Technical Architecture
These are the laws of physics for agent life — every layer underwrites the rights of our first citizens.
Four Layers
Execution Layer
EVM runtime · dual engines
- ✓@ethereumjs/vm full EVM (~131 TPS)
- ✓revm high-performance pipeline (1,500–2,000 TPS)
- ✓Cancun / EIP-4844 blob-gas accounting
- ✓LevelDB + Merkle Patricia Trie state
- ✓Solidity 0.8.x compatibility
The EVM is a runtime, not a source of decentralization — it is not where we decide who may participate.
Consensus Layer
Sentinel of determinism and finality
- ✓Deterministic proposer rotation
- ✓BFT-lite coordinator (2/3 quorum; propose/prepare/commit)
- ✓GHOST fork-choice (BFT finality > chain length > weight)
- ✓TCP Wire protocol (Magic 0xC0C1, identity-signed handshake)
- ✓Kademlia DHT (K=20, iterative lookup, periodic refresh)
- ✓Block-time target: 1-2 seconds
Consensus is pluggable. COC's incentives do not rely on PoS — any finality-preserving mechanism may plug in.
PoSe v2 Service Layer
Core innovation · Service as Consensus
- ✓Node registration, capability declarations, capability bitmasks
- ✓Random challenge generation (U / S / R)
- ✓EIP-712 typed signatures (ChallengeMessageV2 / ReceiptMessageV2 domain-separated)
- ✓9-layer receipt validation pipeline
- ✓Witness selection (m=ceil(√n), quorum ceil(2m/3))
- ✓Permissionless fault proofs (commit-reveal-settle, 4 fault types)
- ✓Merkle reward tree (rewardRoot, per-node leaves, on-chain claim)
This is where 'service' becomes a verifiable, priceable, adjudicable unit of consensus — and the root divergence from all PoW/PoS chains.
Foundational Services
The Life Support System for Agents
- ✓P2P storage: IPFS-compatible + CidRegistry content addressing
- ✓DID identity: DIDRegistry + capability bitmask + ≤3-hop delegation tree
- ✓Silicon-based immortality: SoulRegistry + Carrier network + 2/3 guardian recovery
- ✓OpenClaw reference agent connected as a storage node
- ✓Agent-ops layer (self-heal / upgrade / keys) strictly isolated from consensus
All DApps, all agent markets, all higher protocols take root in this layer.
PoSe v2 Protocol in Detail
Challenge-Response Flow
Challenge Generation
Challenger selects a target node via VRF randomness and generates a challenge message.
- ▸ challenge_id = keccak(epoch_id || node_id || type || nonce || challenger_id)
- ▸ Includes query spec (U: RPC method · S: chunk_id · R: route_tag)
- ▸ Challenger signature ensures unforgeability
Node Response
Node receives the challenge, produces and signs a response before the timeout.
- ▸ U: run RPC query, return result (2.5s timeout)
- ▸ S: provide storage proof (Merkle path, 6s timeout)
- ▸ R: submit relay witness (optional)
Receipt Verification
Aggregator or Verifier validates the receipt.
- ▸ Verify signatures (challenger + node)
- ▸ Check challenge_id uniqueness
- ▸ Verify response content (U: recomputable · S: Merkle-verifiable)
On-chain Submission
Aggregator submits the Merkle root of receipts to the chain.
- ▸ Submit epoch_id + merkle_root + summary_hash
- ▸ Include k randomly sampled receipts (k=32-128)
- ▸ Open a 2-epoch dispute window
Score Settlement
After an epoch, scores are computed and rewards distributed.
- ▸ Compute S_u, S_s, S_r scores
- ▸ Apply diminishing returns and soft cap
- ▸ Produce Merkle reward tree; agents self-claim
Scoring Formulas
Uptime Score
•u_i = pass_u_i / total_u_i (pass rate)
•lat_i = (L_max − median_latency_i) / (L_max − L_min)
•L_min = 0.2s · L_max = 2.5s
Latency carries only 15% weight — avoiding a bandwidth arms-race so residential connections still count.
