SOST launches from code, not from capital. The genesis block is self-sufficient — it requires only a miner and a timestamp. Exchange listings, community growth, and gold accumulation follow naturally from the protocol's own mechanics.
The metals reserve transitions through three phases — from tokenized gold on Ethereum to sovereign physical custody.
Reserve Vault holds XAUT/PAXG tokens on Ethereum mainnet. No infrastructure needed. Liquid, auditable, immediate. Risks: issuer dependency (Tether, Paxos).
When reserve exceeds 500 oz equivalent: Foundation establishes legal entity, contracts with LBMA-approved vault, redeems XAUT/PAXG to physical delivery. Independent quarterly audits.
Physical gold, platinum, palladium, rhodium, iridium. Zero intermediaries. Foundation-controlled vault. Public serial numbers and audit reports. 100% independent of token issuers.
SOST does not support smart contracts — no virtual machine, no user-deployed bytecode, no Turing-complete execution. Instead, purpose-built transaction types provide financial primitives directly in the consensus layer. Deterministic, auditable, and not exploitable through contract bugs — they are protocol rules, not programs.
Activate BOND_LOCK (0x10) and ESCROW_LOCK (0x11) transaction types via block height. Native PoPC bonds and escrow on the SOST chain without Ethereum dependency. ~12 weeks development.
TOKEN_REGISTER, TOKEN_ISSUE, TOKEN_TRANSFER. Foundation-only issuance. Native XAUT-SOST, PAXG-SOST, SLVR-SOST tokens backed by verified metal holdings. Each issuance includes Capsule attestation. ~6 months development.
All PoPC operations migrate from Ethereum to SOST chain. Bond locks, escrow, verification, and reward distribution fully on-chain. Zero Ethereum dependency. Target: 18 months to full sovereignty.
| Epoch | Approx. Years | Block Reward | Key Events |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | 0 – 2.5 | 7.851 SOST | Genesis, public launch, gold purchases begin, PoPC activation |
| 1 | 2.5 – 5 | ~6.12 SOST | Physical gold transition, ZK R&D, mobile audit app |
| 2 | 5 – 7.5 | ~4.77 SOST | ZK custody proofs, privacy-preserving audits |
| 3 | 7.5 – 10 | ~3.72 SOST | Multi-metal platform vision |
| 4-11 | 10 – 30 | Smooth decay | ~95% of total supply mined by epoch 12 |
| 12+ | 30+ | Minimal | Heritage reserve. Chain runs on fees. |
Each epoch produces a new 4 GB mining scratchpad. For epoch > 0, the scratchpad key depends on the block that ended the previous epoch — it cannot be pre-computed.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Epoch 0 key | SHA256(MAGIC || "EPOCH" || epoch_u32) |
| Epoch N key (N > 0) | SHA256(MAGIC || "EPOCH" || epoch_u32 || anchor_block_id) |
| Scratchpad size | 4,096 MB (4 GB) |
| Pre-computation | Impossible for epoch > 0 |