Aether Protocol

Hybrid Layer-1 · v1.4.0
Public commons + federated finality · account + UTXO · Poseidon/Groth16 shielded notes · liquid staking · slashing · IBC-lite bridges · brokerless markets · rollup settlement · epoch snapshots · multi-validator mesh — one chain ID.

Why · v1.2 · Architecture · Quick start · RPC · IP / Acquisition · Security · Roadmap

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Why Aether

Most chains force a single trade-off: public or permissioned, accounts or UTXO, transparent or private, monolith or rollup host. Aether is hybrid by design — one finality gadget, one fee market, one state root — with modes selected by genesis, governance, and per-tx kind.

Capability	What you get in 1.2
Hybrid access	public · allowlist · mixed validator admission
Dual ledger	Account balances + native UTXO under one supply invariant
Shielded pool	Groth16/BN254 + Poseidon note CRH (native + R1CS)
Liquid staking	Bond / delegate / undelegate / redelegate / withdraw
Rollup host	0x01 Groth16 · 0x02 Plonk-lite · 0x03 fraud · gated 0xFF
Networking	Multi-validator TCP mesh (--p2p-listen / --bootnodes)
Sync	Epoch snapshots + aeth_*Snapshot RPC
Contracts	Metered AetherOps VM (Wasm ABI path documented)
Operator UX	TOML + genesis JSON, CLI, explorer, Docker Compose
Diligence	IP pack, patent pledge, acquisition data-room outline

Status: Operable reference for research, consortium pilots, white-label diligence, and acquisition review. Not audited for mainnet value. See SECURITY.md.

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What's in 1.4.0

• Brokerless markets — on-chain CLOB + AMM + HTLC escrow; no central broker
• Permissionless MarketFillOrder (atomic delivery-vs-payment)
• SettleBatch multi-leg clearing; asset registry
• See docs/MARKETS.md

From 1.3.0

• Slashing + evidence txs, tombstones, community pool
• IBC-lite bridges (open/send/recv/ack)
• Tip → proposer; Prometheus GET /metrics
• Richer AetherOps ISA + ContractCall
• Peer bans on invalid gossip score

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Architecture

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  Wallet · Explorer · CLI · Light clients · Indexers         │
└────────────────────────────┬────────────────────────────────┘
                             │ JSON-RPC
┌────────────────────────────▼────────────────────────────────┐
│  aether-node                                                 │
│  RPC · Mempool · Sync · Snapshots · TxFilter hooks           │
│           │                                                  │
│           ▼                                                  │
│  AetherBFT (PoS) ──► Execution                               │
│    Account | UTXO | VM | Poseidon notes | Rollups | Stake | Markets     │
│           │                                                  │
│           ▼                                                  │
│  Composite state root · Commit cert · TCP gossip mesh        │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Crate	Role
aether-types	Wire types, genesis, PROTOCOL_VERSION
aether-crypto	BLAKE3, Ed25519, Merkle
aether-zk	Poseidon + Groth16 shielded + rollup verifiers
aether-consensus	AetherBFT + light headers
aether-p2p	Multi-validator gossip mesh
aether-vm	AetherOps prototype ISA
aether-state	Ledger, staking, adapters
aether-store	sled + epoch snapshots
aether-rpc / aether-node / aether-protocol-cli	Operator surface

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Quick start

git clone https://github.com/theworker02/aether-protocol.git
cd aether-protocol
cargo build -p aether-node -p aether-protocol-cli

cargo run -p aether-node -- \
  --config config/node.toml \
  --key-file ./validator.key \
  --rpc 127.0.0.1:8545 \
  --p2p-listen 127.0.0.1:9000

Second validator:

cargo run -p aether-node -- \
  --rpc 127.0.0.1:8546 \
  --data-dir data/chain-b \
  --p2p-listen 127.0.0.1:9001 \
  --bootnodes 127.0.0.1:9000 \
  --key-file ./validator-b.key

CLI:

cargo run -p aether-protocol-cli -- info
cargo run -p aether-protocol-cli -- bond --secret <hex32> --amount 10000000000000
cargo run -p aether-protocol-cli -- delegate --secret <hex32> --validator 0x... --amount 1000000000
cargo run -p aether-protocol-cli -- shield --secret <hex32> --value 1000000000 --note-out note.json

Explorer: cd apps/explorer && npm i && npm run dev → http://127.0.0.1:5173

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Configuration

Key	Meaning
chain_id / hybrid / genesis	Network identity + mode
p2p_listen / bootnodes	Mesh listen + dial list
zk_keys	Groth16 keystore (schema v2)
features.*	Shielded / rollups / noop gate

Genesis profiles: config/genesis.public.json · config/genesis.federated.json

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JSON-RPC

Method	Description
aeth_version	Protocol / wire / impl versions
aeth_protocolInfo	Full feature + supply + ZK tags
aeth_chainId / aeth_blockNumber	Tip
aeth_getBlockByNumber / ByHash	Blocks
aeth_getBalance / aeth_getAccount	Accounts
aeth_getValidators / aeth_getDelegations / aeth_getUnbonding	Staking
aeth_getLightHeader / aeth_getCommit	Light client
aeth_createSnapshot / load / get / export	State sync
aeth_netPeers	Peer scores
aeth_sendRawTransaction	Submit tx
aeth_verifySupply	I1 check

Health: GET /health → ok.

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Intellectual property & acquisition

Doc	Purpose
docs/IP.md	Copyright, trademarks, diligence checklist
docs/PATENT_PLEDGE.md	Defensive patent pledge
docs/ACQUISITION.md	Asset inventory, data room, transfer checklist
NOTICE · LICENSE	Apache-2.0 attribution
CHANGELOG.md	Release history

Open core is free under Apache-2.0. Acquisition value is brand, ops, ceremony, support, and team continuity — not locking public code. Commercial contact: GitHub @theworker02 / thanks.dev.

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Adapting / white-label

docs/ADAPTING.md — TxFilter, BlockHook, RollupVerifierAdapter, brand kit under assets/brand/.

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Security

Read SECURITY.md before any deployment.

Reference limits remaining for mainnet: MPC ceremony, audited Poseidon params, Noise/QUIC transport, external audit.

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Roadmap

Phase	Deliverable
1.3 (now)	Slashing · bridges · metrics · peer bans · richer VM
Next	Noise/QUIC libp2p · RocksDB · MPC ceremony
Then	Wasmtime · light-client product · audited mainnet candidate

Full table: docs/ROADMAP.md

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Documentation index

Doc	Contents
PROTOCOL	Normative core v1.2
IP / ACQUISITION / PATENT_PLEDGE	Diligence
INVARIANTS	Supply & safety
LIGHT_CLIENT	Headers & WSP
GOVERNANCE	On-chain params
SYNC	Snapshots
ZK	Poseidon + Groth16
CONSENSUS	AetherBFT
CRYPTOGRAPHY	Primitives
NETWORKING	Gossip
ECONOMICS	Fees & staking
THREAT_MODEL	Adversaries
VM / ROLLUPS	Execution / settlement
BRIDGES	IBC-lite packets
SLASHING	Evidence & pool
ROADMAP	Phased delivery
CHANGELOG	Releases

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Brand

Colors: Ink #0b1c1a · Teal #0f6b5c · Signal #c8f542 · Fog #e8f2ef

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License

Apache-2.0 · NOTICE

Funding

.github/FUNDING.yml · thanks.dev/u/gh/theworker02

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_{Aether Protocol 1.2 — one chain, many modes.}