Application based blockchain / Since 2014
Proof-of-Stake. Names. Encrypted records.
I/O Coin launched fair on 24 July 2014 — no premine, no ICO. It distributed under X11 proof-of-work, moved to Proof-of-Stake around block 24,400, and grew into DIONS: human-readable aliases, encrypted messages, and data payloads held by keys rather than platforms. The chain has produced blocks without a halt ever since.
- Genesis
- 2014-07-24
- Continuity
- No chain halt since 2014
- Stake since
- Block 24,400
- Record crypto
- AES-256 · RSA-4096
- Payload
- 1 MB per record
- DIONS 2.0
- Targeting December 2026
The technical record
We do not need to sell a chart. We need to show the chain’s work.
Bitcoin made the public ledger visible. IOC entered early with a fair launch, then moved toward Proof-of-Stake continuity, human-readable names, encrypted payloads, wallet interfaces, and developer APIs.
From the archive
The engineering record was written down as it happened. These are the primary sources behind this page.
-
2021-06-23
iOC DVM development update
Why the DVM went its own route after testing against Solidity, and the
Read on Medium (opens in a new tab)cycle → create → callshape of the machine. -
2023-05-13
Beyond Bitcoin and Ethereum
Dynamic payload handling, decentral names in polymorphic structures, and back-compatibility with legacy wallets.
Read on Medium (opens in a new tab) -
2020-07-24
iOC a Proof of Stake blockchain since 2014
The stake transition told from the chain's sixth birthday, looking back at the fair launch.
Read on Medium (opens in a new tab) -
2019-07-24
Multidimensional distributed ledgers
The 2015 vision of interconnected public and private ledgers that DIONS was built toward.
Read on Medium (opens in a new tab)
What IOC was up against
The chain was building through several market headwinds at once.
The default belief was that serious security meant mining power. IOC had to prove stake-secured persistence while the market watched hash rate.
Names, messaging, files, and user profiles were being captured by platforms. IOC pushed toward key-held identity and encrypted records.
Later projects bought attention with treasury scale. IOC's record is built more like research continuity than a marketing cycle.
Crypto often forgets earlier engineering when newer platforms rename old ideas. This page should restore the sequence.
DIONS private records
Names, messages, payloads, files, receipts.
A DIONS record is a named account you hold the keys to. Data is encrypted under AES-256 and RSA-4096 before it is published, up to 1 MB per payload, so messages, files and transfers stay readable only to the parties that own them — while the chain still carries a hash that makes the claim inspectable.
Why it mattered
Before the market had language for it, IOC was already pushing beyond address-only chains.
Human-readable identity, encrypted data, messaging, file-oriented proof, wallet software, and API surfaces belong in the same historical thread.
Chain stack
What the chain is designed to make possible.
IOC should be understood as a stack: efficient consensus, human-readable names, encrypted records, messaging, wallet surfaces, and developer-facing integration.
Efficient network security without permanent mining arms-race economics.
Human-readable identity and address records instead of raw keys alone.
User-held payloads and file-oriented proof records anchored to the chain.
Messaging direction built around key ownership instead of platform custody.
Wallet surfaces that expose the protocol, not only send and receive buttons.
Developer-facing access so the chain can connect to applications and services.
DIONS 2.0 · Targeting December 2026
DIONS 2.0: the service layer for I/O Coin.
Identity, encrypted communication, proof receipts, alias-based ownership, smart contracts, and autonomous-action verification — built into a next-generation I/O Coin network targeting a December 2026 release.
- Stage
- Public testnet since 2025
- Target
- December 2026
- Readiness
- Release-gated by test artifacts
DIONS 2.0 is I/O Coin’s next-generation service layer: a blockchain foundation for identity, encrypted communication, data proofs, smart contracts, private transactions, service rewards, and verifiable autonomous action.
A blockchain should not only move coins. It should prove identity, authority, ownership, communication, records, and actions.
DIONS 2.0 is the next major evolution of I/O Coin. It expands the chain beyond payments into a decentralized service layer for aliases, documents, encrypted messaging, private transactions, smart contracts, business proof workflows, and verifiable autonomous actions.
Modern digital life is moving toward autonomous software, AI agents, business automation, and high-volume proof workflows. DIONS 2.0 is designed to give those systems a cryptographic foundation: who acted, who authorized it, what was signed, what was stored, what was proven, and whether authority was still valid.
This is not a rewrite of a chain that stopped. I/O Coin has produced blocks without a halt since 2014, and DIONS 2.0 has been engineered on top of that continuity since 2020 — six years of code and measured testnet data behind the upgrade.
Readable names become recoverable, key-backed identities for users, companies, services, and future agents.
Privacy-aware sending and receiving tied into aliases and wallet-controlled keys.
Secure communication designed for wallet-level message display and alias-to-alias workflows.
Encrypted data, hashes, metadata, and proof receipts anchored to the chain.
Contract functionality connected to identity and alias ownership patterns.
High-volume proof events committed through compact roots and verifiable proofs.
Validators, Light services, and PoP roles form a broader service-aware network.
Wallet engineering focused on scale, recovery, alias separation, and heavy real-world use.
A future proof layer for AI agents and autonomous business actions.
The DIONS Virtual Machine
Ethereum's surface. I/O Coin's machine underneath.
After testing against Solidity, the team chose to build the DVM rather than adopt Ethereum's internals — keeping a familiar developer surface while the execution mechanism stays native to DIONS.
