Spec
Proof of Continuity Infrastructure (PoCI)
Canonical definition of the PoCI category and SIGNAL.ZERO as the first reference implementation.
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PoCI
Proof of Continuity Infrastructure
Proof of Continuity Infrastructure (PoCI) is a category of on-chain infrastructure for producing a stable, referenceable record of maintained intent.
In plain terms: PoCI lets software answer:
Did this wallet keep showing up over time?
This is different from common primitives like tokens (wealth), NFTs (ownership), or attestations (claims). PoCI is about behavior over time.
SIGNAL.ZERO is the first public reference implementation of PoCI. It ships the minimal primitive and the read surfaces needed to integrate it into real products.
Motivation
The missing primitive
Web3 can verify ownership and transactions. It still cannot reliably verify maintained intent.
As a result, many real problems stay unsolved (or get solved with the wrong tool):
- Proof of reliability (not wealth)
- Long-term access based on behavior, not balance
- Trust without identity (usable without KYC or profiles)
- Anti-sybil mechanisms without KYC (sybil friction through time cost)
- Memberships based on consistency
- Employment / contributor credibility based on commitment
- Governance weight based on commitment, not tokens
PoCI makes these solvable by giving products a standard input that cannot be faked with a single transaction.
Comparison
SIGNAL.ZERO vs common primitives
Many primitives are useful, but they do not measure maintained commitment. PoCI is built to do exactly that.
| Primitive | What it measures | Time-aware | Prospective | Fragile |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tokens | Wealth | |||
| NFTs | Ownership | |||
| Reputation | Past actions | |||
| Attestations | Claims | |||
| Staking | Locked value | |||
| SIGNAL.ZERO | Maintained commitment |
Notes: “Prospective” means it supports forward-looking eligibility rules (e.g. “keep showing up for 30 days”). “Fragile” means it can be cheaply spoofed by one-time actions.
Spec
Definition + structure
Definition
PoCI is infrastructure for producing a verifiable, low-noise continuity record for a wallet. The output must be readable, composable, and stable enough to be used as an input into other systems.
Key requirements
- Time-based: continuity is defined across time windows.
- Low-noise: the action is minimal (no content) and constrained.
- Verifiable: actions are wallet-signed and enforced by rules.
- Composable: other systems can read it and apply their own meaning.
Non-goals
- Proving identity (PoCI is not KYC and does not claim one-human-one-wallet)
- Replacing financial primitives (it is not staking, not yield, not rewards by default)
- Creating social graphs (it is not feeds, follows, or expressive content)
Primitive
The Commitment Object
The core output of a PoCI system is a Commitment Object: a standard, readable representation of a wallet’s activated continuity history.
Commitment Object = activation state + continuity history + derived metrics.
In SIGNAL.ZERO, the commitment object is derived from:
- Genesis (activation): an ERC-721 badge, one per wallet.
- Signals (continuity): one wallet-signed check-in per 24h window.
- Read surfaces: stable endpoints like/status,/history, and/query/continuity.
The system does not define what “good” commitment means. Your product does. PoCI provides the standard input.
SIGNAL.ZERO
First reference implementation
SIGNAL.ZERO is the first public reference implementation of PoCI. It provides:
- Genesis (activation) and signal rules (low noise, 24h cadence)
- Public and partner read surfaces for continuity
- Deterministic metrics (totals, streaks, windowed counts) derived from recorded signals
Deployment posture:
- Live testing environment: Base Sepolia (84532)
- Production target: Base mainnet (8453) after testing and auditing
Next steps: read Developer Docs for endpoints and integration patterns.