How it works
Every interval, the network itself (not a company) decides pay-or-slash from cryptographic facts already on-chain. Here is the loop.
Each reading is signed at the edge with the device's own key (EIP-712). The key is registered on-chain; the device wallet holds zero balance and never sends a transaction.
The device posts the signed reading to a sponsor relayer, which submits a type-3 blob transaction (EIP-4844) carrying the payload and anchors a compact proof on-chain. The device spends 0 gas.
The anchor contract counts valid, fresh, non-replayed anchors per device per settlement interval (epoch), and how many were in the policy's value range.
Each interval the agent calls settleEpoch. The vault re-derives the verdict from the on-chain counts and the policy: PAY draws from the funder's escrow to the operator; SLASH takes from the operator's bond to the treasury. One settlement per interval, ever.
On-chain policy is the only authority
The Settlement Agent supplies only the device id and the interval. It carries no amount, no verdict, and no proof. Point it at any device-interval and the contract re-derives PAY or SLASH itself from the device-signed facts and the policy. That is why a buggy or malicious agent cannot overpay, wrongly slash, pay an un-anchored interval, or double-settle. The agent drives; the contract decides.
What BOT Chain makes possible
- Sub-second blocks (~0.74s) make per-interval, real-time settlement viable at all.
- Near-zero fees make continuous micro-settlement economically sane.
- Gasless for plain wallets lets devices sign but never transact (a sponsor relayer pays the gas).
- Blob transactions (EIP-4844) carry raw telemetry as the data-availability layer, with a compact on-chain hash as the permanent settlement proof.
Value-layer SLAs (data quality)
A policy can require not just enough readings but in-range readings. The device signs its reading as a
first-class value; the anchor contract counts how many were inside the policy's [min, max] band; and
settlement pays only when enough readings are both delivered and in range. A device that delivers its full
quota out of range is slashed on data quality, not just liveness.
Permissionless keepers
settleEpoch is open. Anyone can call it and earn an equal tip from a dedicated keeper pool (never taken
from the operator's pay or the slash amount), so the single Settlement Agent becomes an incentivized,
permissionless keeper set. The guarantee is unchanged because the caller still only supplies the device id
and interval.
A few specifics
- An interval is a settlement epoch. Its length is a deploy parameter; the current mainnet instance uses 600-second epochs, and a device anchors several readings per epoch (a policy sets the minimum).
- Anchors are ordered by a per-device nonce and checked for freshness, so stale or replayed data is rejected.
- Everything above runs on BOT Chain mainnet today, settling in real USDT.
Watch the 90-second demo, or read the deeper architecture reference.
Next: Glossary.