The developers of Monero (XMR) have revealed they may introduce a new type of proof-of-work (PoW) consensus algorithm for the leading privacy-oriented cryptocurrency.

According to Cointelegraph, Monero’s development team is planning to launch a different version of the PoW-based consensus protocol in October 2019. The privacy-focused cryptoasset’s developers reportedly made an agreement earlier this year with Arweave, which will be funding the security audit of the newly developed PoW algorithm.

RandomX Algorithm To Replace CryptoNight Protocol

The management at Arweave, the developer of a permanent and decentralized internet, have revealed that the RandomX algorithm will be integrated into Monero’s existing codebase. RandomX will also be replacing the current CryptoNight protocol – if/when the Arweave-commissioned security audit has been successfully completed.

In order to maintain ASIC-resistance on its blockchain, Monero’s developers have been conducting a hard fork every 6 months. The hard fork, or backwards incompatible upgrade, makes minor adjustments to the CryptoNight protocol in order to give all miners on the Monero network a fair (or equal) chance at mining XMR.

Cryptocurrency analysts have criticized the approach of regularly hard forking blockchains as they claim it leads to a greater degree of centralization. This, as hard forks have to be coordinated among a relatively small group of a cryptocurrency’s users due to their highly technical nature.

Raising $150,000 For Security Audit

Per Arweave’s development team, the RandomX protocol requires fewer codebase modifications and significantly less input from blockchain developers – in order to maintain ASIC-resistance.

As explained, the latest version of the PoW algorithm will undergo a security audit which will be co-funded by Arweave. The firm is reportedly planning to raise $150,000 in order to perform the security check over the next few months.

May Become Harder To Launch Cryptojacking Attacks

Implementing RandomX (and effectively replacing CryptoNight) will require XMR miners to allocate more than 2 GB of CPU RAM to run the process. This, RandomX’s Github page explains, could potentially prevent or make it more difficult to engage in cryptojacking (secretly mining cryptocurrency by hogging the CPU resources of unsuspecting users without their consent).