Blockchain Architecture

Sovereign Infrastructure

Nonterritorial operates as a sovereign blockchain built on Cosmos SDK—not an application deployed on someone else's infrastructure. This architectural choice is fundamental to our mission of building permanent cultural infrastructure.

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Why Sovereign?

The Problem with Being a Tenant

Most blockchain projects deploy smart contracts on established networks like Ethereum, Polygon, or Solana. This approach has advantages—you inherit security, tooling, and liquidity. But it carries assumptions that conflict with cultural infrastructure:

Platform Priorities Override Yours When you're a tenant on someone else's chain, their governance decisions affect you. Fee structures change. Upgrade paths are chosen for the ecosystem, not your use case. You adapt to their roadmap.

Anti-Speculation Remains Contractual On general-purpose chains, preventing speculation means writing code that blocks transfers on infrastructure designed to enable them. You're fighting the architecture.

Permanence Depends on the Host If Polygon pivots, deprecates, or fails, your infrastructure fails with it. Cultural infrastructure must think in longer timeframes than platform lifecycles.

What Sovereignty Provides

Architectural Alignment Our chain is designed for circulation, not exchange. Non-transferability isn't a contract rule—it's how consensus works.

Cultural Governance Protocol decisions weight artistic integrity alongside technical efficiency. Validator selection prioritizes mission alignment.

Independent Permanence The chain's survival depends only on community commitment to maintain it. No upstream dependencies.

Ecosystem Foundation Through IBC, we connect to other chains without sacrificing autonomy. Independence and interconnection coexist.

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Technology Stack

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                         APPLICATION                              │
│                                                                  │
│  ┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐   │
│  │                    COSMWASM CONTRACTS                     │   │
│  │  Exhibition · License · Payment · Governance · Provenance │   │
│  └──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘   │
│                              │                                   │
│  ┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐   │
│  │                     COSMOS SDK v0.50+                     │   │
│  │         Bank · Staking · Gov · IBC · Auth modules         │   │
│  └──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘   │
│                              │                                   │
└──────────────────────────────┼───────────────────────────────────┘
                               │
┌──────────────────────────────┼───────────────────────────────────┐
│                         CONSENSUS                                │
│                              │                                   │
│  ┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐   │
│  │                    COMETBFT (TENDERMINT)                  │   │
│  │       Byzantine Fault Tolerant · Instant Finality         │   │
│  └──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘   │
│                                                                  │
└──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
                               │
┌──────────────────────────────┼───────────────────────────────────┐
│                         NETWORK                                  │
│                              │                                   │
│  ┌─────────────┐  ┌─────────────┐  ┌─────────────┐              │
│  │  Validators │  │  Full Nodes │  │  IBC Relayers│              │
│  │   50-100    │  │   Public    │  │  Ecosystem   │              │
│  └─────────────┘  └─────────────┘  └─────────────┘              │
│                                                                  │
└──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

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Core Components

CometBFT Consensus

CometBFT (formerly Tendermint) provides Byzantine Fault Tolerant consensus with instant finality.

Property	Value	Benefit
Block Time	~5 seconds	Fast confirmation
Finality	Instant	No waiting for confirmations
Fault Tolerance	⅓ Byzantine	Secure against malicious validators
Validator Set	50-100	Balanced decentralization

Why This Matters for Art: When an artist receives payment, it's final. No waiting for block confirmations. No risk of chain reorganization reversing the transaction.

Cosmos SDK

Cosmos SDK provides the application framework—modular, upgradeable, and battle-tested across 50+ production chains.

Standard Modules Used:

• bank — Token transfers and balances

• staking — Validator delegation and rewards

• gov — On-chain governance proposals

• ibc — Inter-blockchain communication

• auth — Account authentication

• params — Parameter management

Custom Modules:

• exhibition — Exhibition registry and management

• license — License issuance and tracking

• circulation — Network statistics and analytics

CosmWasm Smart Contracts

CosmWasm enables Rust-based smart contracts with memory safety guarantees.

