Aethelred is engineered as a dual plane system: a CometBFT financial settlement layer and an enclave-native inference mesh. Protocol economics reward useful compute while preserving predictable state transitions and governance controls. Pair this architecture with the developer documentation, the governance framework, and the token design that secures incentives.
Aethelred replaces hash-only mining with inference-backed validator work. Instead of burning energy on arbitrary puzzles, validators execute signed AI jobs in TEE environments and receive rewards for measurable utility.
Clients submit workload metadata, latency targets, jurisdiction constraints, and model policy requirements.
Orchestrator assigns workload to validators based on attestation health, hardware profile, and stake weight.
Inference outputs are signed in-enclave and bound to execution context hashes.
Proof references settle on the Layer-1 ledger with fee split and burn routing.
Reward coefficients prioritize sectors with high societal and institutional value.
| Category | Multiplier | Policy Rationale |
|---|---|---|
| Healthcare & Biotech | 1.8x | Clinical diagnostics and life science acceleration |
| Scientific Research | 1.6x | Academic and industrial research workloads |
| Finance & Risk | 1.4x | Auditability-sensitive institution workflows |
| General Inference | 1.0x | Baseline market computation |
The engine separates orchestration from execution, utilizing TEEs as the primary high-throughput execution layer alongside optional EZKL zkML co-processing for absolute cryptographic trustlessness.
Requests are validated for compliance profile, quota limits, and data residency constraints.
Workloads route to attested enclaves with matching hardware and cryptographic capabilities.
TEE workers run model execution and emit signed output bundles with context hashes.
Proofs settle natively via custom EVM precompiles (0x0400 for TEE, 0x0300 for ZKP) for sub-2 second on-chain verification.
Intel SGX, AMD SEV-SNP, AWS Nitro Enclaves, and Azure Confidential VMs housed within sovereign clusters like Stargate UAE, with HSM-backed key custody.
Cryptographic agility is embedded in the protocol design, not deferred as a future migration burden.
ML-DSA-65 (Dilithium 3) secures validator identity, block signatures, and governance attestations.
ML-KEM-1024 (Kyber) provides quantum-safe key exchange for validator and client channels.
SHA-256 merkleized state commitments enforce deterministic ledger verification.
Validator operations support Thales and Fortanix HSM custody workflows for key isolation, rotation policy, and secure signing ceremonies.
If cryptographically relevant quantum advances emerge, governance can initiate rapid key policy upgrades, disable deprecated algorithms, and freeze compromised signature families before final state transition execution.
Validator participation requires stake, hardened infrastructure, and policy compliance appropriate for institutional workloads.
| Requirement | Baseline | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Minimum stake | 100,000 AETHEL | Staking lock establishes economic accountability. |
| TEE hardware profile | SGX / SEV-SNP / Nitro / Azure CVM | Remote attestation required for worker enrollment. |
| GPU class | H100 / MI300 equivalent | Optimized for 32B parameter inference classes. |
| Compliance controls | KYC/AML + OFAC workflow | Mandatory for institutional compute routing. |
| Uptime target | 99.5% monthly | Availability impacts reward and slashing profile. |
Participate in consensus, finality, governance voting, and reward distribution.
Execute AI jobs in enclaves and generate attested outputs for settlement.
Provide DDoS shielding and regional ingress resilience across operators.
See the dedicated Node Operations guide for role definitions, deployment topology, and production-safe runtime checks.
Measurements reflect sustained testnet workloads with 100+ validator participants and enterprise model mixes.
Optimized 32B-parameter enterprise models in enclave mode.
Enterprise and regulated workload profile.
Aggregate throughput for 32B class models.
Deterministic settlement across validator cluster.
Region-aware load transfer with worker redundancy.
Scale path based on validator expansion program.
Aethelred combines cryptographic guarantees with policy enforceability required by regulated sectors.
Slashing for malicious behavior, timelocked upgrades, attestation revocation, and transparent on-chain governance records.
Jurisdiction aware routing, policy-bound data corridors, and verifiable KYC/AML attestations for institutional onboarding.
