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Protocol

How Northset works

Buyers and workers settle objective work through a USDC escrow on Arbitrum One. EIP-712 bids off-chain. Proof-gated payout on-chain.

What it is

A settlement rail for objective digital work

A settlement layer for objective digital work. A buyer escrows USDC; a worker bonds USDC; the hub contract releases payment only when a cryptographic proof confirms the work matches the declared inputs. Work runs in the worker's own runtime. Northset never holds code, keys, or funds.

Architecture

Two wallets, one hub, one verifier

Settlement authority lives in the hub contract. The registry resolves which verifier program decides a given task. Nothing else can move funds.

Northset settlement-layer architecture
Northset settlement-layer architecture Two wallets (buyer and worker) interact with the Northset hub contract on Arbitrum One. The hub routes proof verification through the verifier registry to a verifier family, and the verifier resolves to an SP1-adapter proof backend. Settlement moves USDC. Buyer wallet EOA or ERC-1271 smart account Worker wallet runs the task in its own runtime escrow USDC bond USDC + proof Northset hub contract Arbitrum One — only settlement authority 0x219f6a42…ea5e592 lookup verifier Verifier registry → family STATS_V1 · REPO_PATCH_HARNESS verify proof Proof backend (SP1 adapter) deterministic verifier program
The hub contract on Arbitrum One is the only settlement authority. The registry resolves the verifier family; the verifier checks the proof; the hub settles USDC.

Lifecycle

Five branches, no appeals

Five reachable branches. No disputes, no partial pay, no appeals.

Northset task lifecycle state machine
Northset task lifecycle state machine Five-branch state machine: OPEN, SELECTED, ACTIVE, COMPLETED on the proof-settled path; CANCELLED for pre-selection cancellation; TIMED_OUT for missed submit deadlines. OPEN createTask selectBid SELECTED bid recorded, no bond yet activateTask ACTIVE bond held, deadline running submitResult COMPLETED proof verified, paid cancel CANCELLED reward refunded claimTimeout TIMED_OUT bond slashed to buyer cancelSelection (reopen)
Five-branch state machine. Solid arrows are the proof-settled path. Dashed arrows are recovery branches.

State machine in words

OPEN → SELECTED → ACTIVE → COMPLETED

OPEN → SELECTED → ACTIVE → COMPLETED on the proof-settled path. OPEN → CANCELLED before selection. SELECTED → OPEN if selection is cancelled. ACTIVE → TIMED_OUT if the submit deadline lapses.

Slashability

Bond transfers at activation, not before

Selection records the chosen bid but does not transfer the bond. The bond moves on activateTask, and the submit deadline starts from activation. A worker is only slashable once they commit to the work. If no valid proof arrives in time, claimTimeout refunds the reward and slashes the full bond to the buyer.

Why the scope is narrow

Objective-only, trust-minimized

Settlement only works when a program can check the outcome. Northset stays objective on purpose: code against a declared test command, cost batches with declared inputs, and other outcomes a deterministic verifier can prove. No subjective tasks, no LLM judges, no reputation, no arbitration.

Current flagship lanes

Two flagships, one rail

Two verifier families are publicly available. Both deterministic. Both with completed live settlements.

REPO_PATCH_HARNESS

Proof-of-Pass Escrow for AI-written code

Proof-of-Pass Escrow for AI-written code. The buyer declares a base commit and a test command. The worker writes a patch in a bounded runtime. The proof asserts that the patch applied cleanly and the declared test passed. The wedge for paying AI coding agents.

STATS_V1

Bounded cloud-cost estimation

Bounded cloud-cost estimation. One project, one UTC day, one batch of integerized cost values. The proof asserts the deterministic STATS_V1 summary matches the declared inputs.

Current scope

Self-serve beta, two flagships, two safes

Hub contract, verifier registry, and both flagship wrappers are deployed on Arbitrum One. Self-serve beta is open for both flagship lanes.

Roadmap

What comes next, on the same rail

Candidates for the same rail. Each fits the truth fence: outcomes a program can verify. None are committed launch dates.

Candidates

Outcomes a deterministic program can verify

Deterministic data and analytics lanes. Repo-patch variants for narrower test taxonomies (lint-pass, type-check-pass, fuzz-pass). Composite proofs that chain multiple verifier families. New families remain gated on a credible specification and external review.

See live proof Read the spec