RustChain Mechanism Spec + Falsification Matrix

Last updated: 2026-02-19
Scope: RIP-200 / Proof-of-Antiquity operational claims

This is the minimal, testable mechanism spec for RustChain. The goal is not "trust us"; the goal is clear claims that can be falsified.

1) Minimal Mechanism Spec

Actors

• Miner: submits work and hardware attestations.
• Validator/Node: verifies attestation/work, tracks balances, enforces transfer safety.
• Client/Wallet: reads state and submits signed transfers.

Capabilities

• Deterministic state endpoints: GET /health, GET /epoch, GET /api/miners, GET /api/stats.
• Signed value transfer path: POST /wallet/transfer/signed with nonce + signature validation.
• Per-epoch mining/attestation accounting with antiquity multipliers visible in GET /api/miners.

Invariants

• I1: One-CPU-one-vote semantics per epoch (no hash-power weighting).
• I2: Replayed signed transfer payloads do not execute twice.
• I3: Miner state is observable and auditable through public endpoints.
• I4: Antiquity multipliers are explicit and bounded by configured policy.

Main Failure Modes

• F1: Sybil/emulation attempts to inflate voting/reward share.
• F2: Replay of signed transfer payloads (nonce reuse).
• F3: Cross-node/API divergence that breaks deterministic client reads.
• F4: Invalid signatures accepted for transfer or attestation paths.

2) Falsification Matrix

If any "Fail condition" occurs, the corresponding claim is falsified.

Claim	Mechanism Under Test	How to Test	Pass Condition	Fail Condition
C1: Node health/status is deterministic and machine-readable	Health endpoint	curl -sk https://rustchain.org/health | jq .	JSON response with ok=true, version, and runtime fields	Endpoint missing, malformed, or non-deterministic health state
C2: Epoch state is explicit and observable	Epoch endpoint	curl -sk https://rustchain.org/epoch | jq .	Returns epoch/slot/pot fields and advances over time	No epoch data or inconsistent epoch progression
C3: Miner enrollment + multipliers are transparent	Miner list endpoint	curl -sk https://rustchain.org/api/miners | jq .	Active miners listed with hardware fields and antiquity_multiplier	Missing/opaque miner state or absent multiplier disclosure
C4: Signed transfer replay is blocked	Nonce replay protection	Send the same signed payload (same nonce/signature) to /wallet/transfer/signed twice	First request accepted; second request rejected as replay/duplicate	Same signed payload executes twice
C5: Signature checks are enforced	Signature verification	Submit intentionally invalid signature to /wallet/transfer/signed	Transfer rejected with validation error	Invalid signature accepted and state mutates
C6: Cross-node reads can be compared for drift	API consistency	Run python3 tools/node_sync_validator.py to compare /health, /epoch, full paginated /api/miners, and /api/stats across live nodes (131, 153, 245), including enrolled miners, miner totals, full miner ID set hash, pagination metadata, and aggregate stats	Differences stay within expected propagation window and reconcile; same-epoch/same-slot nodes do not disagree on miner state or aggregate stats	Persistent divergence with no reconciliation, or same-epoch/same-slot nodes exposing incompatible miner state

3) One-Page Test Run Template

Use this exact template for public challenge/verification reports.

Test ID:
Date (UTC):
Tester:
Node(s):

Claim tested:
Input payload / command:
Observed output:
Pass/Fail:
Notes:

4) Challenge Statement

Break-tests are welcome. Reproducible failures with commands/payloads and timestamps are valid security findings and are bounty-eligible under the RustChain policy.