Advantages over Solidity/EVM:

• Memory safety at compile time (no buffer overflows)

• No reentrancy vulnerabilities by design

• Actor model prevents common attack patterns

• Smaller attack surface

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Network Architecture

System Overview

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                    NONTERRITORIAL CHAIN                         │
│                                                                 │
│  ┌─────────────────┐  ┌─────────────────┐  ┌─────────────────┐ │
│  │   Exhibition    │  │    License      │  │    Payment      │ │
│  │    Contract     │  │    Contract     │  │    Contract     │ │
│  │                 │  │                 │  │                 │ │
│  │  • Create       │  │  • Request      │  │  • Distribute   │ │
│  │  • Update       │  │  • Confirm      │  │  • 40% Artist   │ │
│  │  • NO TRANSFER  │  │  • Complete     │  │  • 20% Curator  │ │
│  └─────────────────┘  └─────────────────┘  └─────────────────┘ │
│                                                                 │
│  ┌─────────────────┐  ┌─────────────────┐  ┌─────────────────┐ │
│  │   Governance    │  │   Provenance    │  │      IBC        │ │
│  │    Contract     │  │    Contract     │  │    Gateway      │ │
│  │                 │  │                 │  │                 │ │
│  │  • Multi-stake  │  │  • Immutable    │  │  • Cosmos Hub   │ │
│  │  • Councils     │  │  • History      │  │  • Osmosis      │ │
│  │  • Protections  │  │  • Verification │  │  • Future chains│ │
│  └─────────────────┘  └─────────────────┘  └─────────────────┘ │
│                                                                 │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Data Flow: License Transaction

Host requests license
        │
        ▼
┌───────────────────┐
│  License Contract │ ──── Validates exhibition exists
└───────────────────┘       Calculates fee
        │                   Creates pending license
        ▼
   Host pays fee
        │
        ▼
┌───────────────────┐
│  License Contract │ ──── Confirms license
└───────────────────┘       Activates time period
        │
        ▼
┌───────────────────┐
│  Payment Contract │ ──── Splits payment instantly:
└───────────────────┘       40% → Artist wallet
        │                   20% → Curator wallet
        │                   30% → Operations treasury
        │                   10% → Commission fund
        ▼
┌───────────────────┐
│ Provenance Contract│ ──── Records license event
└───────────────────┘       Immutable history
        │
        ▼
   License active
   Artist paid (< 5 seconds)

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Chain Parameters

Consensus Parameters

Parameter	Value	Rationale
Block Time	~5 seconds	Balance speed and security
Max Block Size	22 MB	Accommodate metadata transactions
Max Gas per Block	100,000,000	Sufficient for complex operations
Evidence Max Age	100,000 blocks	~6 days for slashing evidence

Staking Parameters

Parameter	Value	Rationale
Unbonding Period	21 days	Security against long-range attacks
Max Validators	100	Sufficient decentralization
Min Self-Delegation	10,000 UNT	Validator commitment
Downtime Jail Duration	10 minutes	Quick recovery for honest mistakes

Governance Parameters

Parameter	Value	Rationale
Voting Period	14 days	Global participation across timezones
Deposit Period	7 days	Time to gather support
Minimum Deposit	1,000 UNT	Prevent spam proposals
Quorum	33.4%	Reasonable participation threshold

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Token Economics

UNT (Nonterritorial Token)

The native token serves multiple functions:

Function	Description
Transaction Fees	Pay for network operations
Staking	Secure the network, earn rewards
Governance	Vote on proposals
License Payments	Primary medium for licensing fees

Supply

Metric	Value
Genesis Supply	1,000,000,000 UNT
Inflation	7-15% annually (staking rewards)
Community Pool	10% of inflation

Token Distribution

Allocation	Percentage	Vesting
Community/Ecosystem	40%	Various programs
Foundation	25%	4-year linear
Team	15%	4-year with 1-year cliff
Investors	15%	2-year with 6-month cliff
Reserve	5%	Governance-controlled

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IBC Integration

Inter-Blockchain Communication

IBC enables trustless communication between sovereign chains. Nonterritorial connects to the broader Cosmos ecosystem while maintaining independence.

