Whitepaper
The first Neurai whitepaper was drafted in October 2023, before most of what the network does today existed. Since then the ideas in it have become running code: DePIN messaging, soulbound device assets, hardware wallets on ESP32, covenants and post-quantum addresses on testnet. The second edition is being written from that implementation, and this page is its public outline. Until it is published, the technical documentation on this site is the reference.
Abstract
Neurai is a proof-of-work blockchain built for connected devices. It gives hardware, from a microcontroller to industrial equipment, a cryptographic identity it controls, a public record of what it owns and which groups it belongs to, and an encrypted channel to the other members of those groups, without depending on any company's servers. The chain inherits Bitcoin's transaction model through Ravencoin and adds native assets, a soulbound asset class for devices and memberships, an off-chain messaging protocol gated by those assets, and, with the POSITRONIC upgrade, a script engine with covenants, transaction introspection and post-quantum signatures.
Planned contents
Each chapter already has a published counterpart. Read those today; the whitepaper will consolidate them with the design rationale and the trade-offs.
| Chapter | What it covers | Documented today |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Motivation | Why devices need keys they own and a ledger nobody can switch off | Introduction |
| 2. The network | KAWPOW proof of work, emission, parameters, why Ravencoin's code | Specs, Mining |
| 3. Assets | Native tokens, unique assets, restricted assets and qualifiers as the substrate for everything else | Assets, Asset model |
| 4. Device identity | The DePIN asset: soulbound, revocable, hierarchical, with transfer states | Tokens and access |
| 5. DePIN messaging | Token-gated, end-to-end encrypted, off-chain messaging with signed replies and single-use challenges | DePIN, Protocol reference |
| 6. Devices | Keys, signing and messaging on ESP32-class hardware, hardware wallets, signed telemetry | IoT development |
| 7. Location | BGrid: coordinates as words, precision by choice | BGrid |
| 8. Contracts | AuthScript, covenants, transaction introspection, reference inputs | Covenants and opcodes, Smart contracts |
| 9. Post-quantum | ML-DSA-44 addresses and PQ-HD derivation | Post-quantum addresses |
| 10. AI | A language model reachable only by token holders, and agents built on the libraries | AI over DePIN |
| 11. Economics | Supply, emission curve, burns as the cost of namespace | Specs |
| 12. Roadmap | POSITRONIC activation and what follows | POSITRONIC, Roadmap |
Status
| Edition | Second, in preparation |
| Source material | The node, the libraries and this documentation, all open source |
| Publication | Announced on the official channels when ready |
| Technical reference meanwhile | The Developer and POSITRONIC sections |