1st Layer: Alphachain

The alphachain is the core of the blockchain system which provides the security, consensus protocol, and the writing, processing and publishing of blocks of the entire system. It is also the anchor on which all the betaChains are connected to and functions as a host to each betaChain, securing and processing transactions collectedfrom them and their distributedapplications.

2nd Layer: Betachains

Betachains are an extension of the alphachain albeit with different sets of applications and functionality depending on the use of each particular betachain. Each betachain produces its own blocks of transactions(betablocks) which are forwarded to the alphachain were these are recorded to the blocks published on the alphachain. Each betachain can have unique application transactions which can be different from the next depending on design and intended applications of the chain.

Transactions on the blockchain are processed depending on the transaction type i.e. depending on whether a transaction is executed on the alphachain or betachain.

Betachain Transactions

For betachains, transactions from the same chain are first collected and grouped into miniature blocks called betablocks. These betablocks can contain different types of transactions and have a maximum load of 100 transactions. These betablocks are then submitted to the alphachain where they can are then added to blocks which are in turn added to the blockchain. These processes on betachain transactions are carried out by accounts known as Binders.

Alphachain Transactions

Transactions from the alphchain are directly added to the blockchain bound blocks together with the betablocks collected from betachains. This collection and addition of both betablocks and alphachain transactions for writing to the blockchain is done by activated accounts called Blocksmiths.

The Munhumutapa Alphablockchain employs a custom Network Proof-of-Stake(nPoS) consensus protocol for block creation and validation. The algorithm is energy efficient as rights to create blocks are based on an account's balance and the number of up-to-date network nodes the account node is connected to instead of computing power in the case of Proof-Of-Work. Furthermore, nPoS ensures that even accounts with relatively lower balances compete in block creation thanks to the extra dependence on a nodes network count.