┌─────────────────┐         ┌─────────────────┐
│  NONTERRITORIAL │◄───────►│   COSMOS HUB    │
│      CHAIN      │   IBC   │                 │
└─────────────────┘         └─────────────────┘
         │                           │
         │                           │
         ▼                           ▼
┌─────────────────┐         ┌─────────────────┐
│     OSMOSIS     │         │  FUTURE CHAINS  │
│  (Liquidity)    │         │  (Cultural)     │
└─────────────────┘         └─────────────────┘

Current Connections (Planned)

Chain	Purpose	Status
Cosmos Hub	Ecosystem anchor	Planned
Osmosis	Controlled UNT liquidity	Planned

Future Ecosystem

We envision IBC connections to specialized cultural chains:

• Music rights and royalties

• Literary archives

• Performance documentation

• Cultural heritage preservation

Each maintains sovereignty while enabling cross-chain provenance and collaboration.

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Validators

Mission-Aligned Infrastructure

Nonterritorial validators aren't generic infrastructure providers. They're mission-aligned participants committed to cultural infrastructure.

Requirements

Technical:

• 99.9% uptime commitment

• Hardware Security Module (HSM) for keys

• Geographic distribution

• Minimum: 4 CPU, 16GB RAM, 500GB NVMe SSD

• 100 Mbps bandwidth

Mission Alignment:

• Demonstrated interest in cultural infrastructure

• Commitment to governance participation

• Minimum 2-year operational commitment

• No conflict with speculative art markets

Validator Categories

Category	Target	Examples
Cultural Institutions	20	Museums, foundations, universities
Technology Partners	20	Web3 infrastructure companies
Geographic Representatives	30	Regional cultural advocates
Artist Collectives	15	Artist-run organizations
Individual Stakeholders	15	Major contributors

Economics

Validators earn through:

• Block rewards (inflation distribution)

• Transaction fees

• Delegator commissions (5-20%)

Expected annual return: 8-15% on staked tokens.

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Content Storage

Hybrid Architecture

Blockchain stores references and verification; content lives on IPFS.

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                        ON-CHAIN                                 │
│                                                                 │
│  • Exhibition metadata (title, artist, curator)                 │
│  • Content hash (SHA-256 of media files)                        │
│  • License records                                              │
│  • Payment distributions                                        │
│  • Provenance history                                           │
│  • Governance decisions                                         │
│                                                                 │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                        OFF-CHAIN (IPFS)                         │
│                                                                 │
│  • Cinematic Preview video files                                │
│  • High-resolution images                                       │
│  • Extended metadata JSON                                       │
│  • Curatorial essays                                            │
│  • Technical specifications                                     │
│                                                                 │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Verification

Content integrity is verified by comparing IPFS content hash against on-chain record:

verification.rs

// Verification query
pub fn verify_content(
    exhibition_id: u64,
    content_hash: String,
) -> VerificationResult {
    let exhibition = EXHIBITIONS.load(exhibition_id)?;
    
    if exhibition.content_hash == content_hash {
        VerificationResult::Valid {
            exhibition_id,
            verified_at: env.block.time,
        }
    } else {
        VerificationResult::Invalid {
            expected: exhibition.content_hash,
            received: content_hash,
        }
    }
}

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Security Model

Threat Mitigation

Threat	Mitigation
51% Attack	BFT consensus requires ⅓ Byzantine; validator vetting
Long-range Attack	21-day unbonding period
Smart Contract Exploit	Rust memory safety; multiple audits
Key Compromise	HSM requirements; multi-sig admin
Network Partition	Geographic distribution requirements

Audit Schedule

Audit	Timeline	Focus
Internal Review	Pre-testnet	Logic, access control
External Audit 1	Pre-mainnet	Full contract suite
External Audit 2	Post-launch	Upgrade verification
Continuous	Ongoing	Bug bounty program

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Network Status

Testnet

Status: Planned for Q1 2026

Testnet will be open for:

• Developer integration testing

• Validator onboarding

• Community feedback

Mainnet

Status: Planned for Q2 2026

Mainnet launch follows successful completion of:

• Security audits (minimum 2)

• Testnet validation period

• Validator set establishment

• Governance activation

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Blockchain Architecture | Nonterritorial Network Sovereign Infrastructure for Autonomous Art Circulation