From 8e2b2fa7fa5c9587d424055ab467726792d09123 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Aere Network Date: Wed, 19 Aug 2026 14:37:34 +0300 Subject: [PATCH] Dated note: the post-quantum anchor checkpoint qualifies the 'consensus remains classical' statements; the 14,050,000 per-block quorum claim was withdrawn on 2026-08-19 --- aips/AIP-4.md | 2 ++ formal-consensus/CONSENSUS-VERIFICATION-2026-07-12.md | 2 ++ pq-stark/README.md | 2 ++ research/pqc-onchain-verification.md | 2 ++ research/specs/spec-antimev-mempool.md | 2 ++ results/PROVEN-RESULTS-2026-07-11.md | 2 ++ 6 files changed, 12 insertions(+) diff --git a/aips/AIP-4.md b/aips/AIP-4.md index 907255a..f4803eb 100644 --- a/aips/AIP-4.md +++ b/aips/AIP-4.md @@ -1,5 +1,7 @@ # AIP-4: On-Chain Post-Quantum Signature Verification Suite +> **Note added 2026-08-19.** Statements in this document that consensus on chain 2800 is (or remains) classical secp256k1 ECDSA QBFT were written before the post-quantum header anchor went live, and remain true for block-by-block finality. Since block 13,014,000 every 32nd block also carries, under its block hash, a certificate of validator Falcon-512 seals, and since block 13,034,000 a node rejects such an anchor block with fewer than three valid seals (f+1 of nine; eight or nine are carried in practice). That is a post-quantum checkpoint about every 16 seconds, not a per-block quorum: the claim published on 2026-08-15 that from block 14,050,000 no block finalizes without a post-quantum quorum was wrong (the per-block rule armed at that height is retired in the shipped code in favour of the anchor rules) and was withdrawn on 2026-08-19. Details: https://aere.network/quantum.html and the aere-node repository, anchor/README.md. + ## Preamble | Field | Value | diff --git a/formal-consensus/CONSENSUS-VERIFICATION-2026-07-12.md b/formal-consensus/CONSENSUS-VERIFICATION-2026-07-12.md index e7c3930..de2185b 100644 --- a/formal-consensus/CONSENSUS-VERIFICATION-2026-07-12.md +++ b/formal-consensus/CONSENSUS-VERIFICATION-2026-07-12.md @@ -1,5 +1,7 @@ # AERE consensus, machine-checked SAFETY + LIVENESS verification (with Falcon quorum extension) +> **Note added 2026-08-19.** Statements in this document that consensus on chain 2800 is (or remains) classical secp256k1 ECDSA QBFT were written before the post-quantum header anchor went live, and remain true for block-by-block finality. Since block 13,014,000 every 32nd block also carries, under its block hash, a certificate of validator Falcon-512 seals, and since block 13,034,000 a node rejects such an anchor block with fewer than three valid seals (f+1 of nine; eight or nine are carried in practice). That is a post-quantum checkpoint about every 16 seconds, not a per-block quorum: the claim published on 2026-08-15 that from block 14,050,000 no block finalizes without a post-quantum quorum was wrong (the per-block rule armed at that height is retired in the shipped code in favour of the anchor rules) and was withdrawn on 2026-08-19. Details: https://aere.network/quantum.html and the aere-node repository, anchor/README.md. + Date: 2026-07-12 ยท Scope: AERE QBFT / IBFT 2.0 (Hyperledger Besu, chain 2800) consensus and its staged Falcon-512 quorum-certificate extension (log-only + blocking). diff --git a/pq-stark/README.md b/pq-stark/README.md index 195f714..3d90412 100644 --- a/pq-stark/README.md +++ b/pq-stark/README.md @@ -1,5 +1,7 @@ # pqc-fork/pq-stark - PQ STARK-verify precompile 0x0AE8 (BabyBear/Plonky3 FRI/STARK verify skeleton) +> **Note added 2026-08-19.