date. It aims to make the protocol faster, easier to use, and better suited for developing complex applications.

Among the key new features:

• Block time reduced to 8 seconds: to speed up confirmations and improve transaction fluidity;
• Groupless addresses: a subtle but powerful change that eliminates a complex technical layer for the user;
• +20,000 transactions per second: performance achieved thanks to better node synchronization (3x faster);
• New tools for developers: such as chain transactions, improved composability, and more accessible testing modules.

“ We want users to no longer see the complexity of sharding“, summarizes Maud. With Danube, Alephium gains maturity while staying true to its technical and minimalist DNA.

Proof-of-Less-Work: the ecological secret weapon

One of the most common critiques of Proof-of-Work concerns its energy consumption. Alephium responds with an innovative approach: Proof-of-Less-Work.

The concept is simple: replace part of the energy expenditure with a burn mechanism while maintaining consensus integrity. This hybrid model reduces environmental impact without weakening network security.

If Bitcoin used our model, it would consume 87% less energy.

This mechanism also introduces an interesting economic dimension. By reducing the available supply through the burn, it creates deflationary pressure on the ALPH coin, which strengthens the model’s sustainability while protecting miners’ incentives.

Developers: why leave the EVM for Alephium?

Faced with the growing complexity of the EVM environment, Alephium offers an alternative that is clearer, more robust, and more economical for developers.

The platform is based on a Turing-complete virtual machine in a UTXO environment, an architecture rarely exploited in this way. The result: reinforced native security and a significant reduction in the risk of exploits related to smart contracts.

“ Today, an EVM project’s audit budget often exceeds that for development“, reminds Maud. Alephium tackles this absurdity by offering a more reliable, predictable framework while remaining flexible enough to host complex DApps. Direct contact with the development team also allows influencing the protocol from within, a luxury few blockchains offer today.

Towards a Web2 UX in Web3

Alephium does not only seek to attract developers. The project places user experience at the heart of its strategy, integrating tools inspired by Web2 standards.

Native support for Passkeys allows the creation of wallets without seed phrases, compatible with biometric devices like Face ID or physical keys like Yubikey. “We will be able to offer wallets as simple to use as those in Web2“, says Maud.

This advancement makes onboarding into Web3 much smoother, while enhancing the security of personal wallets. Alephium thus anticipates broader adoption, beyond the circle of insiders.

Roadmap: what Alephium is preparing for 2025+

After Danube, Alephium does not intend to slow down. Several major projects are already underway.

• Support for regulated tokens based on smart contracts, to facilitate the tokenization of compliant assets;
• Continuous performance optimization, with block time further reduced in the future and faster DApps;
• Community growth, through better tooling, tutorials, and a more structured ecosystem.

The ambition is clear: to become the reference for smart contracts on Proof-of-Work, in a landscape that too often neglects this technology in favor of all-EVM.

Alephium: an alternative vision of Web3

Alephium does not promise a brutal revolution. It builds, layer by layer, a serious alternative to traditional blockchains. Its architecture relies on deliberate choices: Proof-of-Work for security, native sharding for scalability, and a UX designed for everyone, from the seasoned developer to the curious user.

Thanks to innovations like those brought by the Danube upgrade, accessible tools, an eco-responsible approach with Proof-of-Less-Work, and sincere attention to the community, Alephium redefines what a modern L1 blockchain can be. Far from the noise of marketing promises, the project advances with coherence and commitment. “Proof-of-Work can be scalable, performant, and user-friendly“, summarizes Maud Bannwart.

In an ecosystem often torn between hype and standardization, Alephium carves a unique path, more technical, sober, and resolutely forward-looking. Its strength rests as much on the solidity of its technology as on the humility of its approach. For all those looking for a blockchain that is useful, responsible, and built to last, Alephium deserves now more than ever their full attention.