“Provide us with the same user appearance as the smart contracts in Ethereum, but the mechanism under the DVM hood will be our own unique code work.”
Joel Bosh · iOC DVM development update (opens in a new tab), 2021
The DVM's core operations. Contracts are driven through the same lifecycle the wallet and API already speak.
Contracts execute against encrypted records — 1 MB per payload, AES-256 and RSA-4096 — rather than a separate contract store.
ERC-20-style contracts were exercised on the DIONS payload during testnet work, so Ethereum developers keep their tooling.
Dynamic payload handling addresses state through human-readable names held in polymorphic structures, not raw slots alone.
The upgrade targets back-compatibility with existing wallets rather than a clean break in the network.
Security work drives high-throughput transactions carrying deliberately malformed payloads at the machine.
AION · Forward-looking application layer
Proof for autonomous action.
A future DIONS 2.0 application layer for AI agents, business automation, and verifiable delegated action. DIONS 2.0 is designed to support that future without running AI on-chain.
Who or what the agent is.
What the agent is allowed to do.
What the agent actually did, and where the proof is anchored.
AION does not claim that AI output is automatically correct. It proves authorization and accountability — who authorized the action, what limits applied, what was signed, when it was anchored, and whether authority was still valid. We call this category Proof of Authorized Action.
Targeting December 2026
Built with proof, not hype.
DIONS 2.0 has been in engineering since 2020. The public testnet opened in 2025 and has been collecting data under real load ever since. The team is targeting a December 2026 release, with every major feature gated by tests, live artifacts, and release-readiness checks.
DIONS 2.0 will not be released on hype. It is being pushed through real testnet proof, wallet stress, service-role validation, and feature-by-feature verification.
Release validation focus
- Stable block production
- 4 MB / 16-second behavior under load
- Wallet reliability under staking and transactions
- Alias recovery and private-send workflows
- Light and PoP service rewards
- Explorer truth and visibility
- UI readiness
- Encrypted data and proof workflows
- Contract and alias ownership verification
- Clean upgrade / deploy process
DIONS 2.0 combines identity, messaging, documents, aliases, private send, service rewards, contracts, and proof workflows directly into the I/O Coin ecosystem.
IOC remains the native currency, but DIONS 2.0 expands the network into proof services, business workflows, encrypted communication, and identity-linked action.
DIONS 2.0 does not run AI models on-chain. Its forward-facing AION layer is designed to prove that autonomous actions were authorized, bounded, signed, and auditable.
DIONS 2.0 uses proof-oriented design: encrypted data, hashes, anchors, roots, receipts, and hybrid storage patterns instead of treating the blockchain as an unlimited file dump.
Feature availability remains release-gated by test artifacts. Read the full engineering record in the DIONS 2.0 architecture dossier.
Wallets & bootstrap
Download the wallet. Sync the chain. Build from the source.
DIONS Aurora is the current wallet entry point for the IOC network. Start with your operating system, use the bootstrap package to shorten first sync, then keep the whitepaper, API reference, explorer, and source nearby for verification or development.
Bootstrap chain data
Speed up first sync with the current IOC bootstrap package.
Download bootstrap DIONS Aurora for macOSInstall the desktop wallet on macOS.
Download DMG DIONS Aurora for WindowsRun the wallet installer for Windows systems.
Download EXE DIONS Aurora for LinuxUse the install script for Debian-style environments.
Download scriptCommon questions
What people ask about I/O Coin.
What is I/O Coin?
I/O Coin (IOC) is a fair-launch Proof-of-Stake blockchain that launched on 24 July 2014 with no premine and no ICO. It moved beyond payments into a service layer for human-readable names, encrypted records, encrypted messaging, wallet software, and developer APIs.
When did I/O Coin move to Proof-of-Stake?
I/O Coin distributed under X11 proof-of-work and transitioned to Proof-of-Stake around block 24,400, roughly one month after the July 2014 genesis block.
What is DIONS?
DIONS stands for Decentralized Input Output Name Server. It is the I/O Coin protocol layer providing named accounts, human-readable aliases, AES-256 and RSA-4096 encrypted data, messaging, and data payloads of up to 1 MB per record.
What is DIONS 2.0?
DIONS 2.0 is I/O Coin’s next-generation decentralized service layer for identity, aliases, encrypted data, private communication, proof receipts, smart contracts, and verifiable autonomous action. Engineering began in 2020, the public testnet opened in 2025, and the project is targeting a December 2026 release, with features release-gated by test artifacts. Read the architecture dossier.
What is the DIONS Virtual Machine (DVM)?
The DVM is I/O Coin’s own virtual machine. After testing against Solidity, the team built the DVM rather than adopting Ethereum’s internals, keeping a Solidity-compatible developer surface while the execution mechanism stays native to DIONS. Its core operations are cycle, create, and call.
Was there an I/O Coin premine or ICO?
No. I/O Coin was a fair launch with no premine and no ICO. Coins were distributed publicly from the genesis block onward.
Has the I/O Coin network ever gone down?
No. The chain has produced blocks continuously since its genesis block on 24 July 2014, with no chain halt — across more than a decade of operation and the transition from proof-of-work distribution to Proof-of-Stake.
When will DIONS 2.0 be released?
Engineering began in 2020. The public testnet opened in 2025 and has been collecting data under real load since. The team is targeting a December 2026 release. Individual features remain release-gated by reproducible test artifacts, so the date is a target rather than a guarantee.