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NumFranc logo: a navy N at the centre of a hexagon made of six turning blue and red bands

NumFranc

The digital currency designed for the post-quantum era, mined by ordinary computers.

Download White paper

The story

Bitcoin showed that a currency can exist without a bank. But it has two well-known weaknesses: its signatures may one day be broken by a quantum computer, and its mining has become the business of factories full of specialised machines.

NumFranc started from a simple question: what if we started over, fixing both problems from the very first block? Every payment is signed with ML-DSA, the post-quantum standard chosen by NIST in 2024. And every mining attempt forces the computer to fill and re-read memory, which makes specialised machines almost useless: the PC in your bedroom counts as much as a factory's.

The logo tells this story: six blue and red bands turning around a hexagon, each handing over to the next, like the blocks of a chain added one after another. In the centre, the "N" of NumFranc.

What makes it different

Post-quantum from day one

ML-DSA-87 signatures (NIST level 5) and SHA3-512 hashes.

Mining for everyone

Memory-hungry Argon2d algorithm: an ordinary computer stays competitive.

Messages and vaults

A message attached to each payment, and funds locked until a real calendar date.

Readable addresses

A permanent 77-character address and its 4-word fingerprint to avoid mistakes.

Armoured wallet

Encrypted twice, a separate code to spend, and a recovery code in 3 pieces (any 2 are enough).

No central server

Computers find each other by themselves, on the local network or on the other side of the world.

The numbers

Total supply69,100,000 NFR, never one more
One block every691 seconds (about 11 minutes)
Reward6.91 NFR then 69.10 NFR per block, then −10% every 100,000 blocks
End of issuancein about 98 years
Protection against 51% attackscumulative-work chain choice, rewrites limited to 10 blocks, checkpoints

Download and install

Pick your computer. No terminal, no commands: you double-click, that's all.

Mac

Download for Mac
  1. In "Downloads", double-click NumFranc-macos.dmg.
  2. A window opens with an arrow: drag NumFranc onto Applications.
  3. Open NumFranc from Launchpad, like any other app.
The very first time, macOS shows "NumFranc Not Opened" (independent project, no Apple developer account). Click "Done", then open System Settings > Privacy & Security, at the very bottom: Open Anyway (Mac password), then "Open". Only once. (macOS 14 and older: right-click NumFranc > Open is enough.)

Windows

Download for Windows
  1. In "Downloads", double-click NumFranc-windows-installation.exe.
  2. Click "Next", then "Finish".
  3. NumFranc is in the Start menu.
Windows may show "Windows protected your PC" (we do not buy a paid certificate): click More info then Run anyway.

Linux

Download (PC) Download (ARM)
  1. Double-click the .deb file in your file manager (Ubuntu, Debian, Mint…).
  2. Click "Install".
  3. Open NumFranc from the applications menu.
From the command line: sudo apt install ./NumFranc-linux-amd64.deb

On first launch

  1. Choose your two passwords, and copy the 3 pieces of your recovery code onto 3 separate papers.
  2. NumFranc adds itself to the applications menu and enables nfr: payment links, by itself.
  3. It opens the port on your router by itself and looks for other computers: the status is in Settings > Connection.
  4. Your computer joins the network and starts mining.

For the curious: every version is signed with a post-quantum key (SLH-DSA). The hash list SHA3SUMS.txt and its signature SHA3SUMS.txt.sig are on the releases page, with the public key: 5e1d1c80fdd07d3bc4095f45a05649fc006bce347609b1566b3c25e940881736. NumFranc.zip also contains the code and a verification tool.

White paper

How NumFranc works, with the technical appendices: in English · en français.

NumFranc aims to become a leading post-quantum payment infrastructure, used by individuals and businesses alike. Open-source software under development: no NFR for sale, no promise of value.