** Statements in this document that consensus on chain 2800 is (or remains) classical secp256k1 ECDSA QBFT were written before the post-quantum header anchor went live, and remain true for block-by-block finality. Since block 13,014,000 every 32nd block also carries, under its block hash, a certificate of validator Falcon-512 seals, and since block 13,034,000 a node rejects such an anchor block with fewer than three valid seals (f+1 of nine; eight or nine are carried in practice). That is a post-quantum checkpoint about every 16 seconds, not a per-block quorum: the claim published on 2026-08-15 that from block 14,050,000 no block finalizes without a post-quantum quorum was wrong (the per-block rule armed at that height is retired in the shipped code in favour of the anchor rules) and was withdrawn on 2026-08-19. Details: https://aere.network/quantum.html and the aere-node repository, anchor/README.md. + > **SCOPE CAVEAT (research finding, 2026-07-19; read before anything else).** The generic components > in this directory are real and conformance-confirmed, but they were confirmed against Plonky3 > `0.4.3-succinct`, i.e. **BabyBear + FRI STARKs**, which is Aere's OWN `zk-circuits/*` proof stack, diff --git a/research/pqc-onchain-verification.md b/research/pqc-onchain-verification.md index 35d2e69..71ef0a4 100644 --- a/research/pqc-onchain-verification.md +++ b/research/pqc-onchain-verification.md @@ -1,5 +1,7 @@ # On-Chain Post-Quantum Signature Verification on an EVM Layer-1 (AERE, Chain 2800) +> **Note added 2026-08-19.** Statements in this document that consensus on chain 2800 is (or remains) classical secp256k1 ECDSA QBFT were written before the post-quantum header anchor went live, and remain true for block-by-block finality. Since block 13,014,000 every 32nd block also carries, under its block hash, a certificate of validator Falcon-512 seals, and since block 13,034,000 a node rejects such an anchor block with fewer than three valid seals (f+1 of nine; eight or nine are carried in practice). That is a post-quantum checkpoint about every 16 seconds, not a per-block quorum: the claim published on 2026-08-15 that from block 14,050,000 no block finalizes without a post-quantum quorum was wrong (the per-block rule armed at that height is retired in the shipped code in favour of the anchor rules) and was withdrawn on 2026-08-19. Details: https://aere.network/quantum.html and the aere-node repository, anchor/README.md. + ## Abstract We describe a suite of post-quantum signature verifiers deployed and running on AERE Network, an EVM-compatible Layer-1 (chain ID 2800, Hyperledger Besu QBFT). Each verifier reproduces, in plain Solidity executing on the chain's own EVM, the reference verification algorithm of a NIST-standardized or NIST-round-3 signature scheme: the hash-based schemes WOTS+, XMSS-SHA2_10_256 (RFC 8391), and SLH-DSA-SHA2-128s (FIPS 205, the standardized form of SPHINCS+); and the lattice schemes Falcon-512, Falcon-1024 (NIST round-3), and ML-DSA-44 (Dilithium2, FIPS 204). Every verifier is validated bit-for-bit against official Known-Answer-Test (KAT) or ACVP fixtures, and the fixtures are committed to the repository. We then analyze the interaction between full on-chain verification and the Fusaka hard fork's EIP-7825 per-transaction gas cap of 2^24 (16,777,216) gas. Four of the six schemes fit under the cap and record their result in an ordinary transaction; two (Falcon-1024 and ML-DSA-44) exceed it in pure Solidity and are therefore verifiable only as read-only `eth_call` views today. We then describe a native-precompile path, developed and KAT-validated on an isolated Besu 26.4.0 scratch fork (chain ID 28099) and now live on mainnet 2800, that moves every scheme under the cap: a full Falcon-1024 verify-and-record transaction costs 145,496 gas (0.87% of the cap) and ML-DSA-44 costs 351,050 gas (2.09%), both comfortably recordable. These five precompiles are LIVE on AERE mainnet 2800 at the address band 0x0AE1..0x0AE5, activated at block 9,189,161 (2026-07-12) as the AerePQC hard fork, a coordinated client-only activation with no re-genesis; the Falcon-1024 and ML-DSA-44 schemes that were view-only in pure Solidity now record on-chain through the precompiles. We are candid about the system's real limitations: the post-quantum property is at the application and account layer, not consensus; the network runs seven validators under a single operator, one client, and has not yet undergone an external audit. We are equally explicit about priority: AERE is not the first public chain to verify a post-quantum signature on-chain. Algorand shipped a native Falcon-1024 verifier roughly ten months earlier and places Falcon inside its own state proofs, deeper than AERE places it; Section 8 gives that prior art with sources and dates, and Section 9 states what remains of our claim. diff --git a/research/specs/spec-antimev-mempool.md b/research/specs/spec-antimev-mempool.md index 40999ea..6d787a5 100644 --- a/research/specs/spec-antimev-mempool.md +++ b/research/specs/spec-antimev-mempool.md @@ -1,5 +1,7 @@ # AERE Anti-MEV Design: Threshold-Encrypted Mempool and Batch-Atomic Fair Settlement +> **Note added 2026-08-19.** Statements in this document that consensus on chain 2800 is (or remains) classical secp256k1 ECDSA QBFT were written before the post-quantum header anchor went live, and remain true for block-by-block finality. Since block 13,014,000 every 32nd block also carries, under its block hash, a certificate of validator Falcon-512 seals, and since block 13,034,000 a node rejects such an anchor block with fewer than three valid seals (f+1 of nine; eight or nine are carried in practice). That is a post-quantum checkpoint about every 16 seconds, not a per-block quorum: the claim published on 2026-08-15 that from block 14,050,000 no block finalizes without a post-quantum quorum was wrong (the per-block rule armed at that height is retired in the shipped code in favour of the anchor rules) and was withdrawn on 2026-08-19. Details: https://aere.network/quantum.html and the aere-node repository, anchor/README.md. + Subsystem specification. Status as of 2026-08-01 (re-measured at head block 11,810,041 on `https://rpc.aere.network`). Chain ID 2800 (Hyperledger Besu QBFT, 0.5-second blocks, seven validators, one operator). ## 0. Honesty banner (read first) diff --git a/results/PROVEN-RESULTS-2026-07-11.md b/results/PROVEN-RESULTS-2026-07-11.md index 989c146..cb1b0e4 100644 --- a/results/PROVEN-RESULTS-2026-07-11.md +++ b/results/PROVEN-RESULTS-2026-07-11.md @@ -1,5 +1,7 @@ # AERE Network: Proven Results (status as of 2026-07-11) +> **Note added 2026-08-19.** Statements in this document that consensus on chain 2800 is (or remains) classical secp256k1 ECDSA QBFT were written before the post-quantum header anchor went live, and remain true for block-by-block finality. Since block 13,014,000 every 32nd block also carries, under its block hash, a certificate of validator Falcon-512 seals, and since block 13,034,000 a node rejects such an anchor block with fewer than three valid seals (f+1 of nine; eight or nine are carried in practice). That is a post-quantum checkpoint about every 16 seconds, not a per-block quorum: the claim published on 2026-08-15 that from block 14,050,000 no block finalizes without a post-quantum quorum was wrong (the per-block rule armed at that height is retired in the shipped code in favour of the anchor rules) and was withdrawn on 2026-08-19. Details: https://aere.network/quantum.html and the aere-node repository, anchor/README.md. + > **UPDATE (2026-07-16): two facts in this 2026-07-11 snapshot have since changed on > mainnet and are corrected inline below.** (1) The validator set has grown from 3 to > **7 QBFT validators** (f=2, quorum 5-of-7), confirmed live via