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Cheshire

Status: What Is Real

As of 2026-11-09. Every item here is one of:

  • run: on a node, with real proofs, and the numbers come from that run;
  • built: code and tests, but no real-proof run;
  • designed: a document;
  • not done.

These pages do not round up. Cheshire is an unaudited research prototype, on test networks only.

On gsr-net

Section titled “On gsr-net”

A new pool is being launched on gsr-net, on the current circuits (re-pinned 2026-11-07, for private prover pay). The earlier gsr-net pool, made on 2026-11-04 from the circuits of that day, is being replaced.
pool address to be published
genesis height to be published

gsr-net resets whenever the GSR branch changes consensus; a reset wipes the pool with everything else.

Run with real proofs

Section titled “Run with real proofs”

All on a GSR regtest node under standard relay policy, on one Mac:

  • The share-chain run (2026-10-29, again 2026-11-04, about five hours, one job at a time): three nodes, no settler, 9 settlements, the same txid on every node. Deposits through the inbox (44,084 vB on 2026-11-04); a forced exit drained through the exit inbox and paid by the vault (45,531 vB, 1,168,000 sat); a pipelined pair mined in one block; an outside prover paid by payroll six settlements later, its pay rebuilt from its seed alone (20,832 sat) and spent; every wallet recovered from its key and the chain; the supply check passing on every store.
  • Cancel isolation (2026-10-30): four settlements through catalog deposit groups.
  • Migration (2026-11-04): five settlements across two pools; 197,000 sat migrated, imported, recovered in the successor and partly withdrawn.
  • The 2026-11-07 re-pin (private prover pay): the settlement fixtures proved and mined through the real verifier: a migrating settlement at 44,420 vB, the verifier alone 43,565 vB, a solo exit at 53,343 vB. The long share-chain run has not yet been repeated on these circuits.
  • Size at scale, with a stand-in verifier: 3,395 records in one settlement accepted and mined, 3,410 rejected as too large; 29.0 vB per record throughout.

Built, not yet run with real proofs

Section titled “Built, not yet run with real proofs”
  • Several settlements proving at once (one settlement per block).
  • Batches above 20 contributions (portable proving units).
  • More than one machine; nodes joining the share chain late.
  • A drain that also carries the deposit inbox (stand-in run, 2026-11-07).
  • An import that pays a nonzero import fee.
  • The light client and Tor in the iOS app (checked against a throwaway signet, mainnet peers, and the stand-in run; run in the iOS simulator against onion-service nodes).
  • A share-chain node serving phones from a public server.
  • Fee bumping (CPFP) of a real-proof settlement.

Designed, not built

Section titled “Designed, not built”
  • Post-quantum payment codes (prototyped; a re-pin to adopt).
  • A cleaner “core v2” with a smaller statement (t-shirt).
  • Soft confirmations on the share chain (a first version was closed unmerged on 2026-11-06, to be rebuilt on the light client).
  • Fixed-cadence settlement for boundary privacy (deferred). Decoy settlements were declined.

Not done

Section titled “Not done”
  • An audit. Nobody outside the project has reviewed the circuits, the stwo fork, the on-chain verifier or the covenant.
  • Formal verification of the constraint system (only the arithmetic gadgets’ bounds are machine-checked).
  • A reviewed proof of the zero-knowledge argument.
  • A security level the project would use for real money (security).
  • A phone measurement of the wallet’s proving time (the simulator is not a phone).
  • GSR on Bitcoin, which is not this project’s to do.

A short history

Section titled “A short history”
when what
before October 2026 a proof verified on an OP_CAT signet; the statement bound to a covenant; private transfers; count hiding; a settlement spread over ~156 transactions
2026-10-23 the move to GSR (BIP-440/441, tapleaf 0xc2)
2026-10-25 seed-only recovery on a GSR node
2026-10-27 the forced exit inbox; payroll
2026-10-28 the share chain; deterministic settlements; deposit inbox by default
2026-10-29 the first nine-settlement run with real proofs
2026-10-30 the node pinned to gsr-net’s commit; catalog deposit groups
2026-11-02 the iOS app chosen as the wallet; carry-bound fixes re-pinned
2026-11-03 the independent spec; the CAT-only path removed
2026-11-04 F9/F11 and the import fee re-pinned; the second real run; real-proof migration
2026-11-04/05 the first gsr-net pool (made 11-04, first settlements 11-05); the refactor to one kind of pool
2026-11-06 the light client; privacy fixes; drains carry deposits
2026-11-07 Tor in the app; private prover pay re-pinned

Three rounds of verifier work cut the settlement from about 60 kvB to about 44 kvB without lowering a security margin.