PIVX: how it works, supply and reviews

In short

Type: Open-source peer-to-peer currency with its own blockchain, PoS consensus and masternodes.
Issuance: 10 PIV per block for stakers and masternodes, plus up to 10 PIV per block for the treasury, created only at superblocks for approved proposals.
Risks and caveats: Inflation is ongoing: pivx.org gave about 12.68% a year as of January 2024.
Checked: 1 November 2026

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Key facts

Ticker: PIVX
Official site: pivx.org

Key facts checked on 1 November 2026 against official sources.

What is PIVX

PIVX is a privacy-focused proof-of-stake blockchain with optional private transactions through its SHIELD protocol. It is open source, community-run and governed through masternode voting on treasury proposals.

Network and consensus

Network and consensus — PIVX
Parameter	Details
Type	Open-source peer-to-peer currency with its own blockchain, PoS consensus and masternodes.
Consensus	Proof of stake, with cold and hot staking.
Block time	60 seconds, difficulty re-targeted every block.
Privacy	Optional SHIELD transactions based on zk-SNARKs (Sapling, Groth16); users choose shielded or transparent sends.
Addresses	Transparent addresses start with D or S; SHIELD addresses start with ps.
Masternodes	Second-layer masternodes need 10,000 PIV collateral each.
Launched	First core wallet release v1.0.0.0 on 30 January 2016.

Supply and issuance

Supply and issuance — PIVX
Parameter	Details
Issuance	10 PIV per block for stakers and masternodes, plus up to 10 PIV per block for the treasury, created only at superblocks for approved proposals.
Staking rewards	4 PIV per block to the staker and 6 PIV to the masternode owner.
Fee burn	All transaction fees are burned.
Inflation	Tail emission; about 12.68% a year as of January 2024 per pivx.org, declining toward 0%.
Initial distribution	Launched in 2016 with no premine and no ICO, per pivx.org.

What PIVX is used for

PIV is staked to produce blocks and earn rewards.
10,000 PIV locks a masternode, which earns rewards and votes on budget proposals.
Submitting a treasury proposal costs a 50 PIV fee.

Who develops and governs PIVX

Governance: Masternodes vote on proposals; up to 432,000 PIV per monthly cycle goes to proposals that pass.
Legal entity: Presents itself as a DAO not owned by anyone; no company is named.
Developer: The site is run by the PIVX Community.
Open source: Core code on GitHub (PIVX-Project/PIVX), MIT licence; last push 21 October 2026.

History

History — PIVX
Date	Event
30 January 2016	PIVX publishes its first core wallet release, v1.0.0.0, on GitHub.
16 March 2016	Release v1.0.2.0 still uses the ticker DNET and sets block rewards of 175 DNET for miners and 50 DNET for masternodes from block 86400.
November 2017	PIVX patches a libzerocoin exploit and temporarily disables all zPIV transactions.
6 March 2019	An attack on the zPIV zerocoin protocol is detected; zPIV is disabled by spork.
8 January 2021	PIVX Core v5.0.0 introduces the SHIELD protocol for private transactions.
21 February 2024	Latest tagged core release, v5.6.1.
1 November 2026	The Chainz explorer shows the chain at block 5651278.

Security and audits

Cold staking lets a hot wallet stake delegated coins while only the owner can spend them.
In 2019 PIVX described 'Fake Stake', a denial-of-service attack on proof-of-stake networks, and said it did not affect user holdings.
Release notes say the zPIV 'Wrapped serials' and 'broken P1 proof' exploits led PIVX to disable zPIV by spork until review was completed.

Security incidents

Security incidents — PIVX
Date	What happened	Source
November 2017	Exploit: An exploit in the third-party libzerocoin library allowed several spending proofs for a single zerocoin mint. PIVX released a patched wallet, disabled all zPIV transactions and removed mints derived from invalid spends. Funds returned: not stated	github.com
6 March 2019	Exploit: An attack was detected on the zPIV zerocoin protocol: the flaw let an attacker spend zerocoins that had never been minted ('wrapped serials'). All zPIV functions were disabled by spork; PIVX said user privacy and holdings were not directly affected. Funds returned: not stated	github.com

Further incidents are reported by third parties (press, incident databases) but are not confirmed in the company’s own channels, so they are not listed here.

Risks and caveats

Inflation is ongoing: pivx.org gave about 12.68% a year as of January 2024.
The earlier zPIV privacy protocol was exploited twice (2017 and 2019) and disabled.
pivx.org's risk disclosure says users take full responsibility for potentially risky financial transactions.
Cold staking through a third-party hot wallet stops earning rewards if that wallet goes offline.

Official links

Website: pivx.org
Docs: docs.pivx.org
Source code: github.com/PIVX-Project/PIVX
Block explorer: explorer.pivx.org/#
Governance: pivx.org/governance
Forum: forum.pivx.org

Questions and answers

What is PIVX?

PIVX (PIV) is a privacy-focused proof-of-stake blockchain launched in January 2016, with optional private SHIELD transactions and masternode governance.

How does PIVX work?

Stakers produce a block every 60 seconds; each block pays 4 PIV to the staker and 6 PIV to a masternode, and all fees are burned.

What is the supply of PIVX?

There is no fixed cap: PIVX uses a tail emission. The Chainz explorer reported about 107.8 million PIV on 1 November 2026.

Has PIVX been hacked?

Its old zPIV zerocoin feature was exploited in November 2017 and in March 2019 and was disabled; it has since been replaced by SHIELD.

How do I run a PIVX masternode?

A masternode needs 10,000 PIV collateral; masternodes earn part of each block reward and vote on treasury proposals.

Sources

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Page updated: 2026-11-01