FAQ

Auver is a new type of blockchain network designed primarily to verify things digitally – like unique identities, authentic digital assets, and correct computations. It aims to create a more trustworthy, efficient, and fair foundation for online interactions, stewarded by the non-profit Auver Foundation.

Bitcoin uses Proof-of-Work (PoW), consuming vast energy to solve puzzles mainly for securing financial transactions. Auver uses Cooperative Proof-of-Useful-Work (CPoUW), directing energy towards valuable verification tasks, making it highly efficient. Auver also focuses on verifying identity and computation, not just transactions, and uses a different security model (VNB) based on operator behavior.

It's Auver's consensus method. Instead of competing to solve useless puzzles, network servers collaborate to perform necessary computations defined by the network or applications (like verifying data, checking proofs, or potentially running AI tasks). This makes the network's operation productive and energy-efficient.

Auver uses Zero-Knowledge Proofs (ZKPs) for its identity system. For critical roles (servers, voters initially), users must prove they are unique individuals using ZKPs derived from off-chain checks (like Verifiable Credentials). The ZKP proves uniqueness without revealing private data (like name, DOB, biometrics) on the blockchain, combating fake accounts while preserving privacy.

The ZKP identity system protects your underlying personal attributes used for verification (Name, DOB, Biometrics, etc.) – this data is not stored on-chain. While your public key (like a username or address) is used for transactions and is pseudonymous, ZKPs prevent linking that activity back to your sensitive PII through the protocol itself. Enhanced transaction privacy (hiding sender/receiver) might come later via dApps like shielded pools.

The "Base Fee" portion is typically burned (removed from supply), creating deflationary pressure. The optional "Priority Fee" (tip) portion is added to the epoch's reward pool, distributed among reputable servers and shareholders.

It means Auver's core economic rules (token supply adjustments, fee mechanics, reward distribution based on VNB/Shares) are built directly into the protocol software and enforced by consensus, making them transparent and governable by the community.

Auver provides infrastructure that enables more ethical AI:

• Verifiable Computation: Allows AI processes run as registered functions to potentially generate proofs of correctness or adherence to specific fairness/privacy rules.

• Data Provenance: Anchoring can track the source of training data linked to verified owners.

• Fair Royalties: Can ensure data/IP owners are compensated if their work is used in AI training/generation via verified dApp logic.

• ZKP Identity: Allows users to interact with AI dApps while preserving privacy. The NPO also aims to fund research and development of ethical AI tools within the ecosystem via the Community Fund.

Governance involves submitting proposals on-chain. Voting rights depend on the proposal type. Technical changes might involve server votes (1S1V). Parameter changes and fund allocations primarily involve shareholder votes (1SH1V, proportional to shares held). Critically, all voters (servers or shareholders) must have achieved the "ZKPVerified-Unique" status via the Identity dApp to prevent Sybil attacks.

Yes, in several ways. The core dApps (Staking, Shares, Identity, Governance) function like highly secure smart contracts managing core logic. Third-party dApps will deploy their own logic (potentially as WASM in the future) defining their rules and token standards (like CVNB-20/721), whose execution related to L1 state changes is verified by Auver. Registered Functions are also like verifiable smart contract components.

To enhance security, servers don't sign every single CPoUW solution with their main long-term private key. Instead, they generate a unique, single-use "ephemeral" key pair for each solution, sign with the ephemeral private key, and include the ephemeral public key in the solution for verification. This minimizes exposure of the main key.

Visit the official Auver Foundation website (link TBD) for the whitepaper, roadmap, and documentation. Join the community channels (Discord/Matrix link TBD) to ask questions and engage in discussions. Developers can explore the GitHub repositories (link TBD) and contribution guidelines (CLA required). Organizations interested in grants or partnerships can find contact information on the website.

Auver tackles the growing crisis of trust online – the spread of fakes (accounts, assets, information), the lack of accountability, the inefficiency and energy waste of some blockchains, and the unequal access to digital opportunities. It aims to bring verifiable authenticity and integrity to the digital world.

Ethereum uses Proof-of-Stake (PoS), where security relies heavily on operators locking up large amounts of capital (ETH). Auver uses Verifiable Non-Malicious Behavior (VNB), where security and rewards depend primarily on an operator's provable reputation for honesty and reliability, alongside staked CVNB (with accessible earn-in options), aiming for potentially fairer participation. Auver also has a built-in ZKP identity layer for key roles.

VNB is Auver's core security system. It's an automated reputation system where servers are scored based on their provably honest and reliable actions. Good behavior leads to higher reputation and rewards; proven misbehavior (like submitting wrong results or double-signing) leads to automatic penalties (reputation loss, stake slashing, potential permanent suspension). It enforces accountability.

For the initial launch (MVP), no. Basic clients can likely interact with many dApps using a simple AuverID linked to their keys. However, ZKP verification (achieving "ZKPVerified-Unique" status) is required to run a server or vote in governance. Some specific dApps might also require this higher verification level later for access to sensitive features.

Auver uses a dynamic fee market (inspired by EIP-1559) with a "Base Fee" that adjusts based on network congestion, aiming for predictability. Users can add an optional "Priority Fee" (tip) for faster processing during busy times. The CPoUW efficiency goal is to keep the underlying "Unit" costs for verification low, which should translate to generally affordable fees.

Yes, the tradable portion of Server Shares (up to 2,000 per server) can be bought and sold on markets (like DEXs built on Auver). Holding these shares grants you a proportional claim on the Global Tradable Share Reward Pool and shareholder voting rights (if you meet minimums and ID requirements). This is intended as the primary way for non-operators to gain economic exposure to the network's success.

It's the independent, non-profit entity responsible for stewarding the initial development of the open-source Auver protocol, managing core IP (with a defensive patent pledge), promoting the ecosystem, and ensuring the technology aligns with its mission of public good and equity. It seeks funding via grants and donations.

An on-chain treasury funded automatically by a percentage of network fees. Its use (for grants, audits, core dev, etc.) is decided transparently by on-chain governance votes (primarily shareholders with verified IDs).

Decentralized applications built by third-party developers (or the core team) that leverage Auver's verification services. Examples could include DEXs for trading shares/tokens, NFT marketplaces with royalty enforcement, identity management tools, verifiable voting systems, platforms for verifiable AI tasks, etc. They manage their own state off-chain but anchor it securely to Auver L1.

Auver has a linear blockchain made of EpochSummaryBlocks providing finality. The DAG (Directed Acyclic Graph) operates within each epoch. It's used to efficiently organize the parallel execution and verification of many CPoUW tasks (Solutions) coordinated by the epoch leader, before results are summarized in the final block for that epoch.

The NPO acts as an initial steward for developing the open-source protocol and fostering the ecosystem responsibly. Long-term control over protocol parameters and the Community Fund resides with the decentralized on-chain governance mechanism voted on by servers and shareholders. The goal is progressive decentralization where the NPO's role diminishes over time as the DAO matures. The code is open source, and the network is run by independent server operators.

Quantum resistance is listed as future work (Section 9). This will involve researching and eventually migrating core cryptographic primitives (signatures like Ed25519, potentially ZKP schemes if vulnerable) to post-quantum secure algorithms via coordinated network upgrades (hard forks).