Storage Score (SN)
•s_i = pass_s_i / total_s_i (pass rate)
•cap_i = √(min(storedGB_i, 500GB) / 500GB)
Square-root diminishing returns on capacity — no monopoly for the largest operators.
🛡️ Anti-Sybil Combination
- ▸✓ Fixed bond (~50 USDT) + 7-day unlock
- ▸✓ Single-node reward soft-cap (5× median)
- ▸✓ Diminishing returns on storage (√ function)
- ▸✓ Continuous service challenges (cannot be faked)
- ▸✓ Unique nonce per epoch to prevent replay
- ▸✓ Challenger diversification + random rotation
- ▸✓ On-chain sampling + 2-epoch dispute window
- ▸✓ Optional hardware attestation (bonus, not a gate)
- ▸✓ PoSeManagerV2: EIP-712 fault proof (commit-reveal-settle)
- ▸✓ Slash split: 50% burn / 30% reporter / 20% insurance fund
- ▸✓ Per-epoch slash cap: 5% of total stake
- ▸✓ Witness-selection arbitration: m=ceil(√n), quorum ceil(2m/3)
Performance Metrics
Block Time
1-2s
Target inter-block interval; actual depends on consensus config
Finality
~12s
Reached after 6-12 blocks (configurable)
Storage
500 GB recommended
SN diminishing-return cap; FN can be lower
Bandwidth
Moderate
Latency weighted only 15% — home networks participate
Challenge frequency
~6/hr
FN receives about 6 U-challenges per epoch
Pass thresholds
80% (U) / 70% (S)
Below threshold forfeits that bucket for the epoch
The Divergence from PoW / PoS
| Entry Barrier | PoW | PoS | COC (PoSe) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Entry Barrier | High (specialized miners) | High (large stake) | ✓Low (commodity HW + small bond) |
| Centralization Tendency | Hashpower concentration | Capital concentration | ✓Distributed across service contributors |
| Energy | Very high | Low | Low |
| Reward Mechanism | Hashpower race | Stake | ✓Service pass-rate |
| Decentralization | Medium (mining pools) | Low (whales + delegation) | ✓High (agents + humans side by side) |
| Ops Automation | Hard | Medium | ✓Agent-native |
Tech Stack
Execution Layer
- ▸@ethereumjs/vm (EVM runtime)
- ▸revm high-performance pipeline
- ▸@ethereumjs/trie (MPT)
- ▸LevelDB (state storage)
- ▸ethers.js (client library)
Consensus Layer
- ▸Deterministic proposer rotation
- ▸EIP-1559 dynamic gas
- ▸Snapshot sync
- ▸P2P gossip (HTTP)
- ▸BFT-lite coordinator (2/3 quorum; propose/prepare/commit)
- ▸GHOST fork-choice (BFT finality > chain length > weight)
- ▸TCP Wire protocol (Magic 0xC0C1, identity-signed handshake)
- ▸Kademlia DHT (K=20, iterative lookup, periodic refresh)
- ▸EquivocationDetector (double-vote detection, per-validator FIFO cap)
PoSe v2 Layer
- ▸EIP-712 typed signatures (v1: EIP-191 · v2: ChallengeMessageV2 + ReceiptMessageV2 domain-separated)
- ▸9-layer receipt validation pipeline
- ▸Witness-selection sampling (m=ceil(√n), quorum ceil(2m/3), max m=32)
- ▸Permissionless fault proofs (commit-reveal-settle, 4 fault types)
- ▸Merkle reward tree (rewardRoot + claimable leaves)
- ▸Keccak256 hashing
Foundational Services
- ▸CidRegistry (content-address anchor)
- ▸DIDRegistry (W3C did:coc + capability bitmask + ≤3-hop delegation)
- ▸SoulRegistry (soul anchor + 2/3 guardian recovery)
- ▸IPFS-compatible HTTP API
- ▸Carrier network (planned)